Court Opinion

ID: 9553150
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 19:23:42.729342+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:29:57.586330
License: Public Domain

CURTIS, J., Dissenting.
I am unable to agree with the foregoing opinion which affirms a judgment of life imprisonment “without the possibility of parole” upon the plea of guilty by the appellants to a charge of kidnaping, where the indictment failed to chdrge that the person kidnaped suffered bodily harm. Section 209 of the Penal Code fixes two punishments for the crime of kidnaping, one where bodily harm is inflicted on the victim and the other where the offense is committed without the infliction of bodily harm.
The only crime charged against appellants was that of kidnaping, and this is the only crime to which they pleaded guilty. To now inflict upon them the aggravated punishment provided for the crime of kidnaping where bodily harm is inflicted is punishing them for a crime not alleged in the indictment and one as to the nature of which they were not informed by the indictment. One of the most ancient and fundamental rules of criminal procedure is that a defendant must be informed of the precise charge against him before he can be placed on trial or punished therefor. The judgment against defendants should be modified by striking therefrom the words, “without the possibility of parole”, and as thus modified, affirmed.