In Re Baldwin

Mamie Baldwin, in whose behalf the petition was filed, is held in custody under two judgments of the municipal court of the city of Los Angeles, in causes numbered 07879 and 08870, which by stipulation were tried jointly before a jury. Each complaint charged the commission of a misdemeanor by having in possession alcoholic intoxicating liquors, etc. Each complaint alleged that the defendant, before the commission of the stated offense, had been convicted in the same court of another offense of like character to the one for which defendant was now being prosecuted. In the original petition on which the writ was issued herein, petitioner alleged that there was no finding by court or jury in said causes of any previous conviction. For this reason petitioner claimed that the judgments were in excess of the jurisdiction of the court in this, that in cause No. 07879 the court imposed a sentence of thirty days’ imprisonment, whereas the maximum penalty that could have been imposed would have been a fine of $500; and also in this, that in cause No. 08870 the court imposed a sentence of $750 or that in lieu thereof the defendant suffer imprisonment for a term of seventy-five days, whereas…