Loose v. State

97 N.W. 526, 120 Wis. 115, 1903 Wisc. LEXIS 176
Wisconsin Supreme Court·Decided December 11, 1903·Published·Cited by 43 cases

Opinion

Marshall, J.

The questions raised by the errors assigned so far as insisted upon, will he treated in detail and in the order of their presentation in the brief of counsel for plaintiff in error.

I. Did the court err in taking the case off the calendar November 21, 1902 ? That is predicated on these circumstances : Previous to the call of the ease for trial it had been placed upoii the day calendar for that purpose. There was-a rule of the trial court to the effect that a case thus placed should not be continued beyond the time when regularly reached, in response to an application therefor by either party, unless for a cause not known to such party when the-calendar was made up, or arising thereafter. Upon the trial day, the prosecuting officer made the application in question,, giving as a reason that he had been unable to procure the attendance of the state’s witnesses. Testimony was taken in open court in support of the application, showing that subpoenas for witnesses had been regularly issued and placed in the hands of an officer to be executed, and that he had made quite extensive efforts to do so and failed. The showing being satisfactory to the court the application was granted, the attorney for the accused objecting thereto. It is said that the ruling was in violation of the rule above mentioned, and of Circuit Court Rule XX. The latter plainly applies to-continuances for the term, not such as the one in question. [119] The rule of the trial court, as the judge thereof held, was fairly complied with. We see no reason to override that decision. It was made in the due administration of the court’s own rule, which it had authority to violate if it saw fit, saving the rights of adverse parties from serious prejudice. There was, however, no purpose to ignore the rule. On the contrary the court enforced it to the extent which justice seemed to require. Such a rule is one of procedure merely, made by the court for the conduct of its own business. A violation of it could not properly he considered reversible error under any circumstance, in the absence of the most clear and satisfactory showing that the objecting party was substantially prejudiced thereby. There is no showing at all in that regard appearing in the record.

2. Did the court, in the presence of persons called to serve as jurors, when they were examined as to their competency, make remarks prejudicial to the accused ? These are the remarks calling for consideration under that proposition:

■ “There may be cause for a man to be arrested a great many times when there is no reason why he should be convicted.”
“It is always supposed that0there is sufficient reason for a man to be before the jury when he is charged with an offense, or otherwise he would not be there, but that is no reason to be considered by the jury at all.”

The record does not disclose the cause for making such remarks. The occasion seems to have been the excusing of a juror for cause. The examination of the juror was not preserved in the record. The circumstances suggest that such juror, on his examination, probably expressed some leaning against the accused from the mere fact that he had been arrested and placed on trial upon a serious charge. In any event, the reasonable meaning of the language of the court seems to be that a man may be charged with being guilty of a criminal offense, constituting a legitimate ground for arrest[120] ing and placing Rim on trial, yet there "be no reason whatever for his conviction because of his innocence -of the charge; therefore that the mere circumstance that an accused person, in the due course of the administration of justice, is compelled to submit to a trial on a criminal charge, should not have any influence whatever, upon the jury called to decide the matter, unfavorable to him. In that sense what the court said is not subject to criticism. It is proper to so inform a jury in submitting a case to them for final determination, or when being examined upon the voir dire. It cannot, when said at any stage of a case, be reasonably considered otherwise than as favorable to the accused.

3. Did the court err in receiving testimony against the objection of counsel for the accused ?

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Loose v. State, 97 N.W. 526, 120 Wis. 115, 1903 Wisc. LEXIS 176 (Wis. 1903).

97 N.W. 526 (Loose v. State) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

State v. Dametrius A. Reeves
Court of Appeals of Wisconsin, 2026
State v. Wright
537 N.W.2d 134 (Court of Appeals of Wisconsin, 1995)
State Ex Rel. Unnamed v. Connors
401 N.W.2d 782 (Wisconsin Supreme Court, 1987)
State v. Bembenek
331 N.W.2d 616 (Court of Appeals of Wisconsin, 1983)
Nyberg v. State
249 N.W.2d 524 (Wisconsin Supreme Court, 1977)
Fletcher v. State
228 N.W.2d 708 (Wisconsin Supreme Court, 1975)
State v. Cox
327 N.E.2d 639 (Ohio Supreme Court, 1975)
Ramer v. State
161 N.W.2d 209 (Wisconsin Supreme Court, 1968)
State v. Schut
429 P.2d 126 (Washington Supreme Court, 1967)
DINGENA
11 I. & N. Dec. 723 (Board of Immigration Appeals, 1966)
People v. Hobson
119 N.W.2d 581 (Michigan Supreme Court, 1963)
Kamuchey v. Trzesniewski
98 N.W.2d 403 (Wisconsin Supreme Court, 1959)
Ernest Tatum v. United States
249 F.2d 129 (D.C. Circuit, 1957)
United States v. Mantooth
6 C.M.A. 251 (United States Court of Military Appeals, 1955)
United States v. Jacobs
113 F. Supp. 203 (E.D. Wisconsin, 1953)
Antelope v. United States
185 F.2d 174 (Tenth Circuit, 1950)
State v. Olson
111 P.2d 548 (Utah Supreme Court, 1941)
State v. Wolfe
266 N.W. 116 (South Dakota Supreme Court, 1936)
Commonwealth v. Joyce
175 A. 422 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1934)
Peizer v. City of Seattle
24 P.2d 444 (Washington Supreme Court, 1933)