People v. Kiernan
People v. Kiernan
Opinion of the Court
The prisoner’s challenge to the array was made in writing; issue taken by the district attorney upon its alleged-facts; that issue tried by the court; and the challenge overruled. It averred, as the error in drawing the panel of additional jurors ordered by the court, “ that the names of such jurors were not drawn from the box or boxes by the court, directed, publicly, in open court, in the presence of the court, as bylaw provided.” The'broadest possible construction of this language would result in an averment of but two facts; one, that the names of additional jurors were not drawn from the box directed by the court; and the other, that they were - not drawn in open court. The mode of drawing is prescribed in detail by the Code of Civil Procedure (sec. 1035, et seq.). There-are three boxes provided for the ballots, in which are the names of the jurors selected to serve for three years. Box No. 1, at the beginning of the three-years term, contains the names of all the jurors liable to be drawn; No. 2, as terms are held, contains the names of jurors who have been drawn and served;.. and box No. 3 contains duplicate ballots of the trial jurors-selected who reside in the city or town where a trial term is appointed to be held — so that box No. 1 is the ordinary source of supply, and box No. 3 is provided for an emergency, when there is no time to call jurors from a distance. As the terms-proceed, the names of jurors who have served are placed in box No. 2, so that the contents of boxes 1 and 2 are continually changing. If, during the three years,, the ballots in No. 1 become exhausted, the drawing goes on from box No. 2 until the-new lists are transmitted (sec. 1051). "When additional jurors are found necessary at a term of the court, an order is made “ requiring the clerk of the county to, draw, and the sheriff to notify, any number of trial jurors specified, in the order which)
The further argument of -'this appeal rested upon the facts; . and the contention was urgently pressed that there was no evidence of premeditation or deliberation which warranted a verdict of murder in the first degree, and that the court erred in refusing to take that question from the jury. We have read the evidence Carefully, and given it the reflection and study which the importance of the case demands, and feel constrained to say that there is evidence of deliberation and premeditation ■upon which it was the province of the jury to pass. The pris- ■ oner testified, in his own behalf, admitting that he shot McCormick, but claiming that it was unintentional, and in the heat of a struggle, in which the deceased was the assailant, and the Italian witness Asproth apparently coming to his assistance. In very many particulars this version of the affray was contradicted, and the jury were led to disbelieve the prisoner’s evi-dence. There was testimony that on Saturday evening, the night before the killing, McCormick, who was the prisoner’s landlord, was at defendant’s saloon, and threatened to dispossess him. Dr. Burnett testified that the prisoner told him that McCormick said on Saturday night that he would dispossess him on Monday morning. That McCormick was in the saloon on that Saturday night, and said something on the subject of the prisoner’s leaving the premises, is admitted by Kiernan in his testimony. On that night and after McCormick left, it is claimed by the prosecution that the prisoner fired his pistol, which had remained loaded for a long time, for the purpose of testing its . reliability in a contemplated emergency. The prisoner says that he discharged it in his saloon, aiming at the floor; that he did this “ a few nights before the Sunday of the alleged crime, but • could not say exactly ” what night, and when asked specifically if it was the Friday or Saturday night before, he answered: ■“Well, I won’t say the exact night when it' was.” He added •that when he went to McCormick’s there were two unexploded
Passing now to the occasion of the killing, we have only the ■ evidence of the prisoner and of the Italian to consider. That ' there was some altercation over the rent is made certain by both witnesses. The prisoner had with him money enough to pay the rent He says he counted it out and offered to pay, but McCormick refused it Either this must have been true, • or the prisoner must have refused to pay the sum demanded, to account for the dispute which certainly arose. In the process of the altercation the Italian heard, as he says, the prisoner’s threat: “You or me'going to die.” Whether the Italian told the truth, and whether, as a foreigner, he was sufficiently versed in our language to correctly understand what was in fast said, were' subjects for the comment of counsel and the • consideration of the jury. The latter heard the witness testify. They could judge how accurately or how imperfectly he understood the questions asked, and how well he could clothe his thought in the language of the country. That advantage we have not. The jury trusted in the truth and accuracy of the witness, and we cannot say that they erred in the conclusion, . although to us it appears that they might well have hesitated. Assuming, therefore, as we must, the truth and accuracy of the witness, it becomes apparent that there was time enough during • the dispute, and before the shooting, for deliberation and premeditation within the rule as we have often stated it, even if the jury did not believe that the fatal purpose was considered, and precaution taken for its success on the night before (Leighton agt. People, 88 N. Y., 117; People agt. Majone, 91 id., 211; People agt. Conroy, 97 id., 75). Eor the prisoner had time, not only to form the purpose in his mind, but to announce that intention to his victim, and then carry it into effect After the
The judgment of conviction should be affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- The People agt. Patrick Kiernan
- Status
- Published