State v. Moore

44 So. 299, 119 La. 564, 1907 La. LEXIS 527
CourtSupreme Court of Louisiana
DecidedJune 17, 1907
DocketNo. 16,604
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 44 So. 299 (State v. Moore) 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. Moore, 44 So. 299, 119 La. 564, 1907 La. LEXIS 527 (La. 1907).

Opinion

BREAUX, C. J.

An indictment filed on the 7th day of April, 1907, charged the de[565]*565fendant with haying committed murder by taking the life of Jack Hadnot.

The accused was tried on the 10th day of April, 1907. The jury returned a yerdict against him of guilty without capital punishment.

From the sentence imposed he has taken this appeal.

Requested by the district attorney, after the jury had been impaneled, and before any ■of the witnesses had been heard, the court ordered the jury and the accused to go to the scene of the homicide. This order was given before any testimony had been heard.

No objection was urged by the defendant.

The jury was accompanied by two deputies, one preceding the jury and the other following; and after the jury and these deputies the accused and the sheriff followed.

The judge did not accompany the jury.

The district attorney made the request that the court order the jury and the accused to view the place of the homicide. This order was given in open court. The judge was ask-*d if he intended to accompany the jury. He replied that there was no necessity.

At the place of the homicide members of the jury walked over the ground and entered the house. At the door they met a person who was inclined to talk. The deputy directed him not to talk to the jury. Thereupon he walked away. The jury remained in the house about five minutes, and during that time some of the members walked into the rooms. They were always within sight of the deputies. The jury talked to each other. One of the jurors was heard to say to another:

“Here is where he fell.”
This juror said as a witness :
“I do not know who it was that spoke.”

The accused while the jury was in the house was in charge of the sheriff on the outside of the house some little distance, about 30 feet.

Another ground of complaint is that the jury separated while at the place of the homicide.

We take up for decision the complaint growing out of the fact that the judge did not accompany the jury to the place of the homicide.

The application for the view of the scene of the crime having been made in open court, and the judge having announced that he would not accompany the jury and the accused, no objection having been made, no bill of exceptions taken, it is scarcely possible, under our jurisprudence, to hold otherwise than that it was too late to urge these objections in the motion for a new trial.

The defendant was present when the place was pointed out to the jury. He might, if needful, have corrected any error by testimony after the return of the jury. Nothing shows that appealable error was committed by the jury while they were at the house. Had the judge been present, and had not ruled at all in regard to any question, it would have been as if he had not been present. 1-Iis presence would not have accomplished anything.

There are no direct decisions upon the subject in the jurisprudence of the state. In State v. Bertin, 24 La.' Ann. 46, in which it is mentioned that the judge was absent, the controlling question was not the fact that he was absent. The fact of his absence was only referred to incidentally.

There are decisions in other jurisdictions. They are as diverse as decisions can be upon the same question of law.

There is no necessity in this .case of passing upon the point directly. Doubtless it would be better and safer if the judge were to accompany the jury to see that no errors be committed. We do not think that it is a sine qua non for the validity of the verdict.

[567]*567The following was one of the decisions that we have had occasion to consult. It is favorable to the view here expressed. Benton v. State, 30 Ark. 328.

In another of the cases in another jurisdiction it was decided that on a motion for a new trial the absence of the judge from a place was not legal ground of complaint. State v. Hartley, 22 Nev. 342, 40 Pac. 372, 28 L. R. A. 33.

We rest our conclusion upon this point upon that ground. It was too late after verdict. Had the accused been acquitted, the verdict would have been entirely legal. He chose not to raise the point. He was represented by able and learned counsel.

We take up for decision the question of law raised by the defense that there was misconduct on the part of the jury while viewing the premises.

This ground also Was urged in a motion for a new trial.

We have seen that' they were in sight of the deputies all the time. They did not actually separate. They talked to each other, but nothing was said which indicated misconduct. One of them said, it is true, that this was the place where some one fell. Presumably he referred to the deceased. This fact of itself has no special significance, and cannot be taken as ground sufficient to reverse the judgment. It does not appear that anything was said or done calculated to prejudice illegally the cause of the accused.

Jurors are not expected to be dummies. They have the right to talk to each other, and to walk around, provided they remain in view of the deputies in charge, and do not break up the body of which they form a part.

The next objection on the part of the defense is that the accused was not taken inside of the house; that, while he was on the outside of the house, he could not see the members of the jury.

This is doubtless true. It does not appear* why it was that he was not taken within the-building. The fact that it was not possible-for him to see the jury at all times, that he-lost sight of them for five minutes while-they were viewing the place, is not fatal’, error.

No objection was urged at the time nor-after the jury returned to the 'courthouse.. It also was urged only on the application.! for a new trial.

An exception should have been taken at: the time of the occurrence, or as early a time-thereafter as possible. These points should. be brought up by way of bills of exception, taken in due time. State v. Maloney, 115 La. 498, 39 South. 539; State v. Henderson,. 113 La. 232, 36 South. 950; State v. Hauser,. 112 La. 313, 36 South. 396; State v. Michel,. 111 La. 438, 35 South. 629.

But we must say in regard to the last two< points — that is, the misconduct of the jury— and the fact that the defendant stood on the-outside with the sheriff for a few minutes-while the jury were in the house, that they are not irregularities affording ground enough to set aside the court’s action even if we-consider that the points have been timely urged. Not every incident of a trial can be-seized upon to predicate thereof a successful: defense. There must be error, something-showing that the law has been overlooked or-neglected, or treated with indifference. There does not seem to have been anything of the kind here.

As relates to the asserted misconduct of the-jury:

"We excerpt the following from 17 A. &. Eng. Ency. of Law, p. 1206:

“Failure to object to the misconduct of jurors-as soon as the knowledge thereof is obtained and the opportunity to object offers itself is a waiver of the right to object, and the objection cannot thereafter be presented as by a motion for a. new trial.”

[569]

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

Related

State v. Benoit
53 So. 2d 404 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1951)
State v. Augusta
7 So. 2d 177 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1942)
State v. O'Day
175 So. 838 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1937)
State v. Calloway
140 So. 2 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1932)
State v. Gustopolis
125 So. 862 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1930)
State v. James
116 So. 199 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1928)
State v. Scruggs
116 So. 206 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1928)
State v. McKinney
113 So. 781 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1927)
State v. Jackson
96 So. 53 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1923)
State v. Brooks
49 So. 990 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1909)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
44 So. 299, 119 La. 564, 1907 La. LEXIS 527, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-moore-la-1907.