State v. Hansford

92 P. 551, 76 Kan. 678, 1907 Kan. LEXIS 312
CourtSupreme Court of Kansas
DecidedNovember 9, 1907
DocketNo. 15,530
StatusPublished
Cited by29 cases

This text of 92 P. 551 (State v. Hansford) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Kansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Hansford, 92 P. 551, 76 Kan. 678, 1907 Kan. LEXIS 312 (kan 1907).

Opinion

The opinion of the court was delivered by

Johnston, C. J.:

The appellant contends that the discharge of the jury in the manner and for the reasons stated and without his consent bars further prosecution. It is a well-settled principle of common and constitutional law that a person cannot be put in jeopardy a second time upon the same charge. It is a maxim of the common law that no one should be twice vexed for the same cause, and this rule has been incorporated in the federal and state constitutions. It finds expression in our own constitution in these words: “No person shall ... be twice put in jeopardy for the same offense.” (Bill of Rights, § 10; Gen. Stat. 1901, § 92.) Would a further trial of the appellant after the discharge of the jury constitute a double jeopardy? When an accused is placed upon trial, before a competent court and jury, upon a sufficient information or indictment, jeopardy is- said to attach, and he cannot be put in jeopardy a second time unless the jury be discharged [682]*682from rendering a verdict by reason of some overruling necessity or the consent of the defendant. In this instance there was neither express nor implied consent, and the question remains, Did the interruption of the trial and the continuance of the prosecution at a later time subject the defendant to a second jeopardy, or was it any more than the continuance of the sainé jeopardy? He insists that there was no imperative necessity for discharging the jury from rendering a verdict, nor sufficient reasons to warrant the court in declaring a mistrial. The disclosure of the juror revealed the fact that he was disqualified to sit in the case and that the trial was proceeding with only eleven qualified and competent jurors.

It is conceded that the sickness or other- physical disqualification of a juror or a judge which would unfit him for the performance of his duties would constitute a manifest necessity for a discharge of the jury. He would be equally disqualified by insanity or other mental disability, and when it is satisfactorily shown to the court by proper evidence that a juror is not in a fit condition of mind and has not the qualifications which the law requires it is clearly within its power and discretion to discharge the jury and declare a mistrial. If the disqualification is such as would frustrate the ends of justice and prevent a lawful verdict the rights of the defendant, as well as the interests of the public, require -the court to arrest the progress of the trial and start afresh with a legal and impartial jury. If during the trial the court should learn of a corrupt interference with a juror or that through some outside sinister influence one of the jury had agreed to vote for conviction regardless of the testimony it would be conceded that a pressing-necessity for the discharge of the jury had occurred. When a juror, as in this case, confesses to an incurable prejudice which disqualifies him from exercising the functions of a juror or acting impartially as between the parties a continuance of the trial would be a farce, as the object of a trial— [683]*683a fair and impartial verdict — becomes an impossibility. After learning of this situation by a judicial inquiry nothing was left for the court except to discharge that jury and impanel another.

In Simons v. United States, 142 U. S. 148, 12 Sup. Ct. 171, 35 L. Ed. 968, one of the jurors swore on his voir dire that he had no acquaintance with the defendant. During the trial it was brought to the attention of the court by an affidavit that there had not only been acquaintance but conversation between this juror and the defendant, and also it was undisputed that a letter since written and published in the newspapers commenting on that evidence had been read by that juror and other members of the jury. The trial court discharged the jury and held the defendant for further trial. The decision of the supreme court as to the right to discharge the jury was given in the syllabus of the case, as follows:

“When it is made to appear to the court during the trial of a criminal case that, either by reason of facts existing when the jurors were sworn, but not then disclosed or known to the court, or by reason of outside influences brought to bear on the jury pending the trial, the jurors or any of them are subject to such bias or prejudice as not to stand impartial between the government and the accused, the jury may be discharged, and the defendant put on trial by another jury; and the defendant is not thereby twice put in jeopardy, within the meaning of the fifth amendment to the constitution of the United States.”

In Thompson v. United States, 155 U. S. 271, 15 Sup. Ct. 73, 39 L. Ed. 146, it appears that after the trial had begun it was disclosed that a member of the jury was disquálified by having been a member of the grand jury that found the indictment on which the prosecution was based. When that jury was discharged and another impaneled the defendant pleaded that he had been once in jeopardy upon the same charge, but this was overruled and the trial resulted in a verdict of guilty. It was held on appeal, following a number of [684]*684earlier cases, that “courts of justice are invested with authority to discharge a jury from giving any verdict whenever in their opinion, taking all the circumstances into consideration, there is a manifest necessity for the act, or the ends of public justice would otherwise be defeated, and to order a trial by another jury; and a defendant is not thereby twice put' in jeopardy.” (Syllabus.)

The case of In re Ascher, 130 Mich. 540, 90 N. W. 418, 57 L. R. A. 806, was one where after the jury were sworn and some of the witnesses had testified information came to the trial judge of the prejudice and misconduct of jurors after they were impaneled. An investigation was made which disclosed that a juror on his voir dire examination had wilfully concealed a material fact, and further that he entertained strong bias and prejudice in the case. It also appeared that he had been guilty of misconduct which betrayed his prejudices. Another juror and the officer in charge of the jury were found to have been also guilty of misconduct. The court concluded that it was within its power and was its imperative duty to discharge the jury and declare a mistrial. A question of jeopardy arose upon the appeal, and it was held that “where, after the jury is sworn in a criminal case, the court finds that a juror is so biased that he is unfit to sit in the cause, the jury may be discharged, and the respondent will not be deemed to have been placed in jeopardy by the proceedings.” (Syllabus. See, also, United States v. Perez, 22 U. S. 579, 6 L. Ed. 165; Logan v. United States, 144 U. S. 263, 12 Sup. Ct. 617, 36 L. Ed. 429; Dilworth v. The Commonwealth, 12 Grat. [Va.] 689, 65 Am. Dec. 264; State v. Allen, 46 Conn. 531; Commonwealth v. McCormick, 130 Mass. 61, 39 Am. Rep. 423; United States v. Morris, 1 Curt. [U. S. C. C.] 23, 26 Fed. Cas. p. 1323; State v. Davis, 31 W. Va. 390, 7 S. E. 24; Roberts v. State, 72 Miss. 728, 18 South. 481; Ochs v. The People, 25 Ill. App. 379; State [685]*685v. Diskin, 34 La. Ann. 919, 44 Am. Rep.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
92 P. 551, 76 Kan. 678, 1907 Kan. LEXIS 312, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-hansford-kan-1907.