Ferguson v. Hoffman

The opinion of the court was delivered by Case No. 40,291 is an appeal from an order of the district
court of Leavenworth county denying appellant's (hereinafter
called plaintiff) petition for a writ of habeas corpus. Case No.
40,297 is an original proceeding in this court in which plaintiff
filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus also. Appellee,
hereinafter referred to as the state, moved for consolidation of
the two cases, which was granted by this court. On October 13, 1952, in a justice of the peace court in Labette
county plaintiff was charged with the theft, on or about midnight
of October 12, 1952, of a box of six slabs of bacon valued at
$30.00 from a Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad Company refrigerated
produce boxcar, which boxcar was en route from Iowa to Oklahoma.
He was bound over to the district court of Labette county where
he was charged in an information with burglary in the second
degree and larceny. In the original criminal trial plaintiff was
represented by able counsel who requested the appointment of a
commission to investigate plaintiff's mental condition, which
request was granted. The commission duly appointed by the court
was composed of three medical doctors who found plaintiff was
sane and able to comprehend his position so as to make his proper
defense. The state dismissed the charge of larceny, leaving on
the charge of second degree burglary, to which plaintiff entered
his plea of guilty.