People v. Robinson
People v. Robinson
Opinion of the Court
Field, C. J. and Cope, J. concurring.
Defendant was convicted of the crime of murder in the District Court of the Fourth District.
1. The first assignment has just been disposed of in the case of The People v. Connor.
2. That the indictment, on its face, and the certificate of the
Several errors are assigned which we do not think it necessary to notice in detail; for they have either been decided in other cases, or fall within principles already settled. District Courts are Courts of general jurisdiction, and the regularity of their proceedings is presumed. It rests with a party seeking to impeach them to show affirmatively any imputed irregularity, or acts or omissions which affect the validity of their judgments, especially after the jurisdiction of the person is once shown. (People v. Barber, 9 Cal. 231; People v. Martin, 6 Id. 478 ; People v. Connor, decided at this term.)
There is nothing in the point that the record does not show the instructions given by the Court. It appears that they were given in writing, and if they were erroneous, this must be shown by the appellant.
The other points are not sustained by the record, or present, if sustained, no reversible error.
Judgment affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- THE PEOPLE v. ROBINSON
- Cited By
- 2 cases
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- Syllabus
- Where an indictment for murder—the ease being tried in the Fourth District Court—charges the offense to have been committed within the city and county of San Francisco, without giving the particular locality in which it was committed : Held, that this is sufficient to show that the Fourth District Court had jurisdiction. The Fourth District Court, although the district only comprises a portion of the the county of San Francisco, is a Court for the whole county, having jurisdiction over persons and subject matter therein. The territorial limits assigned to this Court are given for the purposes of convenience in elections, etc., and not for the purpose of limiting its powers. The Supreme Court will take judicial notice that the Fourth Judicial District is a district within and for the county of San Francisco. District Courts are Courts of general jurisdiction, and the regularity of their proceedings is presumed. It rests with a party seeking to impeach them to show affirmatively the irregularity, or acts, or omissions which affect the validity of their judgments—especially after the jurisdiction of the person is once shown. Where, on trial for murder, the record shows that the Court gave written instructions to the jury, but the instructions are not contained in the record : Hgld, that the absence of the instructions is not error; that if they were erroneous, appellant must show it.