Title: State v. Hefta

State: north-dakota

Issuer: North Dakota Supreme Court

Document:

88 N.W.2d 626 (1958) STATE of North Dakota, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Richard L. HEFTA, Defendant and Appellant. Cr. No. 280. Supreme Court of North Dakota. January 29, 1958. *627 Gallagher & Paul, Mandan, for appellant. Elton W. Ringsak, State's Atty., Grafton, and W. T. DePuy, Asst. Atty. Gen., for respondent. HARRY E. RITTGERS, District Judge. On his plea of guilty to the charge of rape in the first degree, judgment of conviction and sentence for the term of 15 years was pronounced against the defendant on June 4, 1949, in the District Court of Walsh County. On notice duly given, the defendant by his attorneys, Gallagher & Paul, moved to vacate the judgment of conviction in said matter. This motion came duly on for hearing before the Hon. Obert C. Teigen, District Judge, at Devils Lake, N. D., on the 3rd day of June, 1956, plaintiff being represented by Elton W. Ringsak, State's Attorney of Walsh County, and W. T. DePuy, Assistant Attorney General. The trial judge denied the motion and defendant appeals. We quote the motion in full: Defendant's motion is conveniently grouped and will be considered in three parts: first, Paragraph 5 of the motion; second, Paragraph 6 of the motion; and third, Paragraphs 1, 2, 3, 4, and 7 of the motion. The only evidence presented by the defendant's attorneys in support of the motion is the record of the proceedings had before the District Court which resulted in the conviction and sentence of the defendant. The State then offered in evidence the testimony of Melvin J. Torkelson, Lynn G. Grimson, and Elton W. Ringsak. This evidence was received by the Court over the objection of defendant's counsel on the ground "that the official record in the Office of the Clerk of Court cannot be disputed or explained, and that the plaintiff is bound thereby, and that no evidence is admissible to in any manner dispute, clarify, or qualify it." This is not a proceeding to amend or correct a record, but is a direct attack upon the jurisdiction of the trial court to adjudicate the issues and pronounce judgment and sentence. The objection to the receipt of the testimony was correctly overruled by the trial court. As will be shown later in this opinion, no lack of due process appears on the face of the record, and there is no evidence extraneous of the record showing lack of due process, and under the present record only an error in the nature of lack of due process would defeat the jurisdiction of the Court. Defendant asserts that the information filed against the defendant "was and is insufficient to sustain the judgment of conviction and sentence against him and that the same is therefore illegal and absolutely void." The charging part of the information is: Counsel urge that their objection to the information is good in two respects: first, because the information fails to allege that the defendant was over the age of 24 years, and second, that it contains this clause: "and did use threats of immediate and great bodily harm if the said Donna Marie Lizakowski should tell her parents or anyone of these acts." As to the first of these grounds of objection; the information in this case charged rape in the first degree, and then set out all of the elements of such charge correctly except that it stated the age of the defendant "is twenty years of age or over" instead of 24 years as provided by Code Sec. 12-3004. And the record shows that defendant admitted on the trial and before pronouncement of sentence that he was 33 years old. Counsel argue that the allegation in the information that defendant was "twenty years of age or over" made the information defective and insufficient as a charge of rape in the first degree. But had defendant raised any objection on this *629 point, the information could have been amended to show his age as 33 years. See Sec. 29-1145, NDRC 1943. Furthermore, the punishment provided for rape in the first degree, where the female is under the age of 18 years, is identical with that for rape in the second degree "where defendant has reached twenty years of age and is under twenty-four years of age", that is, "imprisonment in the penitentiary for not less than one year." In this case the court sentenced the defendant to serve a term of fifteen years. And since the defendant was accorded due process, the court had jurisdiction to impose the punishment which was imposed. The defendant pleaded guilty under the facts alleged in the information and the court pronounced judgment. The facts alleged in the information constituted the charge of rape in the second degree. The mere misnomer of the offense charged does not amount to denial of a fair trial, or affect the jurisdiction of the court. State v. English, N.D., 85 N.W.2d 427, 431. The second ground urged by counsel for defendant is that the information contained the words "and did use threats of immediate and great bodily harm if the said Donna Marie Lizakowski should tell her parents or anyone of these acts." Where words appear in an information which might be stricken out, leaving an offense sufficiently charged, and such words do not tend to negative any of the essential elements of the offense, they may be treated as surplusage and wholly disregarded. To uphold the information against this attack we need go only to our present statutes, Chapter 29-11, NDRC 1943, which defendant's brief ignores. As to Par. 6 of defendant's motion to the effect that the court received evidence after receiving defendant's plea, it is sufficient to say that Code Secs. 29-2617 and 29-2618 give the Court authority to receive such evidence as is here objected to. The only merit to defendant's objection in this respect is that no witness was sworn or testified concerning the exhibits which were received in evidence. Defendant was present when the exhibits were offered and made no objection. He must be held to have waived the right to make any such objection. In support of Pars. 1, 2, 3, 4, and 7 of the motion, defendant's counsel argue "that the defendant was not properly informed of his constitutional rights; that the Court acted as prosecutor by persuading the defendant to consent to a change in the written statement or confession submitted by defendant; that he put words in the defendant's mouth and