Criminal appellate review powers cannot reopen a signed judgment where the Code bars alteration or recall of the appeal.

A criminal appellate court cannot recall a signed judgment and reopen an appeal under inherent powers where the Code bars alteration, review or setting aside of that judgment, except for clerical correction. The court must not dismiss a criminal appeal merely for absence of the appellants or counsel; it must adjourn or decide on merits. The provision for hearing the appellant or pleader applies conditionally on appearance, and notice of hearing need be given to the appellant or his pleader, not necessarily both. The earlier recall order directing rehearing was therefore without jurisdiction, and the refusal to interfere was sustained.

---

---

Issues: Whether an appellate criminal court, after disposing of an appeal on merits in the absence of the appellants and their counsel, could recall that order and direct a rehearing of the appeal.

Analysis: A criminal appeal cannot be dismissed merely because the appellants or their counsel are absent; the appellate court must either adjourn the hearing or dispose of the appeal on merits. Once the appeal has been heard and the judgment signed, the court has no power under the Code to alter, review, or set aside that judgment, except to correct a clerical error. The absence of a detailed judgment may make the order vulnerable to correction by a superior court, but it does not confer jurisdiction on the same court to reopen the appeal. The reference to hearing the appellant or pleader in the appellate provision is conditional on appearance, and notice of the date of hearing need be given to the appellant or to his pleader, not necessarily to both. Inherent powers cannot be used to do what the Code expressly prohibits.

Conclusion: The order recalling the earlier dismissal and directing rehearing was without jurisdiction, and the appeal was rightly rejected.

Final Conclusion: The appellate court's signed judgment could not be reopened under inherent powers or otherwise in the face of the statutory bar on review or alteration, so the refusal to interfere was sustained.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the Code expressly bars alteration or review of a signed criminal appellate judgment, inherent powers cannot be invoked to recall that judgment and reopen the appeal.

---