Court Opinion

ID: 9610564
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 03:43:21.47208+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:03:01.859754
License: Public Domain

THOMAS, Justice
(dissenting).
I concur in the dissent of Justice KEE-TON to the effect that all the evidence introduced, over repeated objection of counsel for defendant, connecting or even tending to connect defendant with the commission of other crimes not in any wise related to or logically and naturally connected with the offense charged was highly prejudicial and resulted in denying defend*274ant his constitutional right to a fair and impartial trial.
I also concur in the dissent of Justice KEETON that the remarks and comment of the trial judge, in the presence of the jury, constituted prejudicial misconduct, depriving defendant of a fair and impartial trial, but desire to amplify the reasons for my concurrence in this latter respect.
I am not unmindful of the fact that it is impossible to apply any fixed rule' to determine just what conduct or what comments or remarks of a trial judge in the presence of the jury may amount to prejudicial invasion of the rights of the defendant; neither am I unmindful of the fact that each case in this respect must necessarily turn upon its own peculiar circumstances; however, the trial judge should to the limit of his capacity throughout such trial, avoid to the fullest extent, even though it taxes his patience, the utterance of any remarks or comments upon a ruling or otherwise, in the presence of the jury, which would have any tendency to affect the verdict of the jury.
The trial court and this court on appeal should exercise unlimited concern to see that justice is not miscarried; a miscarriage of justice does not simply mean that a guilty person has escaped or that an innocent person has been convicted; it means more than that; it means that neither the essential rights of the people nor of the defendant should be disregarded or denied during the course of the trial.
The effect of the accumulative remarks and comment of the trial judge, in this instance, deprived the defendant of a fair and impartial trial. Using language tending to bring the attorney for defendant into' the contempt, curiosity and ridicule of the jury or using language or making intimation tending to prejudice such attorney before the jury, is grounds for reversal. Williams v. State, 34 Ala.App. 253, 39 So.2d 29.
Counsel for the defendant should not be held up to the ridicule, contempt and curiosity of the jury by remarks and comment of the court in the presence of the jury nor should the court by his remarks and comment tend to lead the jury to draw a conclusion that the court thought there was something sham about the defense of the defendant. It is also the privilege, and in fact the sworn duty, of counsel for defendant to protect defendant’s rights during the course of the trial and he should be free from severe reprimands, ridicule and severe criticism, in the presence of the jury, while carrying out this solemn responsibility.
Any remarks or comments of the trial judge which have the effect to impute lack of good faith on the part of counsel for defendant in the presence of the jury unjustly injures the cause of the defendant and hence deprives him of that fair and impartial trial to which everyone is entitled.
*275I do not intend to leave the impression by anything I may say that the trial judge is without power to direct the course of the trial or to expedite its termination, or to reprimand counsel out of the presence of the jury where warranted: On the other hand no one could for one moment doubt that every remark made by the trial court in the presence of the jury which tends to disparage either party or counsel has effect upon the jury; the jury usually consists of men and women unskilled with reference to court procedure who are ever ready to accept any intimation from the trial judge as to what their verdict should be; the jury watches every movement of the judge, discerns the tone of his voice, observes. his demeanor and detects the slightest evidence on the part of the trial judge as to his feelings or leanings in any case, and they place great reliance upon what he says, how he says it, and-what he does; however impatient a trial judge may be with a defense, he should be careful not to indicate such impatience by remarks or comments during the course of the trial which will in any wise tend to prejudice the defendant. People v. Zammora, 66 Cal.App.2d 166, 152 P.2d 180 at page 203; Garrett v. State, 74 Okl.Cr. 78, 123 P.2d 283.
The judgment of conviction should be reversed.
I am authorized to say that Justice KEE-TON concurs in this dissent.