Adams v. State, 27053.

Decision Date01 November 1938
Docket NumberNo. 27053.,27053.
PartiesADAMS v. STATE.
CourtIndiana Supreme Court

OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE

Ralph Adams was convicted of second degree murder, and he appeals.

Affirmed.Appeal from Criminal Court, Marion County; Chas. B. Staff, Special judge.

T. Ernest Maholm, of Indianapolis, for appellant.

Omer Stokes Jackson, Atty. Gen., and James K. Northam, Deputy Atty. Gen., for the State.

FANSLER, Judge.

The appellant was convicted of murder in the second degree.

At the impaneling of the grand jury, which returned the indictment upon which appellant was tried, he appeared and objected to the impaneling unless the jurors took an oath to support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of Indiana. Afterward, by plea in abatement and by other pleadings, he questioned the legality of the jury upon the ground that they had taken only the statutory oath, and had not taken an oath to support the Constitution of the United States and of the State of Indiana. Adverse rulings on these various pleadings are assigned as error.

The Constitution of the United States provides, by article 6, clause 3, U.S.C.A.Const. art. 6, cl. 3, that: ‘The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution.’ Article 15, § 4, of the Constitution of Indiana, provides that: ‘Every person elected or appointed to any office under this constitution, shall, before entering on the duties thereof, take an oath or affirmation, to support the Constitution of this State, and of the United States, and also an oath of office.’

It is appellant's contention that a grand juror is a judicial officer, and an officer under the Constitution of Indiana.

A trial by jury is not a trial by judicial officers, but a trial per pais or by the country. The jurors, limited in number generally to twelve in modern times, act for the body of the people of the county (pro corpore comitatus). But the proceedings of a grand jury are not a trial. Blackstone says: ‘The finding of an indictment is only in the nature of an inquiry or accusation, which is afterwards to be tried and determined; and the grand jury are only to inquire upon their oaths; whether there be sufficient cause to call upon the party to answer it.’ In this country, the sovereign is the people, and the grand jury acts for the people in determining whether criminal charges are to be prosecuted in the name of the sovereign. The evidence of only one side is heard, and the finding and return of an...

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3 cases
  • Wurster v. State, 49A02-9802-CR-126
    • United States
    • Indiana Appellate Court
    • March 29, 1999
    ...judicial, they are merely inquisitorial. Ajabu v. State, 677 N.E.2d 1035 (Ind.Ct.App.1997), trans. denied, (citing Adams v. State, 214 Ind. 603, 605, 17 N.E.2d 84, 85 (1938)). Grand jury proceedings are not a trial, or even an adversary proceeding. Ajabu, 677 N.E.2d at 1039. Rather, the gra......
  • Ajabu v. State, 22A01-9605-CR-143
    • United States
    • Indiana Appellate Court
    • February 28, 1997
    ...dismiss. IND. CODE § 35-34-1-8(f). The functions of a grand jury are not judicial; they are merely inquisitorial. Adams v.State, 214 Ind. 603, 605, 17 N.E.2d 84, 85 (1938). Grand jury proceedings are not a trial, or even an adversary proceeding. Sisk v. State, 232 Ind. 214, 217 110 N.E.2d 6......
  • People v. Gutierrez
    • United States
    • California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals
    • January 31, 1986
    ...who determines causes between parties or renders decision in a judicial capacity. One who exercises judicial function. Adams v. State, 214 Ind. 603, 17 N.E.2d 84 [ (1938) ]. A person in whom is vested authority to decide causes or exercise powers appropriate to a "Legal proceedings" is defi......

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