The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-02-03

by th9 Court for . contempt In tho County Jaii not to exceed sixty days.
 Sec. Il. Re 1t further enacted: That the law will DC compiled with as to ser vice on the defendant, If copy of the indictment Is served one day beeore the trial on him or his attorney and there must not be served a copy of the ve- nire. n Sec. F. Be 1t further enacted Tint If mistake be made in serving copy of the indictment. the venire shall not be quashed and the case need not be continued. but a prvper copy can then be served under the direction of the Court and after the expiration of four hours thereafter. the trial may be pro- ceeded with. and this delay need not be caused if the defendant will waive the irregularity in the copy served. x
 Sec. 13. Be 1t further enacted: That any juror drawn and summoned under the provision of this law and who dis closes the fact before the commencement of the trial. he shall be guilty of a mis- demeanor and on conviction must be fined not less than $50 nor more than $500. And it shall be the duty of the Sheriff to write or print in the body of eacn summons the following, or the substance thereof: You will take notice that it is violation of the law to let any one,
  moned on this jury. and there is no ex-' emption from serving thereon, unless you are over 60 years old" It shall also be : the duty of the Sheriff or his deputy to summon them in person and to read over to or call the jurors attention to the foregoing clause. 4st@ ..f
 Sec. IA. Be it further enacted: That a venire may be waived by an agreement in writing in any of the foregoing cases to be signed by the Solicitor and counsel for defendant if plea of guilty is in-, terposed and the punishment may then be fixed by the regular jury.
 Sec. Is. Be 1t further enacted: That alila WIS. local or general, unless excepted in the body of this act, and which may conflict with the provisions of this hw,t be and the same are hereby repealed.
 Note.
 First-Under the present law the defend- ant gets a list of the special venire as soon as drawn as he and his attorney ? are in Court at the time of the drawing. This usually precedes the trial several, days and friends and relatives have q, chance to spend the night with the jurors and tamper with them generally. The regular jurors for the week also form a part of the venire to try the case and d sleep with them.
 With the present great number of chal- lenges and with such an unequal division between defendant and State. 1t is difi-' cult to secure jury that will convict any man of influence, under any circum- stances regardless of the law or evidence.
 Should the venire be exhausted by chal- lenge or non-attendance, the Sherin can pack the jury on the State and thus make a conviction almost impossible, be- cause the State usually exhausts it's challenges before bystanders are resorted to.
 second-The foregoing law will cure all of this and do away with the chance to tamper with the jury. It removes all dan- ger of delay growing out of having to quash venires and thereby saves good deal to the county. It will also be of great saving to the county, because capital cases can be set down for trial after the other work Ia disposed of or before 1t starts. and as the regular jurors are not needed. they will not be held at an expense to the county.
 Third-Grand juries usually indict, but with the chance removed to work the petit juries. these jury fxers will then resort to the Grand Jury endeavoring to
 
 capital and thereby throwing the case to the regular panel. This i3 guarded against by including all felonious homicides. whether capital or but murder In the sec- ond degree. or manslaughter in the first degree.
 Fourth-After a man stands the test under the statute, as to competency,sare. lationship and bias. why should there be any challenges? But as some may com ceal under the examination as to quali- fication, their bias or prejudice, and as a safety valve the defendant is given five and the State three. r Yet if a man is competent and not open to challenge for cause, why will 1t help the ends of justice to permit him to be stricken off in order to get some one whom the defendant knows is favorable to him, right or wrong?
 Fifth-I think the enactment of the fore going or a similar law will strengthen the courts considerably in bringing the guilty to justice, and especially that class who escape, neither as the result of delay or the action of the Supreme Court It will also simplify matters some in getting the jury organized, and as I heretofore stated, will be a considerable saving to the counties.
 I should like to see this law tried all over the State, but in this Circuit if the rest of the State does not wish 1t. Respectfully, -'-
 Jno. c. Anderson.
 It is as fair for the defendant as for the State to reduce challenges and keep the names secret.