State v. Harris

117 So. 820, 166 La. 759, 1928 La. LEXIS 1955
CourtSupreme Court of Louisiana
DecidedJune 4, 1928
DocketNo. 29196.
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 117 So. 820 (State v. Harris) 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. Harris, 117 So. 820, 166 La. 759, 1928 La. LEXIS 1955 (La. 1928).

Opinion

BRUNOT, J.

The accused was charged with murder; the defense was an alibi; the trial resulted in an unqualified verdict of guilty as charged; and the court sentenced the accused to be hanged. From the verdict and sentence he appealed.

There are eleven bills of exception in the record.

Bill No. 1.

This bill was reserved to the overruling of a challenge of a juror for cause. The bill recites that the day after the juror James H. Holmes had been examined on his voir dire and accepted by the staté and the defense, and after other jurors had been, accepted and sworn, but before' the jury was completed, counsel for defendant learned that juror Holmes was the father of a girl who was the prosecuting witness ifi"h rape case, and that William J) O’Hara, one of the defense counsel in this ease, was the attorney for and had successfully defended the accused in the rape case. The attention of the court was called to this fact, and counsel for the defendant asked that the juror be excused for cause. The court thereupon examined the juror in the presence of the other nine jurors of the panel, but out of their hearing, and in the presence of counsel for defendant. The per curiam to this bill is, in part, as follows:

“The reasons assigned by the court in his written reasons for overruling the motion for a new trial as to paragraph No. 1 of said motion completely cover, in my opinion, this bill of exceptions.
“Said reasons, as also the testimony covering the examination of the juror Holmes on his voir dire (Tr. p. 124), the order dictated in chambers (Tr. p. 130), the court’s examination of Holmes (Tr. p. 131), the opinion of the court holding the juror Holmes entirely competent (Tr. p. 136), are hereby made the per curiam to bill No. 1.”

The examination of juror Holmes on his voir dire, and by the court after he had been accepted and sworn as a juror, may be dismissed from consideration for the reason that the only complaint of defendant is that, some time in the past, one of his counsel had successfully defended a man who was then charged with raping the juror’s daughter. The court’s reasons for holding the juror competent to try the ease follow:

“The court will consider paragraph 1. The paragraph is too lengthy to have its substance as to facts recited here; it is sufficient to say that it involves the question of the discretionary powers of the court, to either excuse or retain for service, a juror who has already been examined and selected by both sides and sworn as a juror when his incompetency is urged. The facts touching the incident appear in the transcript and show the examination of the juror herein, James H. Holmes, on his voir dire, his acceptance for service by both sides, and his being sworn as a juror; his subsequent examination by the court before the jury was completed, for the reasons appearing in the transcript immediately prior to the court’s examina *763 tion; and finally of the court’s ruling that the juror Holmes was competent.
“The court finds the law to be that if, after a juror has been accepted and sworn, it is discovered that he is incompetent to serve, the judge may, in the exercise of a sound discretion, at any time before evidence has gone to the jury, order him to be set aside and the panel to be completed in the ordinary course, whether the disqualification be because of the juror’s conscientious scruples against the infliction Of capital punishment, or because of his relationship to defendant, or because the juror has become incapacitated by illness. Under such circumstances, arising before the impaneling of the jury is completed, the court is justified, in the exercise of its discretion, to remedy the situation called to his attention, and to examine the jurors sworn, upon the matter of incompetency suggested, and to excuse those found subject to challenge and for cause. Marr’s Crirn. Juris, vol. 1, pages 703-704. ‘It is well settled that the trial judge may, after the jury has been impaneled and sworn, discharge a juror who has become physically incapable of serving on the jury.’ See State v. Costello, 11 La. Ann. 283; State v. Diskin, 34 La. Ann. 919, 44 Am. Rep. 448; State v. Lawson, 36 La. Ann. 275; State v. Moncla, 39 La. Ann. 868, 2 So. 814; State v. Nash & Barnett, 46 La. Ann. 194, 14 So. 607; State v. Duvall, 135 La. 710, 5 So. 904, L. R. A. 1916E, 1264.’
“The above excerpt is taken from the body of the decree in State v. Carmouche, 141 La. 328, 75 So. 69. See, also, State v. Nash, 46 La. Ann. 194, 14 So. 607; State v. Hill, 46 La. Ann. 736, 15 So. 145; State v. Moncla, 39 La. Ann. 868, 2 So. 814; State v. Diskin, 34 La. Ann. 919, 44 Am. Rep. 448.
“The facts covered by this paragraph do not fall under either of the several situations above described, when the trial judge undoubtedly has the right to exercise sound discretion in excusing a juror after he has been examined, accepted, and sworn, and before evidence has gone to the jury.
“In the instant case defendant’s counsel urged the incompetency of the juror Holmes, after he had been sworn and before the jury was completed, for reasons which they alleged were unknown to them before the examination and acceptance of the juror and before he was sworn.
“It is the general rule that the proper time for both the state and the prisoner to urge objections to a juror for cause is before the juror is sworn, and the right of further questioning and challenging for cause is, as a general thing, waived and lost after the swearing of the jury. State v. Craighead, 114 La. 84, 38 So. 28; State v. Isaac, 3 La. Ann. 359; State v. Dubord, 2 La. Ann. 732; State v. Kennedy, 8 Rob. 596.
“This rule suggested that, in the interest of justice, the court, after the reasons suggested for incompetency had been laid before him in chambers, should examine the juror Holmes upon the matter complained of.
“The transcript will show that the court dictated to the stenographer, in chambers, in the presence of counsel for the state and defendant, the nature of the complainjt, in detail, describing a state of facts which defense counsel suggested showed the incompetency of the juror. The court determined to question the juror Holmes, which he did when court reconvened at the afternoon session.
“The juror was examined by the court under oath, in a low tone, in the presence of the remaining ten jurors, but out of their hearing, and in the presence of the two prosecuting officers and one of defendant’s counsel; Mr.O’Hara, one of defendant’s counsel, remained near the latter and did not hear the examination.
“The incident from beginning to end was orderly; the examination showed no basis for the reasons urged as showing the juror’s incompetency. His examination upon his voir dire showed him to be qualified in every way; his examination as to the incident emphasized his fairness, truthfulness, and conscientiousness, and discredited the least suggestion of prejudice.”

After an exceptionally thorough and searching inquiry, the trial judge found nothing suggestive of the incompetency of the juror. We have read the record carefully and have reached the same conclusion.

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Related

State v. Williams
28 So. 3d 357 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2009)
State v. Hills
129 So. 2d 12 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1961)
State v. Stracner
182 So. 571 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1938)

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Bluebook (online)
117 So. 820, 166 La. 759, 1928 La. LEXIS 1955, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-harris-la-1928.