Case Title: Blincoe v. State

Citation: 185 N.E.2d 729, 243 Ind. 387

Docket Number: 30,003

State: indiana

Court: Indiana Supreme Court

Date: 1962-11-08T00:00:00Z

Document:
243 Ind. 387 (1962)
185 N.E.2d 729
BLINCOE
v.
STATE OF INDIANA.
No. 30,003.

Supreme Court of Indiana.
Filed November 8, 1962.
Theodore Lockyear, Jr., Thomas Lockyear and Lockyear & Lockyear, of Evansville, for appellant.
Edwin K. Steers, Attorney General, and Richard C. Johnson, Deputy Attorney General, for appellee.
JACKSON, J.
This is an appeal from a judgment of conviction of the crime of second degree burglary.
Appellant was prosecuted by affidavit, the sufficiency of which was tested by a motion to quash. The motion was overruled, appellant waived arraignment, *388 and entered a plea of not guilty. Trial was by jury, resulting in a verdict and judgment of guilty on May 10, 1960. Appellant was sentenced in conformity thereto and ordered committed "to the custody of the Board of Trustees of the Indiana Reformatory to be confined by them according to law for a period of not less than two (2) years nor more than five (5) years...."
Thereafter on June 2, 1960, appellant, as a pauper, filed his motion for a new trial. On that date the court appointed John G. Bunner, public defender, to represent appellant. On June 9, 1960, appellant filed an amended motion for a new trial which, omitting caption, signatures and formal parts, is as follows:
The Assignment of Errors contains two specifications as follows:
We have previously held that the guilt or innocence of an accused is not in question in determining whether an accused has had representation by adequate counsel. Abraham v. State (1950), 228 Ind. 179, 184, 91 N.E.2d 358.
We have also repeatedly held that there can be no valid trial of a criminal case unless the defendant is adequately defended by competent counsel, and that a judgment rendered under such circumstances is void. State v. Minton (1955), 234 Ind. 578, 581, 130 N.E.2d 226; State v. Lindsey; State v. Carroll (1952), 231 Ind. 126, 132, 106 N.E.2d 230; Wilson v. State (1943), 222 Ind. 63, 79, 51 N.E.2d 848; Sanchez v. State (1927), 199 Ind. 235, 246, 157 N.E. 1; Castro v. State (1925), 196 Ind. 385, 391, 147 N.E. 321; Batchelor v. State (1920), 189 Ind. 69; 125 N.E. 773. See also: 74 A.L.R.2d 1384.
The judgment of the trial court is reversed, and cause remanded with instructions to sustain appellant's motion for a new trial.
Arterburn, C.J., Achor, Bobbitt and Landis, JJ., concur.
NOTE.  Reported in 185 N.E.2d 729.