Case Name: Clark vs. The State
Court: Tennessee Supreme Court
Jurisdiction: Tennessee
Decision Date: 1843-12
Citations: 4 Hum. 254
Docket Number: 
Parties: Clark vs. The State.
Judges: 
Reporter: Tennessee Reports
Volume: 23
Pages: 254–255

Head Matter:
Clark vs. The State.
In all cases of treason and felony, defendant must be present when the verdict is rendered; and if he be not present, tlic verdict cannot be permitted to stand.
Clark was indicted for perjury in the Circuit Court of Wilson county, and his case was submitted to a jury; Judge S. Anderson presiding.
The defendant was on bail and was not ordered into the custody of an officer when the trial began, but was permitted to go at large. The jury came into court for the purpose of giving in their verdict. The defendant, not being present, was called and did not appear. They then gave in their verdict of guilty, and fixed the defendant’s time of service in the penitentiary at three years. The defendant afterwards came into court and moved the court to set aside the verdict and grant him a new trial. The motion was overruled, and judgment rendered on the verdict, from which defendant appealed.
Haynes, for the plaintiff in error.
Attorney General, for the State.

Opinion:
Turley, J.
delivered the opinion of the court.
At the May term, 1842, of the Circuit Court for Wilson county, the plaintiff in error was tried, and convicted for the offence of perjury, and appeals to this court. Upon argument, several points are made for reversal, only one of which we think it ne-. cessary to notice, as that is conclusive upon the case. When the verdict was rendered, the prisoner was not present, having-been permitted to go at large during his trial. _ He was called, but did not appear. Can a verdict so rendered in a case of felony be sustained? Assuredly not. In favor of life and liberty, a man charged shall be present when a verdict affecting the one or the other is to be rendered against him, for perchance he may be able to show cause against it.
And so is the law as long since expounded. Chitty, in the first volume of his work upon Criminal Law, says, "The ver- diet, whatever may be its effect, must in all cases of felony and treason be delivered in the presence of the defendant in open court, and cannot be either privately given or promulgated while he is absent." Coke Lit. 227; 3 Inst. 117; Sir Thomas Raymond, 198; 2 Hale, 300; Hawk. b. 2, c. 47, s. 2; 4 Black. Com. 340; Bacon's Abridg. Verdict; Burns's Justice, Juror. V.
We therefore reverse the judgment of the Circuit Court, set aside the verdict, and remand the case for a new trial.