The south-western. [volume] (Shreveport, La.) 1852-1870, 1867-04-24
4 Legal Question.

The District Court Judge James l. Neems, now in
session at this place. had quite an interesting legal
question before it last week AS we were not present.
we prevailed upon legal friend to do it up" for US
Can person disfranchised by the military bills, act
as grand juror? This novel and interesting ques-
ton was raised in our District Court last week. upon
motion to qu@sh an indictment in the case of the
State vs. Jerry O'Brien Oh the ground of the incom
potency Of Of the grand jury that returned the
bill. The incompetency, as set forth in the motion
arose from the fact that the foreman of the grand
jury disfranchised by the, military bills The tes-
tmony, upon the trial of the notion decided that the
foreman had about thirty years ago, been probate
judge in the State of Mississippi. This fact being
shown the counsel for the accused attempted next to
prove that he had given aid and comfort" to the
bellion The evidence upon this branch Of the case
may be briefly stated follows: That the juror had
voted for secession, but under the conviction that it
would not be followed by war; that he took no part
whatever in the war; but sympathsed with the South
ern cause; that he gave clothing and other reedtul
articles to young cilhes going into or belonging
to the Confederate army that he voted for officers of
the Confederate States Government, and that being
y
lowed to the families of those absent in the service
and living in his vicinity and may have belonged but
witness the juror himself could not distinctly rcmem-
bcr 10 some organisation looking to the protection Of
persons and property against lawless violence in his
neighhorhood.
The counsel for the accused contcnded that these
acts within the legal intentmcnt Of "aid and
o,G rrrh tho fact lat in ha6
held judicial office previously the rebellion and had
to support the constitution he was, under the
provisions of the military bills, the paramount
law Of the State, disqualified as voter and therefore
incompetent juror
To this argument the District Attorney replied that
the military bills had relation to the qualifications of
a juror that these qualifications fixed by statute;
that th. juror was not dsfranchised by these bills
and that if lie MAS, his disqualification as Il voter I'M
der them did not affect lis qualifications as juror
We state the points very briefly as made BY the
for tile accused Mr. Duncan and Judge Cres-
well, and those made by Major Ashton the District
Attorney. The argument of the motion attracted
unusual interest," both on account of the novelty of
the question and the probable effect its decision might
have upon all the indictments returned by the same
grand jury.
His honor, Judge Weems, took the motion under
advisement for that day. On the next be sustained
the notion giving, among other reasons orally, that
while it was true Congress not looking to the
qualifications of jurors in the military bills, yet as
these are the paramount law Of the land and as, by
the statute of this State the qualifications of juror
we're those Of voter and, as under the bills, the u
'or WAS disqualified voter, he also disqualified
as juror. The Judge expressed his regret that such
was lis conviction of the law, the public interests
might be affected by the decision which fatal to
al the indictments The District Attorney then asked
leave to file information in lieu of the indictments in
all cases in which it allowed and we understand
hat he do so in all the cases except the one in
which the motion filed, that the public interest
will not suffer The grand jury was then discharged