Hilton v. Curry
Hilton v. Curry
Opinion of the Court
The plaintiff was summoned to attend as a trial juror before the superior court of San Francisco, Department No. 3 thereof, and in obedience thereto appeared and attended as such trial juror upon twenty days in the months of March and April, 1897, exclusive of days upon which he actually served as a juror in the trial of causes therein. During all this time this department of the superior court tried only civil cases. Thereafter he demanded from the defendant,who was the county clerk and ex officio clerk of said superior court, a certificate stating that he had so attended and was entitled to he paid therefor the sum of forty dollars, computed at the rate of two dollars per day for each day’s attendance. The defendant refused to give him this certificate, and he thereupon applied to the superior court for a writ of mandate commanding the defendant as such clerk to make and issue to him the said certificate. A demurrer to his petition was overruled by the court, and judgment was entered in his favor in accordance with his petition, from which the present appeal has been taken.
The right to compensation for service as a juror is purely statutory, and it is for the legislature to determine in what cases such compensation shall be made, as well as the amount and mode of payment, or it may withhold any compensation therefor. In the absence of any provision upon the subject the juror cannot claim any compensation for his services, and he can in no1 ease claim compensation to any greater amount, or from any other source, than is prescribed by statute. It has never been the legislative policy of this state that any portion of the jurors’ fees in San Francisco should be paid out of the public treasury. The first statute upon this subject (Stats. 1850, p. 421) applied
Eepeals by implication are not favored in the law, and whenever there are two statutes upon the same subject courts will endeavor to harmonize them so that,if possible, effect may be given to the provisions of each. It is only when there is a repugnancy or inconsistency between the two that the later act will be
We hold, therefore, that the provisions in the act of February 27, 1866, for the mode in which jurors’ fees shall be paid, were not repealed by the act of 1895, and that as there is no provision in the statutes making the payment of jurors’ fees in San Francisco a charge upon the public treasury, the petitioner was not entitled to the certificate asked for. It may be added that, if the contention of the respondent should be sustained, as the act of 1895 makes no provision for the payment of jurorsf fees by the parties to a civil action, the entire compensation for their attendance must be made from the public treasury, irrespective of the days in which the juror has served on the trial of causes, or whether their service was in civil or in criminal cases. The provision in the act of 1895 in reference to the fees of witnesses is in the same terms as that in reference to the fees of jurors, and there would be the same ground for holding that provisions in former statutes determining the mode in which witness fees are to be paid have been repealed, and that the fees of witnesses are also to be paid out of the public treasury.
The judgment is reversed.
Garoutte, J., and Van Dyke, J., concurred.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- SAMUEL M. HILTON v. CHARLES F. CURRY, County Clerk of the City and County of San Francisco
- Cited By
- 10 cases
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- Fees of Jurors in San Francisco—Charge upon Public Treasury—Certificate of Clerk—Mandamus.—There is no statutory provision making the fees of trial jurors in San Francisco a charge upon the public treasury, or directing the clerk to issue a certificate stating the attendance oif the jurors, and the amount payable to each; and mandamus will not lie to compel the issuance of such a certificate by the clerk. The writ of mandate only issues to compel the performance of an act which the law specially enjoins as a duty resulting from an office, trust or station. Id.—Unauthorized Certificate—Evidence.—A certificate of ti e county clerk, not authorized by statute, can have no legal effect, and would be hut the mere declaration of a fact which is capable of being shown by other competent evidence. Id.—Right of Juror to Compensation Statutory.—The right to compensation for service of a juror is purely statutory, and, in the absence of any provision upon the subject, the juror cannot claim any compensation for his services; and he can only claim such an amount and mode of payment therefor as is prescribed by statute. Id.—Statutes Regulating Juror’s Fees — Mode of Payment—Provisions Applicable to San Francisco—Repeal.—The Act of 1870, as amended in 1872, providing for a certificate by the county clerk, and the exception of San Francisco therefrom, and the act of 1866, providing the mode in which jurors shall be paid in San Francisco, were not repealed by the act of 1895 establishing the fees of jurors throughout the state, so far as respects the mode of the payment of jurors, though the latter act controls all previous acts as to the amount of fees allowed in all of the counties of the state, including San Francisco. Id.—Repeals by Implication not Favored.—Repeals by implication are not favored in the law, and whenever there are two statutes upon the same subject, courts will endeavor to harmonize them so that, if possible, effect may be given to the provisions of each. It is only when there is a repugnancy or inconsistency between them that the latter act will be held to repeal the prior one.