Arrington v. Robertson
Decision Date | 09 September 1940 |
Docket Number | No. 7328.,7328. |
Parties | ARRINGTON et al. v. ROBERTSON. |
Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Third Circuit |
Thomas E. Comber, Jr., and William H. James, both of Philadelphia, Pa., for appellant.
B. Nathaniel Richter and Louis S. Hankin, both of Philadelphia, Pa., for appellees.
Before MARIS, JONES, and GOODRICH, Circuit Judges.
The sole question presented on this appeal is whether it was reversible error for the trial judge, in the absence of counsel for the parties and without notice to them, to send instructions in writing to the jury, pursuant to an inquiry by them, after they had retired from the court room and while they were in the jury room deliberating upon their verdict. The instructions thus given consisted of a copy of two points for charge which had been presented by the plaintiffs at the close of the trial judge's charge, affirmed by him and excepted to by the defendant. The plaintiffs urge that they correctly stated the law. In our view, however, their accuracy as abstract statements of the law is immaterial.
In Fillippon v. Albion Vein Slate Co., 250 U.S. 76, page 81, 39 S.Ct. 435, 436, 63 L.Ed. 853, the Supreme Court said:
While the Supreme Court in the Fillippon case also pointed out that the additional instructions given were actually erroneous, its decision in the case appears to have been rested primarily on the manner in which the instruction was given. In Shields v. United States, 273 U.S. 583, page 588, 47 S.Ct. 478, 479, 71 L.Ed. 787, Chief Justice Taft said: (Emphasis supplied.)
The due process clause of the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution requires that a defendant be accorded the right to be present in person or by counsel at every stage of his trial. Hopt v. Utah, 110 U.S. 574, 4 S.Ct. 202, 28 L.Ed. 262; Fillippon v. Albion Vein Slate Co., supra; Shields v. United States, supra. Orderly procedure requires that a plaintiff be accorded the same right. A party or his counsel may waive this right expressly. He may also waive it by voluntarily...
To continue reading
Request your trial-
United States v. Dellinger
...1968); Rice v. United States, 356 F.2d 709 (8th Cir., 1966); Gomila v. United States, 146 F.2d 372 (5th Cir., 1944); Arrington v. Robertson, 114 F.2d 821 (3d Cir., 1940); United States v. Schor, 418 F.2d 26 (2d Cir., 1969); Jones v. United States, 113 U.S.App.D.C. 352, 308 F.2d 307 (1962). ......
-
State v. Pokini
...error. Certain jurisdictions have ruled that such a communication compels a reversal of defendant's conviction. See Arrington v. Robertson, 114 F.2d 821 (3d Cir. 1940); Parfet v. Kansas City Life Insurance Co., 128 F.2d 361 (10th Cir. 1942), cert. denied, 317 U.S. 654, 63 S.Ct. 50, 87 L.Ed.......
-
United States v. Hoffa
...prejudice was required, since the error committed was of constitutional proportions. Shields v. United States, supra; Arrington v. Robertson, 114 F.2d 821 (3d Cir. 1940). In any event, in all the decisions involving communications between court and jury in the absence of defendants, prejudi......
-
Rueth v. State
...as take place in the courtroom in his absence but not to proceedings which take place elsewhere. (Emphasis added.) Arrington v. Robertson, 3 Cir., 114 F.2d 821, 823 (1940). In Idaho, the procedures to be followed in dealing with a jury request for supplemental instructions are those laid do......