Garcia v. People

This court granted certiorari to review a district court’s affirmance of petitioner Garcia’s conviction on a misdemeanor charge in county court after a trial by jury. The sole issue is whether the county court erred in denying the petitioner’s oral request to waive his constitutional right to a trial by jury. We reverse the district court’s judgment affirming the petitioner’s conviction.

The stipulated facts are that the petitioner made several oral requests in the county court to have his case tried to the court rather than to a jury. These requests were orally opposed by the district…