Court Opinion

ID: 9693364
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-25 16:38:40.226864+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:19:45.559659
License: Public Domain

WOLLMAN, Justice
(dissenting).
On the basis of the sparse record before us, I would affirm the order denying the petition for post-conviction relief.
Although it may be true that subject matter jurisdiction cannot be conferred by agreement, consent, or waiver, it is important to distinguish between subject matter jurisdiction in terms of a court’s authority to adjudicate certain classes of cases and a court’s jurisdiction over a particular offense and a particular defendant. As stated by the Supreme Court of New Jersey, “to sustain [a] conviction ... it must appear affirmatively that the offense is within the ambit of [the] court’s delegated authority. Jurisdiction over a crime not within the boundaries cannot be conferred by consent of the persons involved — as by waiver of indictment and trial by jury.” State v. Monroe, 30 N.J. 160, 152 A.2d 362, 364 (1959). “Criminal jurisdiction of the subject matter is a power of a court to inquire into *800the charge of the crime, to apply the law, and to declare the punishment in the court of a judicial proceeding and is conferred by law.” Pillsbury v. State, 31 Wis.2d 87, 142 N.W.2d 187, 191 (1966): “In a criminal prosecution it is necessary that the trial court have jurisdiction of the subject matter — that is, the offense — as well as the person of the defendant. Jurisdiction of the subject matter is derived from the law.” State v. Rigg, 258 Minn. 388, 104 N.W.2d 553, 554 (1960). See also State v. Tickle, 238 N.C. 206, 77 S.E.2d 632 (1953); 22 C.J.S. Criminal Law, § 107 (1961).
Had the court in State v. Mee, 67 S.D. 589, 297 N.W. 40 (1941), kept this distinction in mind, it may well have adhered to its original opinion, which held that defendant had waived the filing of an information by his plea of guilty. If the Fifth Amendment’s guarantee of the right to a grand jury presentment or indictment as a condition precedent to criminal liability in the federal courts is a personal privilege that may be waived by a defendant, Barkman v. Sanford, 162 F.2d 592 (5th Cir.1947), cert. denied, 332 U.S. 816, 68 S.Ct. 155, 92 L.Ed. 393 (1947), why may it not be held that the alternative charging document provided by Art. VI, § 10 of the South Dakota Constitution is a personal privilege that may also be waived? The purpose of an indictment or information is to satisfy the requirements of Art. VI, § 7, of our Constitution by apprising a defendant of the nature of the charges against him with sufficient specificity so that he may defend against the charges and may later plead the indictment or information as a bar to a subsequent charge. State v. Belt, 79 S.D. 324, 111 N.W.2d 588 (1961); State v. Sinnott, 72 S.D. 100, 30 N.W.2d 455 (1947). As the majority opinion points out, it is undisputed that appellant’s guilty pleas were entered after he was fully advised of his rights. In addition, duly verified complaints were filed for each offense, the guilty pleas were entered voluntarily, and appellant did not request a preliminary hearing on the charges. In effect, then, the verified complaints served in lieu of the informations that should have been filed. In the absence of evidence to that effect, I am unwilling to assume that appellant’s pleas would have been different had formal informations been filed.
I would affirm the order appealed from.
I am authorized to state that Justice DUNN joins in this dissent.