Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1904-12-13
Tuesday, December l3, 1904

to a boarding house and wait until one
Of them, commissioned as envoy extra
ordinary and minister plenipotentiary,
went with the dollar to the dispensary
and purchased quart, or at least ne
returned with something that looked
like a quart bottle, which he held aloft,
and the last / saw of them all the jury
were following the gentleman with the
bottle into the door Of the boarding
house. ] may add that I was told by
the lawyers that this dollar is taxed
up as a part Of the costs, and, although
the winning party advances 1t, 1t Is ul-
timately recovered from the party
against whom judgment Is rendered.
Another thing that interested me In
the South Carolina court" said Mr..
Tillett, was the practice OF striking
the Jury as they call 1t. Before the
trial Of each case is entered into, the
clerk Of the court puts into hat the
names Of twenty-four jurors, written
on slips Of paper, and small boy
draws out twenty Of these names, and
they are numbered in the order In
which they are drawn. The lawyers
on each side are furnished with lst,
and then they proceed to strike the
Jury; that is, the plaintins counsei
will say, I strike off number six, ana
I
strike off number ten,' and each SIDE
is required to strike of four names,
leaving twelve jurors. This has the
advantage that the parties whose
names are stricken off do not know
which side 1t is that objects to them,
and In this respect II seems to me 10
be commendable. Here in North Car
olina lawyers are frequently emoar-
rassed by having to challenge Jurors
by name openly, and the mere tact
that lawyer has challenged Juror IN
accent the same Juror in another case,
for fear some offense has been given
by a previous challenge In the nrst
case.
p "There Is another practice which
prevails In South Carolina" added Mr.
Tillett, (which am certainly glad has
not been adopted here. ! refer to the
manner Of charging the jury. In tnat
state, the judge cannot refer 10 tne
southwest corner Of the facts OF the
particular case which he Is trying, ano
in his efforts to tell the jury what the
law is, he Is required by the constitu-
ton of that state to recite aostract
propositions Of law, and II he attempts
to apply these to the evidence In the
case, a new trial will be given by the
supreme court. ] heard a South car
olina lawyer Of large experience say
that he did not think that the judges
charge to the jury in that state was
any assistance whatever to the jury
In reaching a conclusion, because IL
would require fairly good lawyer 10
be able to apply the abstract PROPOSE
tions Of law to the facts Of the case.
Referring to the big S55.000 verdict
/ may add" said Mr.. Tillett, that
believe that Is the largest verdict that
was ever rendered In the south In a
damage suit, and yet when we consid-
er what elements Of damage are per-
mitted under the South Carolina stat
utes, 1t Is really not surprising. In
the first place. the jury are permitted
to give compensatory damages, which,
by the way, Is the only element OF
damage which the jury can consider
in North Carolina, in rendering al
verdict in a death case, but In south
Carolina the jury can also add such
damages as they may deem proper
for the mental anguish and GRIEF OF
the beneficiaries caused by the death
of the relative. In the Brickman case,
there was a wife and three or four
children, and the jury were allowed
to assess in money the mental an
guish and grief Of each one Of these
In the loss Of the husband and father.
On top Of this, the jury were allowed
to give what the lawyers call puni-
tive or vindictive damages. Brickman
had lost his life by the falling In OF
a trestle, in which 1t seems there
were many rotten timbers, and the
jury were permitted to punish the
railroad company for its alleged reck-
lessness in having such a bridge, by
adding a large sum to the verdict"