People v. Rosenthal

13 N.E.2d 814, 294 Ill. App. 274, 1938 Ill. App. LEXIS 587
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedMarch 16, 1938
DocketGen. No. 39,589
StatusPublished

This text of 13 N.E.2d 814 (People v. Rosenthal) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Court of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. Rosenthal, 13 N.E.2d 814, 294 Ill. App. 274, 1938 Ill. App. LEXIS 587 (Ill. Ct. App. 1938).

Opinion

Mr. Justice Hall

delivered the opinion of the court.

On April 7, 1937, an information was filed in the criminal court of Cook county, entitled, The People of the State of Illinois v. George Bruns, Archie Estep, Harold Stanyer, George Cameron, Martin Even, Frank DeLong, Jules Rosenthal, Joseph DeFrank, John L. Moore, Alvin Ernest, Leo Fahey and Morley Frank. The salient portions of the information are as follows:

“Now comes Thomas J. Courtney, State’s Attorney, in and for Cook County, Illinois, by Wilbert F. Crowley, Assistant State’s Attorney, and respectfully informs the Court as follows: That on the 25th day of January, 1937, there was pending in the Criminal Court of Cook County Indictment Numbered 36-1187 entitled The People of the State of Illinois v. Frank V. Zintak, wherein Frank V. Zintak was charged with the crime of larceny by embezzlement; that on the 25th day of January, 1937, said cause was duly and regularly called for trial and was placed on trial and prospective jurors were examined as to their qualifications to sit as jurors upon a determination of said cause; that upon the selection of said jury the said jurors were required to and did take an oath to well and truly try the issues joined in said cause and a true verdict render according to the law and the evidence in the case; that thereafter evidence was adduced in said cause on behalf of the People of the State of Illinois, and on behalf of said Frank V. Zintak, and the said hearing was adjourned from day to day after each court session until the 3rd day of February, 1937, when the said jury, after having received all of the evidence offered in said cause, and after having received the written instructions of the court, retired to consider their verdict, and did consider and did arrive at a verdict, which verdict, signed by the twelve jurors, was returned into open court, and by said verdict the defendant Frank V. Zintak, was found not guilty; that during the period from January 25, 1937, to and including February 3, 1937, the members of the jury selected for service in said cause and sworn and qualified as jurors upon the hearing thereof were as follows: George Bruns, Jules Rosenthal, Archie Estep, Joseph DeFrank, Harold Stanyer, John L. Moore, George Cameron, Alvin Ernest, Martin Even, Leo Fahey, Frank DeLong and Morley Frank, and that each and every of the aforesaid persons served as duly qualified jurors throughout the trial; that from the beginning of the trial-of said cause the trial judge ordered and directed that the jurors selected to serve during the hearing of said cause be kept together and not permitted to separate and that they be not allowed to make contact with outside persons or to speak to such outsiders during- the pendency of the proceedings in Court and the recesses thereof, and duly authorized deputy bailiffs and deputy sheriffs were ordered and assigned by the Court to care for and supervise the said jury throughout the trial of said cause and were by oath administered in the presence of such jury required to keep said jury together and required not to permit any one to speak to them; that each of the aforesaid jurors heard the oath and direction of the trial Judge, and each of the aforesaid jurors understood the said order and direction and knew that as such jurors they were required to remain together and not to separate and not to have any contact with the outside world; that pursuant to said order the Sheriff of Cook County provided special and separate living, sleeping and eating quarters for said jury during the pendency of said trial; that on divers dates throughout the hearing of said cause intoxicating liquors, beer and whiskey were brought to the jurors’ quarters after the court sessions; that on Saturday, January 30, 1937, in the forenoon, the twelve aforesaid jurors, accompanied by a deputy sheriff and bailiff, did enter two different public drinking places and did in each of said places drink three or four glasses of beer at the bar in each of said places in the presence of members of the public; that on January 30, 1937, at about the hour of 10:00 p. m. or thereafter, the said twelve jurors left their jury, quarters assigned to them and went to a public drinking place and tavern and there entered said public drinking place and tavern and in the presence of a great number of other persons engaged in drinking and dancing and mingled with the patrons there present generally and talked with them, and said jurors did separate and did not remain together, and said jurors so conducted themselves for a period of upwards of two hours until after the hour of midnight, when they returned to their jury quarters; that on Sunday, January 31, 1937, the aforesaid twelve jurors, in company with a deputy sheriff were by leave of court granted permission to go for a bus ride; that each of said jurors knew that such permission to go for a bus ride granted them did not authorize them to use said bus as a conveyance for making a round of taverns; that on said date the said jurors and said bailiff left the Administration Building at about the hour of 2:00 P. M. and entered a bus provided for them for said bus ride and were conveyed in said bus to five different and distinct taverns, in each of which said taverns the said jurors stood at the public bar in the presence of members of the public and drank beer, and in at least one of said places played slot machines located therein, and in several of said places did not remain together but separated, and in several of said places purchased quantities of beer and whiskey to carry back "with them to their jury quarters, and in one of said places engaged in noisy and disorderly conduct, while riding in said bus engaged in singing songs, and in several of said places announced themselves publicly as ‘Zintak jury’ and in one of said places switched off the electric lights, and in one of said places one juror took a bar stool and left the premises with same carried under his overcoat, and several of said jurors were intoxicated and under the influence of intoxicants which _ they had consumed during said trip, and said jurors, accompanied by said bailiff, returned to the Administration Building and returned to their quarters bringing with them quantities of beer and whisky, which said beer and whisky they consumed in their quarters; that each of said jurors well knew that their conduct in possessing and drinking intoxicants in their jury quarters and their conduct in attending upon public taverns and dancing with the patrons of said taverns and drinking intoxicants and commingling with the public patrons of said taverns, and in engaging in noisy and disorderly conduct on said bus ride, and in separating and failing to remain together, constituted improper and wrongful acts on their part and was a violation of their obligations and duties as jurors and amounted to a failure on their part to observe the order of the court; that said jurors, among themselves and well knowing that said conduct on their part was wrongful and improper, entered into an agreement and understanding to withhold knowledge of such conduct from the trial judge by remaining silent concerning their acts and doings in this connection; that one of the places visited on Sunday, January 31, 1937, was a tavern and public drinking-place owned and operated by one James Farmed, who had theretofore been a defendant under indictment in the Criminal Court of Cook County, and that in the said place the members of the jury were permitted to gamble in the presence of the public.

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Bluebook (online)
13 N.E.2d 814, 294 Ill. App. 274, 1938 Ill. App. LEXIS 587, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-rosenthal-illappct-1938.