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131 Ala. 44

Marks v. State

Supreme Court of Alabama

Decided November 15, 1901

Supreme Court of Alabama · decided 1901-11-15

Tried before the Hon. B. C. Jones. The appellant in this case was prosecuted and convicted in the city court of Bessemer for an 'assault and battery. The facts of the case are sufficiently stated in the opinion. That the record proper in this case shows no judgment of conviction that will support an appeal to the Supreme Court. — Wright v. State, 103 Ala. 95; Ayers v. State, 71 Ala. 11.

Relies on Driggers v. State · Wright v. State · Ayers v. State

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 1901-11-15

How this case has been cited

Cited by 4 later decisions — most recently September 1968

4 state decisions

201901191019201930194019501960decided

Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.

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HARALSON, J.

¶1There must be a judgment of conviction to support an appeal in a criminal case. Ayers v. State, 71 Ala. 11.

¶2*45Here, the defendant pleaded not guilty. The minute entry recited, “Thereupon, the court proceeded to hear the evidence, without the intervention of a jury, according to law. And after hearing the same, finds the defendant guilty of assault and battery, and assessed a fine of $5.00.”

¶3This entry partakes more of a statement by the clerk of the action of the court, than of an expression by the couid itself of its own action.

¶4There must be some words, in an entry relied on as a judgment in a criminal case, to show that there has been a judgment rendered — certain and complete in itself; and while it is not necessary to adhere to the usual form, — “It is therefore considered and adjudged that the defendant is guilty as charged in the indictment” (or not guilty according to the verdict) — yet, there must be some words employed to show that a judgment bv the court has been pronounced on the verdict rendered. Wright v. State, 103 Ala. 95; Driggers v. State, 123 Ala. 46.

¶5Here, the only word used to indicate a judgment, following the court’s finding, is the word “finds,’ ’ in the sentence, “And after hearing the evidence [the court] finds the defendant guilty,” etc. This is no more than a declaration, that on hearing the evidence the court, trying the case without a jury, finds the defendant guilty. Finding him guilty is what the court did, in the place of a jury, if the case had been so tried. It was the verdict or finding of the court on the facts, which should have been followed by a judgment of conviction. Such finding did not constitute an adjudication of guilt, and is not sufficient to support the appeal taken.

¶6Let the appeal be dismissed.

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