Opinion ID: 1928294
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Jury List Challenge

Text: Because Brown waited until after the trial to challenge the master jury list, we hold that, under the facts of this case, he has now waived that right. This Court held in Williams v. State, 342 So.2d 1328 (Ala.1977) that: . . . henceforth a failure by the defendant in a criminal case to raise proper objection to the composition of a grand or petit jury, including, but not limited to, the constitutional ground of the jury selection process, before entering upon the trial of the case on its merits, constitutes a waiver of his right to do so, subject, of course, to the recognized exceptions of fraud and as to matters which were not known, or by the exercise of due diligence, could not have been known, before trial. Even though Williams was a criminal case, we opine that the rule announced there is also applicable in a civil case. Cf. Fulwider v. Jacob, 221 Ala. 124, 127 So. 818 (1930). Without setting it out, the evidence clearly shows that Brown's counsel, with due diligence, could have found out how the master jury list was compiled. Moreover, after reviewing the testimony of the jury commission clerk and other members of the jury commission, we conclude that there was no fraud involved in compiling the jury list by the commission.