People v. Martin
People v. Martin
Opinion of the Court
In an information filed against them, appellants were each charged in the first count thereof with burglary, and in the second count with attempted burglary. Both appellants first entered pleas of not guilty as to the charges, but later changed their pleas to guilty as to the charge of burglary contained in the first count; and judgment was accordingly pronounced thereon. The second count of the information was dismissed as to each of the appellants. Both appellants moved the court to set aside their pleas of guilty and to be permitted to enter pleas of not guilty. Appellant Pope made his motion before judgment, appellant Martin after judgment. Appellant Martin’s motion also was one to set aside the judgment. The motions were denied. The appeal is based upon the grounds that the convictions and judgments are against the evidence and the weight of the evidence; that the court erred in denying defendants’ motions to set aside their pleas of guilty; and that the court erred in fixing the degree of burglary charged as of the first degree.
In any event, appellants have made an insufficient showing that their pleas of guilty were ignorantly induced, or were made through inadvertence or without due deliberation, or were made through motives of hope or fear unduly and improperly operating upon appellants’ volition. At the most, it appears that appellants entered their pleas of guilty under a hope of leniency, knowing their rights and the consequences of their act. This fact, standing alone, presents no ground for the exercise of the discretion of the court in the matter of permitting a change of plea; and it cannot be said that the court abused its discretion in refusing to allow appellants to change their pleas to not guilty. (See 7 Cal. Jur. 1000, 1001, and cases cited.)
As to fixing the degree of the crime, it was stipulated that the burglary was committed between the hours of 11:30 p. m. and 7:30 a. m. The house entered by appellants was a large one, about fifty-six rooms according to appellants. It was occupied at the time and apparently well
While the matter has not been called to the attention of this court by either party, it should be noted that judgment was rendered against Martin on April 3, 1941. It does not appear that appellant Martin gave any oral notice of appeal therefrom. Thereafter, and on April 30, 1941, Martin’s motion to set aside the judgment and to enter a plea of not guilty was heard and denied. Appellant Martin did not file his written notice of appeal until May 3, 1941. This notice of appeal states that Martin appeals from the “conviction, judgment and sentence.” It does not state that an appeal is taken from the order denying appellant’s motion to set the judgment aside and to be allowed to change the plea. The elapsed time between rendition of the judgment and notice of -appeal therefrom is thirty days. .
The appeal is devoid of merit and the judgments are affirmed.
York, P. J"., and White, J., concurred.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.