State v. Pratt
State v. Pratt
Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the Court was delivered by
We refer to the case of the State vs. Jennings, decided at this term, for explanation of what we shall say in this case, nearly resembling that.
Here it appears from the certificate of the clerk, which contains an extract from the journal of-the Court, that at the regular term of the Court, beginning the first Monday (7th day) of October, 1867, no juries were empanelled or
The power of a Circuit Judge to order an extra Court depends upon the Act of 1825, (7 Stat. 329, § 1,) and by that it is made his duty when “ ordering the extra Court, to order juries to be drawn for said extra Court as well as for the next regular Court.” The Clerk’s Act of 1839, (11 Stat. 74, § 13,) gives power to the Clerk, with the assistance of the Sheriff and in the presence of a magistrate, to draw juries at any regular term, when no Judge attends, and also provides that “ if an extra Court shall be ordered, he shall in the presence of the Sheriff and such magistrate draw the necessary juries and issue the proper venires for such extra term.” This provision furnishes juries for an extra Court when they could not have been drawn for it at a previous regular term, and is adapted to the extra Courts
The drawing was then without authority, and it was also irregular. It was not from a list authorized by any law of the State, and it was not conformable to any general orders of the Military Commandant; not conformable to General Orders No. 32, because that makes qualified jurors of only “all citizens assessed for taxes and who have paid taxes for the current year,” — nor to Orders No. 89, because that makes qualified jurors of only “all citizens assessed for taxes, and who have paid taxes for the "current year, and who are qualified, and have been, or may be duly registered as voters.” Nor to Orders No. 100, of October 17; 1867, because in that the first paragraph speaks of jurors already drawn and summoned; and the second paragraph which directs drawing from the lists of “all citizens who have paid taxes for the current year,” is confined to “drawing juries at the fall terms of the District and Circuit Courts for the next term of the said Courts.” The extra Court at which the jurors were drawn for this case was not a fall term and the jurors were not drawn for the next'term of the Court.
The judgment is arrested, and it is ordered that the .prisoner be remanded for trial.
Motion granted.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.