State v. Nichols
State v. Nichols
Opinion of the Court
Defendant was indicted and tried for the crime of shooting with intent to murder, and found guilty of shooting with intent to kill. He prosecutes this appeal, relying on three bills of exception directed principally at the .manner in which the grand and petit juries had been drawn. The contention of apppellant, briefly stated, is that the jury commission failed to carry out the provisions of the law regulating the manner of the selection of juries: (1) In that it failed to select at its first meeting a list of 300 names; (2) that if said names were so selected no list thereof was made; (3) that the list, if made, was locked and sealed in the venire box, which prevented the public from inspecting it; (4) that no detailed procSs verbal of-the action of the jury commission was made, and that the proces verbals were never recorded in a book provided for that purpose; (5) and that the failure to comply with these mandatory provisions of the law strikes all of the proceedings of the jury commission, from the date of its first meeting, with nullity, and that the attempt made by said commission to draw the petit jury by which defendant ,was afterwards tried and convicted was not in compliance with the provisions of the law.
While the action of the jury commission
The clerk of court kept a record of the list of 300 names found in the jury box and also the proces verbals of the meetings of the jury commission. While the law seems to require that the proces verbals of the jury commission should be kept in a book, there does not appear to be any provision requiring the list of jurors to be recorded in a book,- other than such recordation as would result from the inclusion of the names of the jurors in the proces verbals of the meetings of the jury commission.
The names of the grand and petit jurors were kept on file in the clerk’s office for inspection, and were duly published, so that all parties accused knew or could have ascertained their names.
The certificate of the clerk of court shows that the jury commissioners were given due notice to appear at the drawing of the petit jury.
The regular jury panel was not exhausted in obtaining a jury of five to try the defendant, who did not exhaust his challenges.
The first week of the term of court was grand, jury week, and began on October 16, 1922. The panel out of which was drawn the jury to try defendant was drawn and summoned for the week beginning October 23, 1923, which was the beginning of the second week of that particular term of court.
Admitting the irregularities complained of in the selection of the grand and petit juries, defendant has not shown any fraud practiced or wrong committed prejudicial to his rights. At best the injury which he. suffered, if any, was merely constructive, and not actual.
Judgment affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- STATE v. NICHOLS
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- (Syllabus by Editorial Staff.) 1. Jury 64 — Commission held to have substantially complied with statute in selecting names for venire, list. The statute was substantially complied with by the jury commission in selecting names for venire list where they removed from original list and from venire box names of those Who had served, died, removed, or become exempt or disqualified, and substituted (sufficient number of other qualified jurors. 2. Grand Jury 82(l)— irregularities in selection not ground for quashing venires in absence of fraud or prejudice. Under Act No, 135 of 1898, § 15, irregularities in the selection of grand and petit juries were not ground for quashing the venire where it was not shown that any fraud was practiced or wrong committed prejudicial to de-, fendant.