Изображения страниц
PDF
EPUB

CHAPTER XXI.

TRIAL BY JURY.

ARTICLE III. AMENDMENTS.

Section 2, Clause 3.-The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeachment, shall be by jury; and such trial shall be held in the State where the said crimes shall have been committed; but when not committed within any State, the trial shall be at such place or places as the Congress may by law have directed.

Amendment V.-No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation.

AMENDMENT VI.-In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defence.

AMENDMENT VII.-In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury shallbe otherwise re-examined in any court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.

AMENDMENT VIII.-Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

AMENDMENT XIV.-No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

524. TRIAL BY JURY.-Trial by jury, especially in criminal cases, has for centuries been one of the most jealously guarded rights of the English-speaking people. Magna Charta, granted by King John in 1215, declared: "No freeman shall be taken, or imprisoned, dissiezed, or outlawed, or banished, or any way injured; nor will we pass upon, nor send upon him, unless by the legal judgment of his peers, or by the law of the land." This means that no man should be condemned in any of the king's courts, unless first tried by his peers. In England trial by one's peers means trial by his equals, as a peer by peers; in the United States it means a trial by impartial men. In the National courts, the right of trial by jury is preserved in all criminal cases, and in all civil cases when the amount in controversy is more than twenty dollars. A trial jury consists of twelve men, and in the National courts, and in most of the State courts, a verdict requires unanimity. Impeachment has been discussed in another place.

525. THE PLACE OF TRIAL.-To save trouble and expense to the defendant, as well as to the prosecution, it is provided that criminal cases must be tried in the State and judicial district where the crime is committed. There the witnesses are likely to be found. The original rule required the holding of a court having criminal jurisdiction in every State, and suggested the State as the territorial unit of the District Courts. Amendment VI. makes the place of trial still more definite: it must be within a judicial district previously determined by law. Crimes

committed in the District of Columbia are tried in that District; crimes committed in the organized Territories, in the Territories where they are committed. The rule governing other crimes is thus defined by law: "The trial of all offenses committed upon the high seas or elsewhere, out of the jurisdiction of any particular State or district, shall be in the district where the offender is found, or into which he is first brought."

526. THE RIGHT TO A SPEEDY TRIAL, ETC.-In former times the postponment or denial of trial in criminal cases was a great abuse. Innocent men were often imprisoned, and then denied an opportunity to vindicate themselves. Their trials were often secret, and at a distance from the prisoner's residence, thus cutting him off from the public knowledge and the sympathy of his friends. Such abuses of power are precluded by the above provisions.

527. THE GRAND JURY.-There are two juries known to the law, the grand jury and the petit jury. The first indicts the accused, the second tries him. A grand jury consist of any number of men, from fifteen to twenty-three. On the empaneling of a grand jury, the judge charges it to inquire into all offenses against the laws of the United States committed in the district, and to report its findings. It sits in secret, and twelve members must concur in any presentment or indictment that it finds. It must first decide that a crime has been committed, and then that there is or is not sufficient testimony against the accused to justify a formal trial. Manifestly, this deliberate mode of procedure applied to cases arising in the army and navy in times of war and public danger would be destructive of military discipline; and so the Constitution leaves the way here open for the more summary processes of military courts.

528. PRESENTMENT AND INDICTMENT.-A presentment is an accusation by a grand jury charging an offense based upon their own knowledge, or upon evidence before them, and is not made at the suit of the government. An indictment is formally drawn up by a prosecuting officer of the government and laid before the jury with the evidence. If the members of the jury think the evidence such as to warrant a prosecution of the case, they endorse on the back of the paper "a true bill," or found;" but if they think the accusation groundless, they "throw the bill out," or endorse it "not a true bill," or "not found." If the jury presents a person, he must then be regularly indicted before be can be put on trial. If a bill is not found the accused goes free, but he may be indicted by a second grand jury.

[ocr errors]

This

529. PUT IN JEOPARDY OF LIFE OR LIMB.-This is a common law phrase meaning put on trial for some criminal offense. A person once tried for an offense and acquitted cannot be put on trial the second time for the same offense. is one of the great bulwarks of personal liberty. Without it, government might subject the citizen or subject to constant persecution, or a man's enemies might subject him to constant

annoyance.

530. No MAN COMPELLED TO BE A WITNESS AGAINST HIMSELF. This is also one of the great legal bulwarks of English liberty. In former times, it was common to convict criminals, and especially slaves or other despicable persons, on their own testimony, extorted by some brutal mode of examination. Men were racked, or otherwise put to the torture, and confession was thus forced from them. In justification of this method, it was held that a man conscious of guilt would make a plain confession. "As if," says Justice Story, "a man's innocense were to be tried by the hardness of his constitution, and his guilt by the sensibility of his nerves." In some countries

accused persons are still compelled to give evidence against themselves.

531. TAKING PRIVATE PROPERTY FOR PUBLIC USE.— The justness of the rule in regard to this subject is too obvious for extended remark. If the government wants land for a custom house or an arsenal, it can have it. What is called eniment domain, or the right of the public to use private property for public use, gives it power to take it. But it must make just compensation. If the government and the owner of the property cannot agree upon a price, the government condemns the land, and a jury is empanneled to assess the damages.

532. THE COMMON LAW.-The common law of England con sists of the old legal customs of the country. It is called the unwritten law (lex non scripta) in contra-distinction to the statute or written law (lex scripta). The common law originated in the decisions of judges and the usages of political bodies; the statue law, in formal acts of Parliament. The common law was introduced into the English Colonies at their planting, and is now in force in all of the States save where it has been modified or set aside by legislation. The expression "suits at common law" is used in contra-distinction to suits in equity or in maritime jurisdiction. When any fact once tried by a jury is re-examined in any court of the United States, the rules of the common law shall be observed. Re-examination means a new trial. The court that tried the case may grant such trial, or it may be carried to a higher court on a writ of error or by an appeal. A writ of error removes the cause for re-examination as respects the law, but not the fact; an appeal removes it for examination in both particulars.

533. DUE PROCESS OF LAW.-Amendment V. assumes such process in respect to the National judiciary; Amendment XIV. imposes it upon all the States. Beside, the same rule is found in the State constitutions. The Supreme Court has said it is intended as an additional security against the arbitrary spoliation of property."

« ПредыдущаяПродолжить »