Commonwealth v. Bowden

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Commonwealth v. Bowden, 9 Mass. 494 (Mass. 1813)

Commonwealth v. Bowden

Opinion of the Court

* By the Court.

The ancient strictness of the law upon this subject has very much abated in the English courts; nor would it be consistent with the genius of our government or laws to use compulsory means to effect an agreement among jurors. The practice of withdrawing a juror, where there existed no prospect of a verdict, has frequently been adopted at criminal trials in this Court, and the exception taken in this case cannot prevail.

The defendant took nothing by his motion.

Reference

Full Case Name
Commonwealth versus John Bowden
Cited By
43 cases
Status
Published