146 N.E. 486 | Ill. | 1925
An information was filed in the county court of Warren county against William Wallace containing three counts, the second of which charged that on September 18, 1923, he did "unlawfully sell certain intoxicating liquor," and the third that he did "unlawfully have in his possession certain intoxicating liquor within prohibition territory with intent to sell the same, in violation of the Prohibition act of the State of Illinois." A motion to quash the indictment and each count was made and overruled, a plea of not guilty was entered, and upon a trial the jury returned a verdict finding the defendant guilty in manner and form as charged in counts 2 and 3. He made a motion for a new trial, which was overruled, and a motion in arrest of judgment, which wag also overruled, and he was sentenced to six months' imprisonment in the county jail and to pay a fine Of $150 upon each count. He sued out a writ of error from the Appellate Court for the Second District, assigning among other errors the overruling of his motion in arrest of judgment. The Appellate Court affirmed the judgment, and the defendant sued out of this court a writ of error, assigning, among other errors, that the Appellate Court erred in not finding that the motion in arrest of judgment should have been sustained and in not reversing the judgment for that reason.
In his brief in this court the plaintiff in error argues that it was error to overrule the motion in arrest of judgment for the reason that the verdict was insufficient upon which to base the judgment. This brief was filed on November 12, 1924. The case of People v. Barnes,
No waiver or consent by a defendant to a criminal prosecution can confer jurisdiction or authorize his conviction in the absence of an accusation charging him with a violation of the criminal law. (People v. Pilewski,
A point presented for the first time in the reply brief of the plaintiff in error ordinarily will not receive consideration *123 but since an accusation charging a crime is the foundation of the proceeding, without which no conviction can be sustained, the court will not, when the insufficiency of the charge is brought to its attention before final judgment, affirm a conviction.
The judgment will be reversed.
Judgment reversed.