Source: https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F2/255/9/411359/
Timestamp: 2020-07-13 19:24:09
Document Index: 257506461

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 687', '§ 867', '§ 864', '§ 1392', '§ 490', '§ 212', '§ 1015', '§ 490', '§ 213', '§ 1018', '§ 133']

Armando A. Miranda, Defendant, Appellant, v. United States of America, Appellee, 255 F.2d 9 (1st Cir. 1958) :: Justia
Justia › US Law › Case Law › Federal Courts › Courts of Appeals › First Circuit › 1958 › Armando A. Miranda, Defendant, Appellant, v. United States of America, Appellee
Armando A. Miranda, Defendant, Appellant, v. United States of America, Appellee, 255 F.2d 9 (1st Cir. 1958)
US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit - 255 F.2d 9 (1st Cir. 1958) Heard February 5, 1958
The defendant, in his motion in arrest of judgment, contended that the district court lacked jurisdiction to try an offense against the United States committed in Puerto Rico. This attack on the jurisdiction of the court had been raised previously and had been rejected by the district court. See United States v. Long, D.C.P.R.1954, 118 F. Supp. 857. An attempt had then been made, without success, to have the Supreme Court of the United States consider the question. Ex parte Long, 1954, 347 U.S. 926, 74 S. Ct. 534, 98 L. Ed. 1079. When the question was raised by the defendant in this case, the district court again rejected, upon the basis of its holding in the Long case, the contention that the court lacked jurisdiction to try the defendant and impose sentence upon him.
The federal district court in Puerto Rico has had jurisdiction of criminal offenses since its creation by Congress in 1900. By the Foraker Act of 1900, 31 Stat. 77, a civil government was established for Puerto Rico and under section 34 of that Act Puerto Rico was constituted a judicial district and a district court of the United States was created. The Act provided that the statutory laws of the United States, not locally inapplicable, should have the same force and effect in Puerto Rico as in the United States. The powers of the federal district court were not enumerated, but it was provided that the court should have "the ordinary jurisdiction of district courts of the United States." It was clear that this grant of authority included the power to try offenses against the laws of the United States committed in Puerto Rico. Crowley v. United States, 1904, 194 U.S. 461, 24 S. Ct. 731, 48 L. Ed. 1075; Rodriguez v. United States, 1905, 198 U.S. 156, 25 S. Ct. 617, 49 L. Ed. 994.
There is no merit in this contention. It is sufficient to point out that Rule 18 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure was prescribed by the Supreme Court pursuant to the authority conferred upon the court by Congress through the Act of June 29, 1940, 54 Stat. 688, 18 U.S.C. 1940 ed. § 687* . That Act specifically authorized the Supreme Court to prescribe rules of procedure with respect to proceedings prior to and including verdict in criminal cases in the district courts of the United States, including the district courts of Hawaii and Puerto Rico. Moreover the Act provided that the rules thus prescribed should not take effect until after being reported to Congress at the beginning of a regular session and until after the close of such session and that thereafter all laws in conflict therewith should be of no further force and effect. The rules were adopted by the Supreme Court and thus reported at the beginning of the first regular session of the 79th Congress in 1945 and became effective on March 21, 1946, three months subsequent to the adjournment of that session, pursuant to the provision of Rule 59. Accordingly on that date the venue provisions of Rule 18, by the express direction of Congress given in the Act of 1940, superseded the prior statutes upon the subject of the venue of the district courts in criminal cases. We are satisfied that this was a sufficient compliance with the mandate of the Constitution and that the venue for the prosecution of offenses committed in Puerto Rico has been validly laid by Rule 18 in the judicial district of Puerto Rico.
