The Farmville herald. (Farmville, Va.) 1957-current, 1959-01-06

constitute the Jury for the trial Of
he case. The striking of jurors Is
lone alternately, the Common
wealth having the first strike. The
clerk then directs the twelve jur-
ors selected to try the case to stand
up. hold up their right hands, and
be sworn. and administers the fol
lowing oath.
you will well and truly try
and true deliverance make be-
tween the Commonwealth and
tie defendant at the bar whom
you have In charge and true
verdict give according to the
law and the evidence So help
you God
The defendant is then directed to
stand up ard the indictment is
again read. unless he valves a
second reading of the indictment,
and the clerk then says to the
jury:
Gentlemen OF the jury, look
upon the prisoner and hearken
to his cause, he stands indicted
for manning the offense'. he
has been arraigned and upon
his arraignment hath pleaded
not guilty. for his trial hath put
himself upon the country, which
country you are. Your charge
therefore is to inquire whether
he be guilty as charged in the
indictment or not guilty If you
find him guilty the following Is
the law under which you will
find your verdict the clerk
then states the punishment for
the offense or offenses of which
he may be convicted under the
Indictment If you find him not
guilty you will say so and no
more. Hearken to the evi
dence"
Counsel may make opening state
ments to the jury if they so desire
The procedure then follows the
same general plan as set out i'll
the trial of typical civil case
When the case has been submitted
the jury retires to its room to de-
termine whether the accused is
guilty or not guilty, and if the jury
finds the accused guilty. it fixes
the punishment
Sometimes a jury. after fixing
the punishment. recommends sus
pension of the sentence. This Q
Jury should not do, The question d
suspension or probation is exclus
lively within the discretion Of the
Judge
Incidents During the Trial
When a lawyer. In the course o
a trial. objects To the adnlssibilitS
Of evidence. he is merely asserting
the right of his client TO proven
the jury from hearing evidence tha
is not legally proper. Such objec
tons should not bias the jury fol
OF against either party. as there
are legal rules of evidence ap
Piled by the Judge, who will either
admit or reject the testimony by
oyerruling or sustaing the motion.
or objections of the attorney. The
decisions of the judge on such OBJ
jections and motions should not bs
interpreted by jurors to mean tina
he favors one side or the other
Lawyers often desire to call thS
courts attention to particular poin
of law applicable to the case ant
to the admissibility of evidence
and move to exclude the jury. Thi:
is done to avoid the risk of tht
jlry's being confused by hearins
things that should not be consider
ed by them in reaching their yer
dict.
Frequently the jury hears test
mony that is afterwards stricken
out. This means that, on mature
deliveration, the Judge has decided
that the evidence was not admis
sible, and therefore, he strikes i
from the record and instructs The
jury to disregard it, Thereafter thu
Jury should consider the case as i
such evidence had not been given
Sometimes. in an opening state
ment, lawyer will say that he OK
poets to prove certain facts an(
the evidence fails to justify tn,
lawyers expectation The juror!
must remember that counsel arr
not witnesses and their statement!
are not evidence.
Jurors have the right, after frs
getting the permission Of the Judge
to ask questions of the witnesses
whenever they do not understand
the testimony. Such questions ar
proper only for the purpose of dis
crediting or arguing with wit
ness. If the question is inprope
the lawyer whose side is hurt b,
it will have to object, and thu
juror must not allow such objec
ton to prejudice him against tn,
lawyers client
A juror should never. during {
recess of the trial. inspect tht
scene Of the accident or othe
events involved in the case. Like
wise. jurors must not discuss tn
case with outsiders, or read abou
it in the newspapers until after Tx
case is over.
If, during the trial. it turns Oh
that juror happens to know some
fact involved in the case, he shoult
tell the court what he knows, ant
he should not, in the privacy b