Ex Parte Horton
Ex Parte Horton
Opinion
We agree with the Court of Criminal Appeals,
The indictment was subject to demurrer because it did not specify anything about the forged check which Horton was charged with possessing: the indictment did not set out the amount, the payee, the drawer of the check, nor the time or place when Horton possessed it. The indictment did charge Horton with the crime of criminal possession of a forged instrument in the second degree expressly in the terms of Code 1975, §
Objections to an indictment which is not void may be waived, usually by failure to interpose a timely demurrer.1 Howard v.State,
Although Horton filed a timely demurrer, he waived all non-jurisdictional objections to the indictment by pleading guilty to the offense charged. A guilty plea, if entered voluntarily and with understanding of the consequences, waives all non-jurisdictional defects. Lane v. State,
Although the indictment as framed was not sufficient to protect Horton from the possible double jeopardy of being charged again for possessing the same unspecified check, Horton himself prevented this possibility when, during his Boykin colloquy, he described the circumstances of the events charged. The salient facts of the offense for which Horton has been convicted are now a matter of record and he is protected from subsequent charges for this offense.
Although we would affirm the judgment for the reasons above instead of those set out by the Court of Criminal Appeals, we conclude that the writ of certiorari was improvidently granted.
WRIT QUASHED AS IMPROVIDENTLY GRANTED.
All the Justices concur.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Ex Parte Lavon Horton. (In Re: Lavon Horton v. State of Alabama).
- Cited By
- 12 cases
- Status
- Published