State v. La Croix
State v. La Croix
Opinion of the Court
Upon a duly verified information plaintiff in error was prosecuted for and found guilty of the crime of burglary in the third degree, and from a judgment of conviction
Section 8 of Chapter 64 of the Laws of 1895 provides that: “No information shall be filed against any person for any offense until such person shall have had a preliminary examination thereof as provided by law before a justice of the peace or other examining magistrate or officer, unless such person shall waive such right; provided however, that information may be filed without such examinations against fugitives from justice. ” Under the rule by which presumptions are entertained in support of judicial proceedings, in the absence of evidence
At the trial, and after nine jurors had been selected and impaneled, the court adjourned until 9 o’clock the next morning, when one of the jurors thus chosen and sworn to try the case failed to appear; whereupon the court, after being informed that said juror, upon the adjournment of court the evening before, had gone to his residence in the country, six miles away, discharged said juror, and ordered the selection of another in his stead, and at the same time gave the defendant the right to exercise three additional peremptory challenges, none of which were used. After the completion of the jury and the commencement of the trial, the juror discharged on account of absence came into court. Without the claim that -the accused was prejudiced, his counsel’s contention that the action of the court in discharging the absent juror is error for which the cause must be reversed cannot be entertained with favor. While litigants, within the statutory restrictions, have power to reject, it is not their province to select jurors; and, ordinarily, when a prisoner has been tried-by one impartial jury, he should not be allowed another trial to another impartial jury, simply because the court excused a qualified juror and selected in his stead another, possessing the same qualifications, and against whom no objection is urged. The fifth headnote in People v. Barker, 60 Mich. 277, 27 N. W. 539, is as follows: ‘ ‘During the impaneling of a j ary in a criminal case, and before a full panel had been secured, an adjournment was had until the following morning. Upon the opening of court at the appointed hour, a juror who had been accepted as one of the panel prior to such adjournment failed to appear, and after an hour’s search was found in a room of an hotel, playing pool. ■The court excused him from the panel, his place being filled by
The information charges that plaintiff in error broke and entered “the store building of William J. Hughes and Henry Slechta, partners doing business in the firm name and style of Hughes & Slechta,” and it appears from the cross-examination of said William J. Hughes that the above named firm is composed of himself and Christina Slechta, the wife of Henry Slechta, and that the store building in question, occupied by said firm of Hughes & Slechta for the purposes of trade, is owned by George Backus. In response to a question propounded by the prosecuting attorney on redirect examination, and over the general objection that the same was “irrelevant and immaterial” the witness was allowed to state that at- the time in question there was no other general store building in Gann Valley, Buffalo county, S. D., and this ruling of the court is assigned as error. To prevent surprise, and enable the court and counsel to deal with an objection understandingly, their attention must be brought directly to the specific point wherein the question is claimed to be irrelevant, and immaterial, and, unless this is done no question is presented to an appellate court for review. Mining Co. v. Noonan, 3 Dak. 189; Agricultural Works v. Young, (S. D.) 62 N. W. 432; 3 Rice, Cr. Ev. p. 259, and numerous cases there cited.
Upon the ground of a variance between the information and the proof as to the ownership of the building and the stock of mer
Reference
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- 1. Laws 1895, Chap. 64, ? 3, requires an offense charged in an information to be stated with the same precision as is required in an indictment. Comp. Laws, § 7249, provides that an indictment is sufficient if the act charged is clearly set forth in ordinary language, so that a person of common understanding could know what is intended, and with such cer; tainty as that the court can pronounce judgment according to the right of the case. Section 6741 provides that every person who breaks and enters in the nighttime any building, etc., in which any property is kept, with intent to steal or commit any felony, is guilty of burglary in the third degree. Held, that an information was sufficient which charged that defendant, in the nighttime, burglariously broke and entered with intent, etc., burglariously to steal, though it did not state the degree of the offense charged. 2. On appeal it will be presumed in favor of an order of the trial court overruling an unsupported motion to set agide the information that such inj ' formation was not filed until a preliminary examination had either been held, or waived-by defendant, as required by Laws 1895, Chap. 64, § 8. After impaneling and swearing the jury in a criminal case, the court adjourned until the next morning, when one of such jurors did not appear, and the court discharged him. Another juror was selected by oi’der of the court, which gave defendant the right to exercise three additional peremptory challenges, none of which were used. After the jury was thus completed, the juror discharged came into court. Held, that a conviction would not be set aside in the absence of any claim by defendant that he was prejudiced. 4. An objection that evidence is irrelevant and immaterial is insufficient. 5. An information alleged that defendant broke and entered the store building of H. & S., situate in the town of G., with intent to steal the goods of said H. & S. The evidence showed that such firm was composed of H. and S.’s wife; that the store occupied by such firm was owned by B., and contained a stock of merchandise belonging to such firm. Held, that the variance between the information and proof was immaterial. (Syllabus by the Court.