State v. Johnson

124 N.W. 847, 24 S.D. 590, 1910 S.D. LEXIS 22
CourtSouth Dakota Supreme Court
DecidedJanuary 26, 1910
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 124 N.W. 847 (State v. Johnson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering South Dakota Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Johnson, 124 N.W. 847, 24 S.D. 590, 1910 S.D. LEXIS 22 (S.D. 1910).

Opinion

SMITH, J.

Appellant was convicted in the circuit court of Codington county of the crime of keeping and maintaining gambling .apparatus. This appeal is from the judgment and an order overruling a motion for a new trial. It appears from the [592]*592record before us that upon the call of the case for trial, the court, having ascertained that defendant was present for trial with three attorneys acting for the defense, and that the board of county commissioners of the county were not then in session, on his own motion made and entered upon the minutes of the court the following order: “Let the record 'show that, the county commissioners not being in session, and the defendant having employed and appearing with three attorneys for the defense, and it appearing to the court that this is a case where justice requires, George W. Case be appointed to assist the state’s attorney as assistant counsel in the prosecution of this case: To which order of the court the defense duly excepted.” This action of the court is assigned as error. Section 934, Pol. Code 1903, as amended by chapter 90, Sess. Laws 1905, clearly confers upon the court authority to make such order, whenever in its opinion the ends of justice would be promoted thereby. The law confers upon this court no right to review this action of the trial court. Its exercise of such authority is wholly discretionary, and cannot -constitute reversible error. The amended section, so far as it is pertinent to this case, reads as follows: “Sec. 934. The circuit court, whenever there shall be no state’s attorney for the -county, or when the state’s attorney is absent or unable to attend to his duties, or is adversely interested or disqualified, or when in the opinion of the court the ends of justice would be promoted thereby, may appoint by an order, to be entered in the minutes of the court, some suitable person, an attorney at law, to perform for the time being the duties required by law to be performed by the state’s attorney.” Challenges for actual bias to two of the jurors called were interposed by the accused, which challenges were overruled, and error is assigned. The record, however, discloses that appellant did not exercise any of his three peremptory challenges; hence these rulings cannot be considered prejudicial error. “It is true this question has generally come up where the trial court has disallowed a challenge for cause, but the ruling in the appellate court is uni formly based upon the ground that the unused peremptory challenges disprove any injury to the defendant in the composition [593]*593of the jury, and the argument is equally conclusive upon the facts before us.” State v. Reddington, 7 S. D. 375, 64 N. W. 172. “While litigants, within the statutory restrictions, have power to reject, it is not their province to select, jurors; and ordinarily, when a prisoner has been tried by one impartiál jury, he should not be allowed another trial to another impartial jury simply because the court excused a qualified juror and selected in his stead another possessing the same qualifications, and against whom no objection is urged.” State v. La Croix, 8 S. D. 373, 66 N. W. 945. Two challenges to juror's by the state were resisted by appellant, and exceptions entered to the order of the court sustaining such challenges.

The record shows that no objection was made to any juror on the panel which tried the case, except to the two jurors-, as to whom the defendant did not -choose to exercise his right of peremptory challenge. Ten of the 12 jurors appear to have been acceptable to the accused, and no prejudicial error is shown as to the other two-. The defendant was tried by a competent and impartial jury, lhis assignment of error, therefore, falls clearly within the principle of the rule announced by this court in State v. Reddington, supra, and State v. La Croix, 8 S. D. 369, 66 N. W. 944. The error chiefly relied upon by appellant in this action is the order of the court denying an application for another judge to try said cause upon the filing by the accused of an affidavit of prejudice, under section 292 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. That section provides that in a criminal action prosecuted by indictment or information “at any time before trial is begun * * * if the accused shall make affidavit that .he cannot have an impartial trial by reason of the bias or prejudice of the presiding judge of the circuit court where the indictment or information is pending, the judge of such court may call any other judge of a -circuit court to- preside at said trial. And it shall be the duty of such other judge to preside at said trial and to do any -other act with reference thereto, a-s though he were presiding judge of said circuit.” It is settled by the decisions of this court in line with decisions of the courts of other states hav[594]*594ing similar statutes, that this provision of the Code of Criminal Procedure is mandatory, and upon the filing of the affidavit of prejudice the presiding judge loses all jurisdiction over the cause, and is powerless to make any order therein. State v. Henning, 3 S. D. 492, 54 N. W. 536; State v. Palmer, 4 S. D. 543, 57 N. W. 490; State v. Finder, 12 S. D. 423, 81 N. W. 959; State v. Kent, 4 N. D. 577, 62 N. W. 631, 27 L. R. A. 686; State v. Kent, 5 N. D. 516, 67 N. W. 1052, 35 L. R. A. 518.

It is contended by respondent, however, that the affidavit of prejudice, which we deem sufficient in form and substance, was not. filed before the trial began, and therefore the accused had waived his right to file the same. It appears that, previous to the calling- of the jury, the court ordered a special venire of five jurors to complete the regular panel. By some mistake on the part of the sheriff, six jurors instead of five were summoned, and the names of the six jurors placed in the jury box. Shortly thereafter, the error was discovered, and the accused thereupon objected to the special panel. The regular noon recess was announced, and no further proceedings had until 1:3o p. m. The court then ascertained from the sheriff the names of the first five jurors summond on the special venire, and made the following order: “Let the record show that it appears, through inadvertence, the sheriff has summoned six men instead of five ordered by the court, to complete the panel to the number of 27, and that, through inadvertence, this sixth man’s name was placed in the jury box, and that the sixth man’s name was H. Duryea. It is the order of the court that the jury box be purged by elimination of this name, H. Duryea, so that we will have the five men who were first summoned by the sheriff on his venire as the proper jurors, with the other regular jurors of the term; and, if the defendant desires it, we will now proceed to call a jury out of the proper 15 names which will be in the jury box after this man’s name has been taken thereform.” The accused not availing himself of the privilege of calling a new jury, the juror Duryea was dismissed, the other 11 sitting as trial jurors.- Another juror was then i^rawn and accepted to fill the panel, and the jury were thereupon sworn to try the cause. It further appears that [595]*595prior to the noon recess, upon the discovery of the sheriff’s mistake, the court made the following remark: “This jury may step aside. Then we will call a new jury and we will take a recess until half past i.” Upon the reconvening of the court, the affidavit of prejudice by the accused was immediately filed and submitted by the defendant. Prior to the filing of this affidavit the case had been regularly called for trial, and n jurors had been examined upon their voir dire.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
124 N.W. 847, 24 S.D. 590, 1910 S.D. LEXIS 22, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-johnson-sd-1910.