In re the Maxwell

57 P. 412, 19 Utah 495, 1899 Utah LEXIS 112
CourtUtah Supreme Court
DecidedJune 1, 1899
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 57 P. 412 (In re the Maxwell) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Utah Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re the Maxwell, 57 P. 412, 19 Utah 495, 1899 Utah LEXIS 112 (Utah 1899).

Opinion

MiNee, J.

The plaintiff in his petition alleges that he is a citizen of the United States ; that on the 27th day of June, 1898, in the fourth judicial district court, in Utah County, Utah, the county attorney of said county made and filed in such county an information in writing, charging the petitioner, under the name of John Carter, with the crime of robbery; that thereafter the petitioner was duly arraigned on such information, and a' plea of not guilty entered.

That thereafter, on the 19th day of September, 1898, said petitioner was placed on trial on the charge contained in said information before the court and eight jurors, and found guilty of said charge, and duly sentenced to the State prison at Salt Lake City, Utah, for the period of eighteen years ; that the petitioner is now confined in the State prison and imprisoned there by Geo. N. Dow, the warden of said prison, and is serving such sentence.

The petitioner claims that such conviction and imprisonment is illegal for the reason,

1st. That holding him to answer for a charge of felony, otherwise than upon a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, abridges his privileges and immunities as a citizen of the United States, contrary to Section 1, of Art. 14, of the amendments to the Constitution of the United States.

2d. That in trying him before a jury of only eight persons instead of twelve, and upon a verdict of guilty by such a jury, pronouncing judgment against him, requiring that he be imprisoned in the State prison for a period of eighteen years, abridges his privileges as a citizen of the United States, contrary to the provisions of [498]*498Article 6 of the amendments to the Constitution of the United States.

3d. That by reason of the verdict of guilty by a jury of eight persons, and the judgment of imprisonment thereon, he has been deprived of his liberty without due process of law, within the meaning of Section 1, of Article 14 of the amendments to the Constitution of the United States.

In the case of ex parte McKee, decided at the January term of this court, 57 Pac. Rep.,-19 Utah, 231, the same questions were raised as are embraced in the second and third grounds contained in the complaint in this case. In that case, after a careful examination of the Constitution and statutory provisions of the law, and many decisions bearing thereon, we held, in substance, that the prohibitory provision of the fifth and sixth amendments to the Constitution of the United States applies exclusively to the United States, and not to the respective States.

2d. That the fourteenth amendment to the Constitution of the United States does not limit the power of State governments in the prosecution of criminals, to any particular mode of procedure in the selection of its jurors or manner of conducting its trials, but does require that such trials shall be conducted in due course of law, according to the prescribed forms and judicial procedure of the State for the protection of the individual rights and liberties of its citizens.

3d. That Sec. 10, Art. 1, of the constitution of Utah is not in conflict with the Federal Constitution, or the amendments thereto, and a conviction under Sec. 1295, Rev. Stat., is legal and in due process of law, and not in violation of the fourteenth amendment to the Constitution of the United States.

[499]*4994th. That under Sec. 10, Art. 1, Const., Utah, and Sec. 1295, Rev. Stat. 1898, a jury for the trial of one accused of grand larceny committed since the State was admitted into the Union, may lawfully consist of eight jurors.

Upon an examination of this case we discover no good reason for modifying our opinion in the above case. The decision therein is correct, and is also decisive of the questions embraced in the petitioner’s contention above referred to.

It is also contended that the petitioner was held to answer a charge of felony otherwise than upon a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, and that he was held, convicted, and imprisoned upon an information filed by the county attorney charging him with a felony; that such acts were illegal and abridge his privileges and immunities as a citizen of the United States, under Sec. 1, Art. 14, of the amendments to the Constitution of the United States, which provides that ‘£ all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and.subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States.”

It is contended that the provision that no State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States,” applies and extends to citizens of each State and to State courts. i

Sec. 13, Art. 1, of the constitution of Utah, provides: “ Offenses heretofore required to be prosecuted by indictment, shall be prosecuted by information after examination and commitment by a magistrate, unless the examination be waived by the accused with the consent of the [500]*500State, or by indictment, with or without such examination and commitment. The grand jury shall consist of seven persons, five of whom must concur to find an indictment; but no grand jury shall be drawn or summoned unless, in the opinion of the judge of the district, public interest demands it.”

Sec. 21, Art. 8, Const. Utah, reads as follows: “Judges of the supreme court, district courts, and justices of the peace, shall be conservators of the peace, and may hold preliminary examinations in cases of felony.”

In Walker v. Sauvinet, 92 U. S., 90, it was said, upon a discussion of this same question, in an action which was brought by a colored man against the keeper of a coffee house in New Orleans for refusing him refreshments in violation of the constitution of the State securing to the colored race equal rights and privileges in such cases, that a trial by jury was not a privilege or immunity of citizenship which the States were forbidden to abridge, but the requirement of due process of law was met if the trial was had according to the settled course of judicial proceedings. ‘‘ Due process of law,” said Chief Justice Waite, “is process due ^according to the law of the land. This process in the States is regulated by the law of the State. ’ ’ This law was held not to be in conflict with the Constitution of the United States.

In Hurtado v. California, 110 U. S., 516, it was held that due process of law did not necessarily require an indictment by a grand jury in a prosecution by a State for murder. The constitution of California authorized prosecutions for felonies by information, after examination and commitment by a magistrate, without an indictment by a grand jury, in the discretion of the Legislature. It was held that conviction upon such 'an information, [501]*501followed by sentence, was not illegal under the fourteenth amendment.

In Hallinger v. Davis, 146 U. S., 314, it was held in substance, that a statute of a State conferring upon an accused person the' right to waive a trial by jury, and to elect to be tried by a court, and conferring power upon the court to try the accused in such case, was not a violation of the due process of law clause of the fourteenth amendment.

So, in In re Kemmler, 136 U.

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Bluebook (online)
57 P. 412, 19 Utah 495, 1899 Utah LEXIS 112, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-the-maxwell-utah-1899.