(after stating the facts.) This case was first heard by the court of appeals at the January term, 1896; and upon the record and briefs and the oral argument then submitted the court was of the opinion that it is necessary to the legality of the trial either that the defendant plead to the indictment, or that a plea be entered for him in case of his refusal to do so, and that the judgment in this case should be reversed, and the case remanded. A motion for a rehearing was made and granted, and after such re-
By the law in force at the time of the commission of the offense for which appellant was tried in the court below, such offense was a misdemeanor. The question is, can the conviction stand without arraignment of the appellant, or plea in his behalf, at the trial? In Mansfield’s Digest of the Laws of Arkansas an “arraignment” is defined to be the reading of the indictment by the clerk to the defendant, and asking him if he pleads guilty or not guilty to the indictment. It provides that arraignments shall only be made in indictments for felony, and may be dispensed with by the court with the defendant’s consent; that upon arraignment, or calling of the indictment for trial if there is no arraignment, the defendant must either move to set aside the indictment, or plead thereto; that the only pleading on the part of the defendant is a demurrer or a plea; that the demurrer or plea must be put in in open court, and may be oral, but an entry thereof must be made on the record. It prescribes that there shall be but three kinds of pleas to an indictment, viz. a plea of guilty, not guilty, and a plea of former conviction or acquittal of the offense charged. It provides forms for the entry of the record of the demurrer and' plea. It declares that an issue of fact arises upon a plea of not guilty, or of former conviction or acquittal; that in the trial the prosecuting attorney may read to the jury the indictment, state the defendant’s plea thereto, and the punishment prescribed by law for the offense, and may make a brief statement of the evidence on which the government relies; that the counsel for the defendant may then make a brief* statement of the evidence upon which the defendant relies. Under these provisions of the statute, it has been several times'decided in Arkansas, in appeals from convictions in felony cases, that it is error to proceed to trial without a plea from the defendant. Lacefield vs State, 34 Ark. 275;
