State v. Sewell

The defendant Paul J. Sewell has appealed from a judgment imposing the death sentence founded upon his plea of guilty of the crime of murder, and from an order denying his motion, made after judgment, that the judgment be vacated and he be permitted to change his plea.

Of the several propositions assigned and argued, but one requires consideration, viz., that the court erred in receiving the plea of defendant without having advised him of his rights in the premises.

One Jens Jensen, late of Day County, was shot and instantly killed on November 3, 1941. The circumstances indicated that he was…