Title: State v. Smith
Citation: 171 Kan. 722, 237 P.2d 388
Docket Number: 38,490
State: Kansas
Issuer: Kansas Supreme Court
Date: November 10, 1951

171 Kan. 722 (1951)
237 P.2d 388
THE STATE OF KANSAS, Appellant,
v.
ANNA MAE SMITH, Appellee.
No. 38,490

Supreme Court of Kansas.
Opinion filed November 10, 1951.
Willis K. Dillenberger, assistant county attorney, argued the cause, and Oren Gray, county attorney, Harold R. Fatzer, attorney general, and C.H. Hughes, assistant attorney general, were with him on the briefs for the appellant.
Dan R. Aul, of Chetopa, was on the briefs for the appellee.
The opinion of the court was delivered by
PARKER, J.:
This is an appeal by the statute from an order sustaining a defendant's motion to quash the information in a criminal prosecution.
We are told and, since the record discloses the defendant was so advised when arraigned and required to plead to the information, *723 shall proceed upon the premise the prosecution was instituted under the provisions of G.S. 1949, 21-407, providing:
Omitting formal allegations of no consequence the information to which the defendant was required to plead reads:
More than a month and a half after arraignment and the entry of her plea of not guilty the defendant, without objection on the part of the state, filed a motion to quash the information on grounds (1) that it was indefinite and uncertain with regard to the person and offense charged and (2) that it failed to clearly set forth in plain and concise language the offense charged. Thereafter, on May 1, 1951, the trial court sustained such motion to quash. The scope of its action in that respect is evidenced by a journal entry of record, approved by the attorneys for the respective parties, which reads:
On the 8th day following the rendition of the foregoing decision the state, as authorized by G.S. 1949, 62-1703 (first), perfected an appeal from the trial court's ruling and now seeks a reversal of its action in sustaining such motion under a specification of error charging that the trial court erred in sustaining the motion to quash the information.
At the outset it should be pointed out our code of criminal procedure contains requirements pertaining to an information, the first pleading on the part of the state in a criminal action, which must be observed and that failure to comply therewith makes such a pleading subject to a motion to quash.
Respecting its form and content G.S. 1949, 62-1004, states:
Regarding its sufficiency G.S. 1949, 62-1010, provides:
..............
It should also be kept in mind that by reason of the sections of the statute just quoted and our decisions interpreting them (see West's Kansas Digest, Indictment and Information, § 71) the rule that a defendant is entitled to be fairly informed as to just what he is charged with and will be required to meet and defendant under the allegations of an information is established law in this jurisdiction.
Furthermore, it must be remembered that on appeal this court is commanded by statute (see G.S. 1949, 62-1718) to affirm judgments rendered in criminal cases without regard to technical errors, defects or exceptions which do not affect the substantial rights of the parties. This, we may add, is a requirement which must be complied with regardless whether the defendant or the state is appealing from the order or judgment complained of.
The gist of all contentions advanced by the appellant in support of its position is founded upon the premise the trial court erred in sustaining the motion to quash because its ruling was based upon the ground it did not have jurisdiction of the offense charged in the information for the reason the misdemeanor set out therein was a misdemeanor triable only in juvenile court. In fact appellant *725 asserts the trial court so stated. It may be, as appellant contends, that was the basis for the trial court's decision. But if so its statement to that effect, whatever it was, was not preserved and does not appear in the record. In such a situation we cannot reach out and pass upon this asserted claim of error for, under all our decisions, it cannot be reviewed or considered on appeal.
See, e.g., State v. Burks, 134 Kan. 607, 7 P.2d 36, where it is held:
See, also, State v. Ryan, 141 Kan. 549, 42 P.2d 591, which holds:
For other decisions to the same effect see State v. Boyle, 10 Kan. 113; State v. Shenkle, 36 Kan. 43, 44, 12 Pac. 309; State v. Schroeder, 103 Kan. 770, 771, 176 Pac. 659; State v. Lintner, 141 Kan. 505, 41 P.2d 1036; State v. Townsend, 150 Kan. 496, 497, 95 P.2d 328; State v. Carr, 151 Kan. 36, 46, 98 P.2d 393; State v. Lammon, 153 Kan. 822, 824, 113 P.2d 1052 and State v. Miller, 165 Kan. 228, 194 P.2d 498.
Decisions, both criminal and civil, adhering to the same rule but pointing out that on appeal this court cannot determine the terms of a judgment on controverted or unsupported claims but must assume the journal entry, signed by the judge of the court below and approved by the attorneys for the respective parties, correctly reflects the judgment rendered, notwithstanding a claim such judgment was based on some ground other than that specified in the journal entry, are to be found in our reports. See State v. Coover, 165 Kan. 179, 181, 193 P.2d 209, and In re Estate of Demoret, 169 Kan. 171, 180, 218 P.2d 225.
Thus, when the motion to quash and the journal entry sustaining it are carefully read and considered, it becomes apparent the only question remaining for decision in this case is whether the trial court erred in concluding the information was indefinite and uncertain with regard to, and failed to clearly set forth in plain and concise language, the offense charged. Touching this point the appellant merely assumes the challenged pleading is definite and certain and makes no attempt, either by argument or decisions, to establish that the statement of facts constituting the offense therein *726 attempted to be charged is clearly set forth in plain and concise language.
Long ago, in The State v. Durein, 70 Kan. 1, 78 Pac. 152, this court committed itself to the rule that in a criminal appeal the record of the proceedings in the trial court will not be interpreted to show error if it be susceptible of a reasonable interpretation to the contrary.
For all we know the trial court after giving consideration to the motion to quash may have concluded the wording of the information was such that the defendant was not fairly informed as to whether she was being charged with the crime of manslaughter in the first degree under the provisions of G.S. 1949, 21-407, the crime of manslaughter in the fourth degree under the provisions of G.S. 1949, 21-420, or for that matter the offense of neglect of her minor children under the provisions of G.S. 1949, 38-416. If so, in the exercise of sound discretion, it had the right to require the appellant to amend its information by making the allegations thereof more definite and certain. This, as the journal entry evidencing its action indicates, is all that the trial court did and appellant has not only made no effort but has failed to establish affirmatively that such action amounted to abuse of discretion or otherwise constituted error. Of a certainty it cannot be said that action affected appellant's substantial rights for, so far as the record discloses, all it would have had to do in order to comply with the terms of the judgment was to amend its information and proceed with the case. The result, upon application of the pertinent rules to which we have heretofore referred, is that the trial court did not commit reversible error in sustaining the motion to quash and its judgment must be affirmed.
It is so ordered.