The defendant also contends that the indictment against him was defective because women had not been included among the prospective jurors from whom was drawn the grand jury which returned the indictment10 and because persons who could not speak and understand the English language were systematically excluded from that grand jury. His contention in regard to the absence of women from the grand jury was raised after trial in his motion in arrest of judgment. The district court correctly refused to admit evidence in regard to this matter on the ground that the defendant's challenge to the panel came too late. For it is well settled that an objection to the array or panel is required to be presented at the early stages of the proceeding, Agnew v. United States, 1897, 165 U.S. 36, 44, 17 S. Ct. 235, 41 L. Ed. 624; Crowley v. United States, 1904, 194 U.S. 461, 469-474, 24 S. Ct. 731, 48 L. Ed. 1075; Fed.Rules Crim.Proc. rules 6(b) and 12, otherwise, it is considered waived. United States v. Gale, 1883, 109 U.S. 65, 69, 3 S. Ct. 1, 27 L. Ed. 857; United States v. Hartwell, C.C.Mass.1870, 26 Fed.Cas.pp. 204, 205, No. 15,319; Wright v. United States, 8 Cir., 1948, 165 F.2d 405, 407; King v. United States, 8 Cir., 1948, 165 F.2d 408, certiorari denied 334 U.S. 848, 65 S. Ct. 1499, 92 L. Ed. 1771; York v. United States, 8 Cir., 1948, 167 F.2d 847, 848; United States v. Klock, 2 Cir., 1954, 210 F.2d 217, 220; Poliafico v. United States, 6 Cir., 1956, 237 F.2d 97, 110, certiorari denied 352 U.S. 1025, 77 S. Ct. 590, 1 L. Ed. 2d 597. See, also, Annotation, 9 A.L.R.2d 661, 667. His second contention, which was timely raised in a motion to dismiss the indictment, is answered by section 44 of the Jones Act, now the Puerto Rican Federal Relations Act, 48 U.S.C.A. § 867, which provides that a juror in the district court shall "have a sufficient knowledge of the English language to enable him to serve as a juror."11 This provision complements section 42 of the Jones Act, 48 U.S.C.A. § 864, which provides that all proceedings in the district court "shall be conducted in the English language."12 Both provisions are quite clearly reasonable and indeed necessary to the proper functioning of the court as a member of the federal judicial system. Certainly it is reasonable that a court conduct its proceeding in a single language and it is obviously essential that the judge, the counsel and all the jurors have a working knowledge of that language if the judicial machinery is to function efficiently.
The right of the defendant to have the jury polled, as thus recognized and established by Rule 31(d), is of ancient origin and of basic importance. The object is to give each juror an opportunity, before the verdict is recorded, to declare in open court his assent to the verdict which the foreman has returned and thus to enable the court and the parties to ascertain with certainty that a unanimous verdict has in fact been reached and that no juror has been concerned or induced to agree to a verdict to which he has not fully assented. Humphries v. District of Columbia, 1899, 174 U.S. 190, 194, 19 S. Ct. 637, 43 L. Ed. 944; Solar v. United States, D.C.Mun. App.1952, 86 A.2d 538; State v. Thursby, Mo.1952, 245 S.W.2d 859, 863; Carver v. Commonwealth, Ky.1953, 256 S.W.2d 375, 49 A.L.R.2d 616, and annotation thereto; Commonwealth v. Martin, 1954, 379 Pa. 587, 593, 109 A.2d 325, 328; State v. Schmelz, 1955, 17 N.J. 227, 232-236, 111 A.2d 50, 53-55; Ruffin v. State, Del.1956, 123 A.2d 461, 467; Wilson v. State, 1956, 93 Ga.App. 375, 91 S.E.2d 854; State v. Dow, 1957, 246 N. C. 644, 99 S.E.2d 860; 23 C.J.S. Criminal Law § 1392; 89 C.J.S. Trial § 490; 14 Am.Jur. Criminal Law § 212; 53 Am. Jur. Trial §§ 1015-1017. It is, however, a right which must be seasonably exercised and if it is not requested before the verdict is recorded it comes too late. State v. Hubbs, 1922, 294 Mo. 224, 242 S.W. 675; State v. Vaszorich, 1953, 13 N.J. 99, 127, 98 A.2d 299, 314, certiorari denied 346 U.S. 900, 74 S. Ct. 219, 98 L. Ed. 400; State v. Cephus, 1955, 241 N.C. 562, 86 S.E.2d 70; Commonwealth v. Cano, 1956, 182 Pa.Super. 524, 538, 128 A.2d 358, 366, affirmed 389 Pa. 639, 133 A.2d 800; 89 C.J.S. Trial § 490; 14 Am.Jur. Criminal Law § 213; 53 Am. Jur. Trial § 1018, Annotation, 49 A.L.R. 2d 636; Rule 31(d), Fed.Rules Cr.Proc.
"Districts Judges "Alabama: "Northern .................... 2 * * * * * "Hawaii ....................... 2 * * * * * "Puerto Rico .................. 1 * * * * * "Wyoming ...................... 1 * * *" 28 U.S.C. § 133.