Godfrey

In brief, the history of the litigation represented by this appeal is that in the month of May, 1925, defendant was convicted of the crime of robbery. His appeal from the judgment rendered against him resulted in an affirmance of such judgment. {People v. Smith, 76 Cal. App. 105 [ 243 Pac. 882 ].) In the month of January, 1929, which was nearly four years after the date of his conviction, defendant presented a motion in the trial court to vacate the judgment theretofore rendered against him. In substance, the grounds of such motion were that the verdict of the jury by which defendant was found guilty of the charge preferred against him was void—first, for the reason that on the return of the verdict by the jury the clerk of the court failed to read the verdict to the jury or to inquire of the jury whether it was their verdict— all as required by section 1164 of the Penal Code, and, secondly (without going into detail as set forth in the motion), that the grand jury which presented the indictment against defendant was not legally drawn or qualified. The motion, by order of the trial court, was denied, and defendant has appealed to this court from such order.

In his closing brief…