Case Name: THE PEOPLE v. JOSEPH MAX
Court: Supreme Court of California
Jurisdiction: California
Decision Date: 1873
Citations: 45 Cal. 254
Docket Number: No. 10,010
Parties: THE PEOPLE v. JOSEPH MAX.
Judges: 
Reporter: California Reports
Volume: 45
Pages: 254–255

Head Matter:
[No. 10,010.]
THE PEOPLE v. JOSEPH MAX.
Oral Instructions in Criminal Cases.—The giving of oral -instructions to a jury in a criminal case, without the consent of defendant, is error.
Appeal from the County Court of'Stanislaus County.
The defendant appealed from the judgment and from an order denying a motion for a new trial.
The other facts are stated in the opinion.
John W. Armstrong, for Appellant,
argued that the Court erred in giving oral instructions to the jury without the defendant’s consent, and cited The People v. Sandford, 43 Cal. 29, and the cases therein referred to.
G. A. Blanchard, for Respondent,
without consenting to a reversal, said he could not defend the action of the Court in giving the oral instructions.

Opinion:
By the Court:
The prisoner, indicted of the crime óf assault with intent to commit murder, was, upon trial, convicted of an assault with a deadly weapon, made with intent to do great bodily injury, and was thereupon adjudged to suffer imprisonment in the State Prison.
It appears by the bill of exceptions that the Court below gave to the jury numerous and important oral instructions without the consent of the prisoner.
We have no time to go over again the numerous cases in which this has been held erroneous. This was lately done to some extent in the case of People v. Sandford, 43 Cal. 29, and the repetition of the error in the present case betrays a degree of ignorance of the plain provisions of the statute and of the uniform decisions of this Court, which is wholly without excuse.
Judgment reversed and cause remanded for a new trial.