Lindsey v. State

1 Ohio Law Rep. 735, 69 Ohio St. (N.S.) 215
CourtOhio Supreme Court
DecidedNovember 17, 1903
StatusPublished

This text of 1 Ohio Law Rep. 735 (Lindsey v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lindsey v. State, 1 Ohio Law Rep. 735, 69 Ohio St. (N.S.) 215 (Ohio 1903).

Opinion

First in natural order come the questions arising on the motion to quash and the plea in abatement. These may be treated together. A motion to quash may be made when there is a defect apparent upon the face of the record, and a plea in abatement may be made when there is a defect in the record which is shown by facts extraneous thereto. It is not, however, now seriously urged that the indictment is defective in form, and it is practically conceded that the motion to quash was properly overruled. It was the judgment of the courts below that the plea in abatement was insufficient on two grounds— one, that it was bad for indefiniteness in that it alleges conclusions rather than facts, and another that it fails to show that the defendant was in any wise prejudiced by the facts alleged.

We are of opinion that the courts were right on both grounds. It is not necessary to hold that facts relied upon in a plea in abatement should be worded with the strictest technical and [740]*740verbal accuracy, as is held in many cases, yet it is the rule that the facts must be pleaded, as held in Wagner v. The State, 41 Ohio St., 537, with exactness, and the plea is to be strictly construed. The reason is apparent. It'is a dilatory plea. The rule is given in Bishop’s Criminal Procedure, Section 327, thus:

“In these, such as pleas in abatement and the like, it is necessary to employ extreme certainty. An excellent work on pleading (Gould’s PL, p. 84), stating that this superlative certainty ‘requires the utmost fullness and particularity of statement, as well as the highest attainable accuracy and precision, leaving on the one hand nothing to be supplied by in-tendment or- construction"; and on the other no supposable special answer unobviated. ’ It is a rule, not of construction only, but also of addition; that is, it requires the pleader, not only -to answer fully what is necessary to be answered, but also to anticipate and exclude all such supposable matter as would, if alleged on the opposite side, defeat his plea. ’

The plea in this case avers that the defendant was required to and did take an oath as a witness, and was required to and did appear before the grand jury, and was required against his will to give testimony in this case concerning the charge against him. But the plea does not state that he refused to take an oath, nor in what manner, nor by what means, he was required against his will to take an oath; nor does it allege that the defendant, when before the grand jury, claimed his privilege, or refused to answer any question, or in any manner objected to appearing as a witness and to testifying. Therefis no law that could compel the witness to testify to matters which would incriminate himself, or to punish him for refusing. .If he did not object how could there be compulsion? For all of any statement of fact which appears he took the oath voluntarily and testified voluntarily. Where a privilege to refuse exists and the witness testifies without objection, the natural inference is that he testifies voluntarily. Indeed the only feature which, according to the facts stated, is shown to have been involuntary, was the appearance in obedience to the subpoena. That would, in and of itself, be regarded of compulsory process.

The same may be said with regard to the complaint that he was required to dress, walk and talk and exhibit himself so [741]*741dressed before persons who afterward testified before the grand jury. Pacts are not stated which show that this was compulsory. The averment, also, that he was not permitted to have counsel to advise him concerning his rights is equally a conclusion. It does not appear that he desired to have counsel, or was in need of counsel, nor that he was at the time upon trial for any crime or offense.

But, aside from the foregoing, how stands the case? The proposition of the plaintiff in error is that the indictment should have been held bad because a constitutional right of the defendant had been violated. That- is, the grand jury and the prosecuting officer should be rebuked for improper practice without regard to whether the defendant had been thereby prejudiced or not. We are not commending the practice of subpoenaing persons suspected of crime as witnesses before a grand jury which has been summoned to inquire respecting that crime; indeed we do not hesitate to characterize it as improper practice. But the question is, What effect that mere fact ought to have in a test of an indictment otherwise regular and valid? It is of importance to note that this plea does not show that the defendant testified against himself, or that he testified to any fact material to the inquiry, or that the testimony he gave was of consequence in the deliberations of the jury, or that there was not other testimony before the jury upon which the indictment might have been properly found; on the contrary, for all that appears in this plea, there was abundant competent evidence, by competent witnesses before the jury, and the jury in fact found the indictment wholly upon such other competent testimony. Speaking more specifically, the plea does not show that some one material fact, and what material fact, was testified to by the defendant without which an indictment could not have been found, which fact was not testified to or established by other witnesses. The statement simply is that he was required “to give testimony in this case concerning the charge against him. ’ ’

A like test shows the insufficiency of the plea that he was required against his will' to dress and exhibit himself before persons who afterwards testified before the grand jury against him as to his identity in this ease. Suppose this to be just as [742]*742stated, for all that appears, witnesses other than the ones referred to gave testimony to the grand jury as to identity abundantly supporting the charge.

It results that, so far as this inquiry is concerned, the case stands just as it would had Lindsey not testified before the grand jury. Why, then, should the indictment be held bad and the proceedings in the courts below go for naught? Our statute, Section 7252, provides that upon an adjudication in favor of the accused on a plea in abatement, he may be committed or held to bail, for appearance at the nest term. It would follow, simply, that another grand jury would be summoned, impan-neled, and the testimony other than that given by Lindsey be presented in' all respects like the one on which the trial was had. So ttíl ; again the court would be precisely where it was when the trial was entered upon. How could such circumlocution aid the cause of justice? How would the people gain, or the citizen be more secure in his rights, by all this needless delay and expense? We think it quite necessary to consider further the much discussed question of the constitutional right and privilege of the citizen arising under Section 10 of our Bill of Rights. No case is made on the facts calling for such discussion. Other allegations appear in the plea, but they are irrelevant because contradicting the record, and need not be further noticed.

2. Exceptions were taken to the overruling of challenges made to several of the petit jurors on the ground of previous opinion and prejudice. The instance of Louis Cross is a sample. He was.questioned by counsel for defendant and answered:

“Q. Prom all you have talked and read about these other trials state whetEer you have at any time formed any opinion in your mind as regards the guilt or innocence of the defendant ? A. I think I did have an opinion.
“Q:

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White v. State
13 Ohio St. 569 (Ohio Supreme Court, 1862)
Adams v. State
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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
1 Ohio Law Rep. 735, 69 Ohio St. (N.S.) 215, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lindsey-v-state-ohio-1903.