Title: Dean v. State of Indiana
Citation: 130 N.E.2d 126, 234 Ind. 568
Docket Number: 29,281
State: Indiana
Issuer: Indiana Supreme Court
Date: November 22, 1955

234 Ind. 568 (1955)
130 N.E.2d 126
DEAN
v.
STATE OF INDIANA.
No. 29,281.

Supreme Court of Indiana.
Filed November 22, 1955.
*569 John N. Stanton, and Cecil B. Cohen, of East Chicago, for appellant.
Edwin K. Steers, Attorney General, and Owen S. Boling, Deputy Attorney General, for appellee.
BOBBITT, J.
Appellant was charged by indictment with first degree murder, tried by jury, and found guilty of murder in the second degree and sentenced to life imprisonment in the Indiana State Prison.
The question here presented is an alleged irregularity of the court as specifically charged in grounds 4 and 5 of appellant's motion for a new trial, which are as follows:
These charges of irregularity are supported by affidavits attached to the motion for a new trial.
A counter-affidavit was filed by a deputy prosecuting attorney in which it was stated that prior to the time when the jury was called to make inquiry as to whether they had reached a verdict the judge informed attorneys for the defendant that he was calling the jury solely for this purpose; that defendant's attorneys made no objection; that the judge inquired of the foreman of the jury as to whether or not the jury had been able to reach a verdict, and upon informing the judge that, as yet, they had not, the judge then informed the jury that they should return to the jury room and deliberate further "and attempt to reach a verdict if possible for the defendant or the State and that if they could not reach a verdict within a reasonable time, that the Judge would then discharge the jury."
The evidence is undisputed that appellant was not present at any time during the above described proceedings.
Acts 1905, ch. 169, § 222, p. 584, being § 9-1801, Burns' 1942 Replacement, provides:
This statute merely declares the rule at comon law. State v. Wilson (1875), 50 Ind. 487, 19 Am. Rep. 719; Ewbank's Criminal Law, 2d ed., § 445, p. 291.
*571 In Roberts v. State (1887), 111 Ind. 340, 12 N.E. 500, this court was confronted with a question similar to the one now before us. There the jury was called for further instruction, and the defendant was not present when they were recalled and the further instruction given. At pp. 341-342, of 111 Ind., this court said:
In Miles v. State (1944), 222 Ind. 312, 53 N.E.2d 779, it was held that a defendant's attorney, unless expressly *572 authorized by him, cannot waive his (defendant's) right to be present when the jury is recalled to the court room for a rereading of the instructions.
In Fina v. United States (1931), 46 F.2d 643, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals was confronted with a question similar to the one now before us, and at pp. 643-644, it said:
That appellant herein was not present when the jury was called into the courtroom is undisputed; nor is there any denial that he was confined "next door" and readily available to be brought into the courtroom when the jury was called to report on the progress of their deliberations.
Appellant's constitutional right[2] to be present during his trial includes the right to be present in the courtroom at every stage of the proceedings which requires the presence of the jury. It, therefore, was error for *573 the trial court to call the jury for questioning as he did in this case without the presence of the defendant-appellant. For this reason the judgment of the trial court must be reversed.
Because of the conclusion which we have reached it is not necessary to discuss other assigned errors.
Judgment reversed.
Emmert, C.J., Achor, Arterburn and Landis, JJ., concur.
NOTE.  Reported in 130 N.E.2d 126.
[1]  Acts 1905, ch. 169, § 222, p. 584, being § 9-1801, Burns' 1942 Replacement, is a reenactment of § 1786 of the 1881 Revised Statutes.
[2]  Art. 1, § 13, of the Indiana Constitution. See implementing statute, § 9-1801, Burns' 1942 Replacement.