Court Opinion

ID: 9418437
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-02 22:25:26.060089+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:19:13.605731
License: Public Domain

Mr. Justice Brandéis,
dissenting.
It has long been the established practice of the federal courts that, even in criminal cases, the presiding judge may comment freely on the evidence and express his opinion whether facts alleged have been proved. Since Sparf v. United States, 156 U. S. 51, it is settled that, even in criminal cases, it is the duty of the jury to apply the law given them by the presiding judge to the facts which they find. But it is still the rule of the federal courts that the jury in criminal cases renders a general verdict on the law and the facts; and that the judge is without power to direct a verdict of guilty although no fact is in dispute. United States v. Taylor, 11 Fed. Rep. 470; Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Ry. Co. v. United States, 172 Fed. Rep. 194. What the judge is forbidden to do directly, he may not do by indirection^ Peterson v. United States, 213 Fed. Rep. 920. The judge may enlighten the understanding of the jury and thereby influence their judgment; but he may not use undue influence. He may advise; he may persuade; but he may not command or coerce. He does coerce when without convincing the judgment he overcomes the will by the weight of his authority. Compare Hall v. Hall, L. R. 1, P. & D. 481, 482.
*140The character of the charge in this case is illustrated by the following paragraph:
“In conclusion, I will say to you that a failure by you to bring in a verdict in this case can arise only from a wilful and flagrant disregard of the evidence and the law as I have given it to you, and a violation of your obligation as jurors. ... Of course, gentlemen of the jury, I cannot tell you, in so many words, to find defendant guilty, but what I say amounts to that.”
In my opinion, such a charge is a moral command, and being yielded to, substitutes the will of the judge for the conviction of the jury. The law which in a criminal case forbids a verdict directed “in so many words,” forbids such a statement as the above.1
It is said that if the defendant suffered any wrong it was purely formal; and that the error is of such a character as not to afford, since the Act of February 26, 1919, c. 48, 40 Stat. 1181, a basis for reversing the judgment of the lower court. Whether a defendant is found guilty by a jury or is declared to be so by a judge is not, under the Federal Constitution, a mere formality. Blair v. United States, 241 Fed. Rep. 217, 230. The offence here in question is punishable by imprisonment. Congress would have been powerless to provide for imposing the punishment except upon the verdict of the jury. Callan v. Wilson, 127 U. S. 540; Thompson v. Utah, 170 U. S. 343. I find nothing in the act to indicate that it sought to do so.
Because the presiding judge usurped the province of the jury, I am unable to concur in the j udgment of the court.
The Chief Justice and Mr. Justice Day concur in this dissent. __