State v. Studer
State v. Studer
Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the court was delivered by
J. Studer was convicted of manslaughter resulting from the negligent operation of an automobile bus in Wichita, by which Iva Lattin was killed. He appeals.
He was prosecuted on an information filed October 9,1922, which he insists had been quashed. The original information was filed September 29, 1922, and a motion to quash the same was filed October 3, 1922. No entry of the order made on this motion is found in the record but it appears that an amended information was filed on October 9, 1922, presumably with the permission of the court, charging substantially the same offense as was set forth in the original information. A copy of this information was served on counsel for the defendant. Later and on October 13,1922, there was placed in the files another amended information purporting to charge the defendant with the negligent killing of George Howard Craig. A copy of this information was also served upon counsel for defendant. When the case was called for trial and the jury impaneled, an opening statement was made by the county attorney to the effect that defendant was charged with, and a conviction asked for, the negligent killing of Iva Lattin at a stated time and place; and when a question was asked of a witness counsel for defendant objected to the introduction of evidence upon the ground that the information containing that charge had been quashed, and the last and only information extant charged the defendant with the killing of George Howard Craig and not with the death of Iva Lattin. Preliminary inquiry was then had and the attorney for the state testified that about the time that the prosecution was begun against defendant for the killing of Iva Lattin, one Betty DuBoise was charged with the killing of George Howard Craig, that the former county attorney must have filed the information of October 13 by mistake, charging defendant with the killing of Craig. The former county attorney was called and testified that through some confusion the information was filed erroneously. Upon the motion of the state the amended information filed October 13, 1922, was stricken from the files of the case and the state proceeded to try the defendant on the in
“The defendant given leave to file a motion to be heard October 11th. Motion to quash sustained. Amend by October 14th.”
The court thereupon remarked that the only motion to quash that seemed to have been filed was filed October 3, and he concluded that the information of October 9 had not been quashed. Thereafter the notes of the reporter of the proceedings on October 11,1922, for the other division of the court, were read showing a motion to quash sustained, the state given leave to file an amended information by the 14th of October, and the defendant given leave to file a motion to quash or a plea in abatement by the 17th of October, and the motion or plea set for hearing on October 20.
Upon the testimony given the defendant renewed his motion for his discharge on the ground that he was not charged with any crime in any information now on file. This motion was overruled. A preliminary examination had been given the defendant and it had been held that there were reasonable grounds for believing that a crime of fourth degree manslaughter had been committed by him in the killing of Iva Lattin on July 13, 1921. It is admitted that defendant received a copy of the amended information of October 9, 1922, charging him with the killing of Iva Lattin and it appears that the information of October 9 was read to the jury at the opening of the trial. It appears also that the attorney then representing the state was without knowledge that the information filed October 13, 1922, was in the records and it also shows that notice of this erroneous information had been served upon defendant more than two months prior to the commencement of the trial.
Errors are assigned on the overruling of the motions to discharge the defendant, also in allowing the second amended information to be stricken from the files, and further that the court erred in refusing to continue the cause.
Criticisms are made of the instructions given the jury, but we discover nothing in them approaching material error. The sufficiency of the evidence, though questioned, appears to be ample to uphold the verdict.
Judgment affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.