People v. Smith — 9 N.Y. Crim. 233

Majority

p. 233

Supreme Court — General Term — Second Department.

May 14, 1894.

PEOPLE v. WILLIAM J. SMITH.

(60 St. Rep. 246; 78 Hun, 179.)

Headnote

Criminal law—Plea oe guilty.

Section 333 of the Criminal Code does not prohibit a conviction on a plea of guilty of manslaughter in the second degree, though the indictment is for murder in the first degree.

Application for writ of habeas corpus on the ground that imprisonment is illegal.

p. 234

Stapleton & Miles, for appellant.

James W. Ridgway, dist. atty., for the People.

There is no merit in the contention urged by the appellant. Section 35 of the Penal Code provides as follows: “Upon the trial of an indictment the prisoner may be convicted of •the crime charged therein, or of a lesser degree of the same crime, ■or an attempt to commit the crime so charged, or an attempt to commit a lesser degree of the same crime.” This section speaks for itself. Section 332, Code Grim. Pro., provides that no conviction shall he had upon a plea in cases where the crime is punishable by death or state prison for life. The appellant was not convicted of any such crime, but of one punishable for a term of years. Section 332 does not provide that a man may not plead guilty of any crime whatever, but simply that no man shall be convicted upon such a plea where the punishment is by death or imprisonment for life. The matter is too simple and plain to require argument. It may be added that courts are hound to decide under well-settled rules of statutory construction, without regard to what was the intention of the man who drafted the law. Order affirmed.

All concur.