State v. Forbes

35 So. 710, 111 La. 473, 1903 La. LEXIS 551
CourtSupreme Court of Louisiana
DecidedNovember 30, 1903
DocketNo. 14,990
StatusPublished
Cited by21 cases

This text of 35 So. 710 (State v. Forbes) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Louisiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Forbes, 35 So. 710, 111 La. 473, 1903 La. LEXIS 551 (La. 1903).

Opinion

BREAUX, J.

The defendant, Joe Forbes, was indicted by the grand jury of the parish of Winn on the 20th of July, 1902, on the charge of murder. He was called upon to answer to this indictment. He pleaded not [475]*475guilty. On the 10th day of August following he was placed on his trial, and on the 13th day of that month the jury found him guilty of manslaughter. The motion for a new trial was interposed in his behalf by his counsel. It was overruled, and thereafter he was sentenced to the penitentiary for the period of 20 years, and to pay a fine of $100 and costs.

He asked for and obtained an appeal, which is before us for review.

1. The first ground upon which defendant asks for a reversal of the verdict and sentence is set forth in the bill of exception, stating that on the 10th of August, just before proceeding with the trial, one of the witnesses for the defendant failed to answer when called. He states further in this bill of exception that he was not ready on account of the absence of this witness; that an attachment had been issued for this witness; that he had objected to going to trial before the return of the attachment.

The court, on considering these objections, ruled that the accused should make a showing for delay or proceed with the trial.

The counsel for the accused here contends that he could not properly be compelled to make a showing for a continuance or delay. The narrative of the bill of exception, inserted by the court, states:

“When the case was called for trial, and the witnesses for the defense and state were called, all answered except the witness R. J. Winstead. The state answered ready, and the defendant’s counsel asked for an attachment for the absent witness, which was issued. The district attorney then conveyed to the court that the witness was on his way to court, and would arrive in time to testify, and in case he did not arrive he (the district attorney) would admit what the witness would swear or what the defense proposed to prove by the said witness, and upon this state of facts the court ordered the case to be proceeded with.” The court further states “that, in case his ruling was not entirely correct at the time made, it was fully remedied by the fact that the witness in question did appear in court on the first day of trial, and was by order of the court put under the rule with the other witnesses, and remained ' there during the trial, but was never sworn, although the court informed defendant’s counsel that he was present, had been under the rule, and was by the court tendered to counsel to be sworn.”

Manifestly no prejudicial error could have been committed if this statement be taken as correct. It is not questioned, as relates to the facts set forth, and we therefore do not hesitate to accept it as true. The witness was present sufficiently in time for the trial, and the fact that he was not examined by defendant at all, as a witness, is a complete answer to the argument presented in. his behalf.

The purpose is always to afford an accused every opportunity to have his witnesses heard. It is not shown here that this opportunity was denied, or in any way was curtailed.

2. After the court had overruled the motion of defendant applying for continuance or delay, as just mentioned, the attorneys for the accused asked for time to prepare their bill of exceptions and have it signed. The court refused to grant the time, for the reason, as stated, that “it would have been a useless consumption of the time of the court to stop the proceedings and give counsel time [to write] up each bill of exception.”

Counsel for accused were not entitled to delay as a right, in the absence of anything showing undue or prejudicial haste. We are inclined to agree with the district judge that the administration of justice would be very slow if delays were granted always to prepare bills of exceptions.

But the insistence of defendant on this point is that the accused has the right to a complete bill of exceptions at the time taken; citing Act No. 113, p. 1C2, of 1896.

This act requires the court, at the time and without delay, to order the clerk to take down the facts upon which the bill has been retained.

“Which statement of facts shall be preserved among the records of the trial, and if the ease be appealed shall attach to the bill of exception a certified copy thereof, which shall be taken by the appellate court as a correct statement upon which the bill of exception is based.” From the act cited supra.

Here there were no facts which fell within the duty of the clerk to note and insert [477]*477in the bill of exceptions as part thereof. Counsel for the defendant did not call upon the clerk to comply with the act cited, but requested the court to grant a delay to them to prepare the bill.

We will not assume that the clerk neglected to comply with the act in question, when it does not appear that at the time the defendant complained and reserved a bill on the ground that there was refusal to take down testimony by the clerk to insert in the bill.

3. Another bill of exceptions reserved by the defendant’s counsel sets forth that the court had ordered a summoning of talesmen jurors. J. B. White, a tales juror, was called by the state. On his cross-examination by defendant’s counsel on his Amir dire he stated that he was a deputy sheriff. The court added the folloAving to the bill:

“The tales juror stated that he had been sworn in as a special deputy sheriff, but he Avas not doing any work at that term of the court, nor had he done any work for some time; besides, the exemption was personal to the juror, which he could waive if he desired to do so, but not disqualifying him as serving as a juror.”

The office of special deputy sheriff, who is not on duty at all at the time, presents rather an attenuated ground for exemption at best; and when this is considered in connection Avith the fact that this special deputy does not invoke the exemption it leaves no ground to set aside the verdict, because, as defendant contends, he had to interpose the challenge in order to exclude this special deputy from the jury.

The exemption under these circumstances is considered to have been one, at most, ex-clusiA'ely personal.

4. By another bill of exceptions it appears that the name of the juror Heard had been drawn, and that after he had been called at the door of the courthouse the court ordered an attachment to issue for him, and then proceeded to impanel the jury until the venire had been exhausted. It was at that time, so states the trial judge, that the juror was brought in under attachment. He was accepted by the state, and presented to the defense, and was accepted, subject to the objection they had urged. The court states:

“The juror Heard showed that he was a fair, impartial, and intelligent juror, and fully competent to serve as such, and that the right of defendant to trial by a fair and impartial jury was not impaired. The box had been exhausted, and Heard was the only remaining juror.”

The position of defendant at this point is that he had exhausted all the challenges; that two jurors had been impaneled after this juror had been called and others had been rejected; that there were other names in the jury box from which the twelfth juror should have been drawn.

There is here difference between the court ■and counsel for defendant regarding the facts.

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

Related

State v. Bolden
501 So. 2d 942 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1987)
State v. Edwards
412 So. 2d 1029 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1982)
State v. Bryant
25 So. 2d 814 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1946)
State v. Pierre
180 So. 630 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1938)
State v. Linam
144 So. 600 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1932)
State v. Dreher
118 So. 85 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1928)
State v. Mullins
116 So. 393 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1928)
State v. Lewis
255 P. 1002 (Nevada Supreme Court, 1927)
State v. Constanza
102 So. 507 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1924)
State v. Poole
100 So. 613 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1924)
State v. McCollough
90 So. 404 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1922)
State v. Benjamin
53 So. 847 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1910)
State v. Hamilton
49 So. 1004 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1909)
State v. Ryan
48 So. 537 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1909)
State v. High
47 So. 878 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1908)
State v. Simmons
46 So. 651 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1908)
State v. Petit
44 So. 848 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1907)
State v. Golden
37 So. 757 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1905)
State v. Williams
35 So. 521 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1903)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
35 So. 710, 111 La. 473, 1903 La. LEXIS 551, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-forbes-la-1903.