Utah Supreme Court, 1976

Short v. Smith

Utah Supreme Court · Decided May 26, 1976 · Henriod, Ellett, Crockett, Tuckett, Maughan

550 P.2d 204; 1976 Utah LEXIS 844 (Pacific Reporter, Second Series)

Cases that cite this one

2 later published cases cite this decision.

Kodama v. Johnson (Colo. 1990)
State v. Sommers (Utah 1979)

This list shows which later cases cite this one. It does not say how they treated it, and no review of that has been done. Not a substitute for Shepard’s or KeyCite — verify before relying.

Opinion of the Court

HENRIOD, Chief Justice:

Appeal from a denial of a petition for writ of habeas corpus. Affirmed

Short was charged in the Salt Lake City, Utah Court by title, chapter and section with forgery,1 a third-degree felony. In detailing, the complaint has the words “did attempt” to commit the offense in the body thereof. He was bound over to the district court and likewise charged by information and the quoted words were deleted by the district judge before Short entered his plea. He was represented by competent counsel and was convicted of the felony before a jury, sentenced and committed. He did not perfect an appeal within time, but later on filed the within writ, asserting that he should have been convicted only of a misdemeanor because of the quoted but deleted words mentioned.

His appeal is without merit, since 1) he cannot substitute a habeas corpus proceeding for an orderly, statutory appeal,2 and 2) charging him by the common law name of the offense and referring to the statute (title, chapter and section) galvanizes and settles the charge,3 irrespective of conflict in language in the detailed description of the offense as a misdemeanor, and anyway the information may be corrected before plea.4

ELLETT, CROCKETT, TUCKETT and MAUGHAN, JJ., concur.

. Title 76, Chapter 6, Sec. 501, U.C.A.1953, as amended.

. Bryant v. Turner, 19 Utah 2d 284, 431 P.2d 121 (1967).

. Harris v. Smith, 541 P.2d 343 (Utah 1975).

. Title 77-17-3, U.C.A.1953, as amended.

Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.