rewrote the statement for him; that he changed the entire meaning of the statement without giving the defendant time to consider it; that he failed to explain the effect of the change; and that the whole proceedings constituted a fraud upon the defendant." Nowhere in this record is it asserted by defendant or his counsel that defendant is innocent of the charge brought against him or that he has any defense thereto. To determine the validity of the interpretation placed upon the court's statements by defendant's counsel, it is necessary to analyze and consider all of the evidence showing what occurred at the time of the hearing and pronouncement of sentence. The original complaint charging the defendant with the crime of rape in the first degree is dated June 1, 1949, and appears to have been filed with the Justice of the Peace, and the defendant was arrested the same day. The return of the Justice of the Peace is dated June 2nd, and it was filed in the office of the clerk of the District Court on June 3rd, and the proceedings before the District Court occurred on June 4th, 1949. The charging part of the information is quoted above. A part of the original file in this action is Exhibit 5, the written statement or confession signed by defendant which was produced and offered at the defendant's request immediately after he entered a *630 plea of guilty. The pertinent parts of this document may be stated as follows: Defendant's assertion that the Court acted wrongfully and in disregard of defendant's rights in the proceedings taken by the court upon the production of this document is based upon the fact that Exhibit 5 was amended by adding the words "more than half an inch," which words are shown above in italics. The reporter's transcript of the proceedings in this respect is as follows: (Reads the defendant's statement, Exhibit 5 quoted above.) In connection with this point we find in Exhibit 8-B, the notes of the Clerk, the following: The Court's notes in connection with this particular matter are: Mr. Melvin J. Torkelson testified as follows: Counsel for defendant strenuously urge that the trial court failed to properly advise the defendant concerning his constitutional and statutory rights and that the court, by the form of his questions to the defendant, misled the defendant and caused him to refuse the services of an attorney, which conduct of the court, in connection with all other errors in the record complained of by counsel, amounted to a fraud perpetrated by the court upon the defendant. We quote defendant's brief on that point: This statement illustrates the extravagance of the defendant's assertions in this proceeding. The duty resting upon the trial court to properly advise a defendant in a criminal action concerning his constitutional and statutory rights has been thoroughly considered by this court in the following cases: State v. Magrum, 76 N.D. 527, 38 N.W.2d 358; State v. Malnourie, N.D., 67 N.W.2d 330; State v. Whiteman, N.D., 67 N.W.2d 599; Mazakahomni v. State, 75 N.D. 73, 25 N.W.2d 772. It has repeatedly been held by our court that any of those rights may be waived by a defendant. State v. Throndson, 49 N.D. 348, 191 N.W. 628; State v. Thompson, 56 N.D. 716, 219 N.W. 218. Exhibit 19 is the testimony of Elton W. Ringsak, State's Attorney of Walsh County at the time of the defendant's prosecution. This witness testified in substance "That he talked with Hefta and explained that he should get a lawyer, that the judgment against him carried a penalty of from zero to 15 years. That Lynn G. *632 Grimson appeared with Hefta at the preliminary hearing. That after defendant was bound over at the preliminary hearing and in the presence of the witness, the Sheriff, and the Justice of the Peace, L. N. Altendorf, defendant asked to be allowed to plead immediately before the Judge of the District Court. When the matter came on before the District Court on the afternoon of June 4, 1949, Lynn G. Grimson was present in the court room from the time the proceedings opened until they concluded. That the time of the hearing occupied about three hours with a short break. Mr. Grimson left the court room with Mr. Hefta after the proceedings ended." Mr. Lynn G. Grimson testified that he was present in court at the time defendand was sentenced. The transcript of the notes of the court reporter on this point read as follows: The Justice's return to the District Court recites: It follows that the questions and remarks of the trial judge to the defendant concerning his right to be represented by counsel, as they appear in the transcript of the court proceedings, must be construed in the light of the judge's knowledge concerning Mr. Grimson's participation in the case. For instance, the Court's question, "You have consulted with an attorney?" and his question, "If you desired an attorney the court would appoint one for you, but you don't want us to appoint one for you?" must have been fully understood in their proper meaning by the defendant who knew that he had consulted with Mr. Grimson who was then sitting in the court room, and who in the face of all of these facts well known to him had on several occasions said he desired to plead guilty. The court asked a question of defendant and added, "there has to be slight penetration," to which defendant gave answer, "Very slight, but some." This reply of defendant indicates that he was very well informed as to what constituted rape on a 12 year old girl. Mr. Ringsak testified that he had talked with defendant on several occasions concerning defendant's right to have a lawyer, one such occasion being in the court's chambers in the presence of Judge Thomson. We find that the defendant's rights in the respects complained of were knowingly and understandingly waived by the defendant. Considering the statements and questions of the court, which have been used as the basis of the motion, in the light of the evidence before this court, it is apparent that defendant's construction of the words and conduct of the trial court is without foundation in fact, and that the action of the trial court was not offensive to the common and fundamental ideas of fairness and right. The defendant was accorded due process of law, and the court had full jurisdiction. The order denying the motion for a new trial is affirmed. BURKE, SATHRE, JOHNSON and MORRIS, JJ., concur.