Gius v. United States
Opinion of the Court
The defendants in the court below (plaintiffs in error) were indicted under section 127 of the Penal Code of Alaska (Carter’s Annotated Alaska Codes) for the crime of keeping a house of ill fame. A trial was had before a jury of 6 persons, resulting in a verdict against the defendants. Judgment was entered in accordance with this verdict, from which a writ of error was sued out to this court.
The principal error assigned is the action of the court in compelling the defendants to go to trial before a jury of 6 persons, refusing to allow the full panel of 12 jurors. Section 171, p. 179, Code Civ.Proc. (Carter’s Ann.Alaska Codes), providing for the formation of juries, provides, among other things, as follows: “The jury shall consist of twelve persons, unless the parties consent to a less number. Such consent shall be entered in the journal: Provided, that hereafter, in trials for misdemeanors, six persons shall constitute a legal jury.”
Upon the authority of this decision, the judgment of the District Court is reversed, and the cause remanded for a new trial.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- GIUS v. UNITED STATES
- Status
- Published