State v. Daniels
| Decision Date | 08 March 1904 |
| Citation | 46 S.E. 743,134 N.C. 641 |
| Parties | STATE v. DANIELS. |
| Court | North Carolina Supreme Court |
Appeal from Superior Court, Jones County; Moore, Judge.
Alfred Daniels was convicted of murder, and appeals. Affirmed.
J. C L. Harris, for appellant.
A. D Ward and the Attorney General, for the State.
The prisoner was charged with the murder of F. G. Simmons, and in apt time filed a plea in abatement, and moved the court to quash the indictment, for that the list of 36 jurors drawn by the county commissioners of Jones county, from which the grand jury was drawn, and which found the bill of indictment was revised with partiality, unjustly and purposely, against competent persons of the negro race, to which the prisoner belongs, on account of the race or color of such persons. The officers whose duty it was to revise the jury lists, and to draw the panel to be summoned, from which the grand and petit jury were drawn for the present term of the court, at which the indictment was found against the prisoner, with the unlawful and avowed purpose of discriminating against persons of the negro race, excluded persons who of right, being competent, should not have been excluded from the jury lists. That such unjust and unlawful discrimination against the prisoner deprives him of a fair and impartial trial in this court, as is guarantied to him under the Constitution of North Carolina, and the thirteenth and fourteenth amendments to the Constitution of the United States, and the acts of Congress. That there are in Jones county about 7,000 persons, more than one-third of whom are of the negro race, who pay taxes on more than $30,000 worth of property, a large number of whom are equal to the average citizen of said county. In accordance with the request of the prisoner, the court caused subpoenas duces tecum to issue to the chairman of the board of commissioners, the register of deeds (ex officio clerk to the board), and the sheriff of the county, commanding them to bring their several records into court, and also the jury boxes, etc. The motion to quash was founded upon the affidavit of the prisoner. The court, after hearing the testimony offered in support of the motion, found the following facts: The jury box contains the names of 430 persons. It does not appear, and the court is unable to find, whether any of said persons are negroes. There are 528 colored males residing in Jones county, over 21 years of age, who had paid their taxes for the year 1902, prior to June 1, 1903. There are as many white males over 21 years of age and upwards, residing in said county, whose names are not in the jury box, as there are colored males of the same age whose names are not in said box. The jury boxes were revised on the first Monday in June, 1903, as required by law; the commissioners taking the tax books or lists for the preceding year, and selecting from said tax books or lists the names of such persons as they thought were competent and morally fit to sit on the jury, and placing the names thus selected in the jury box. In selecting the names to be placed in the jury box, the commissioners did not think of or discuss the race question. They considered only the question of competency and fitness. They did not make the payment of taxes a prerequisite. They discussed the qualification of various negroes and white men, and rejected their names when they decided they were not competent and fit. The only test which was applied was capacity and fitness of persons whose names appeared on the tax list. The commissioners, at their regular meeting in September, 1903, before the commission of the alleged offense for which the prisoner is indicted, drew from the jury boxes of the county the names of 36 persons to serve as jurors at this term of the court. They were drawn in the manner required by law. The 36 persons whose names were so drawn, and were summoned to serve as jurors at this term of the court, were all white persons. The grand jury was regularly drawn from the 36 jurors drawn and summoned as above set forth. It appeared from an examination of the said grand jurors before they were impaneled that each of said grand jurors had paid his tax for the year 1902. The total population of Jones county is 8,239, of which 4,479 are whites, and 3,760 are colored. The prisoner is a negro. Upon the foregoing findings of fact, the motion to quash the bill of indictment was overruled, and the defendant excepted, assigning as cause thereof, first, that the court erred in not finding that none of the names contained in the jury boxes are the names of negroes; second, that the court should, from the evidence, have found that the test was not honestly applied, and that negroes or persons of the colored race were unjustly excluded on account of race and color; third, that there is no evidence upon which to base the findings. The prisoner was thereupon arraigned, and pleaded "Not guilty." From a judgment pronounced upon a verdict of guilty of murder in the first degree, he appealed.
The prisoner, by his motion to quash the indictment for the causes set forth, evidently intended to present the question passed upon by this court in State v. Peoples, 131 N.C. 784, 42 S.E. 814. In accordance with the ruling in that case, his honor granted to the prisoner a subpoena duces tecum for the chairman of the board of commissioners, with the jury box, and such other witnesses as the prisoner desired to examine. Counsel for the prisoner in this court conceded that there was nothing in the statutes prescribing the qualification of grand or petit jurors, or the mode of selecting them, conflicting with the Constitution of the United States, or the amendments thereto. His honor finds that, In Carter v. Texas, 177 U.S. 442, 20 S.Ct. 687, 44 L.Ed. 839, the defendant, in apt time, and by a proper motion, alleged that all persons of the colored race, etc., were excluded from the jury list "on the ground of their race and color," etc. He offered to introduce witnesses, and requested the court to permit him to do so, to sustain the allegation. The court declined to hear any testimony in support of the motion, and overruled the same. The Supreme Court of the United States, reversing the Texas court, held that, upon the allegations made in the motion, the defendant had been denied a right duly set up and claimed under the Constitution of the United States. This ruling was followed by this court in State v. Peoples, supra. His honor, in strict conformity with these authorities, granted the subpoenas, heard the testimony, and found the facts in regard to the manner of making up the jury lists as set out in the record. The prisoner's counsel properly conceded that, upon the record, it does not appear that the prisoner has been denied any right secured to him by the federal Constitution. He insisted, however, that, upon the findings of the court, it appears that the commissioners have failed to comply with the statutes regarding the manner of making up the jury list from which the grand and petit jurors were drawn. He says: That the commissioners violated section 1722, by making competency and fitness the qualification, instead of obeying the requirements of that section. That the number of jurors whose names are in the box being less than one-third of the voting population of the county, and the further fact that there are 528 negro males more than 21 years of age who have paid their taxes, and that there are as many white males over 21 years of age residing in Jones county as there are colored males of the same age, whose names were not in the jury box, "emphasize the fact that the commissioners did not revise the jury list, but made a selection of the persons whom they desired to serve as jurors, and that there were gross irregularities in making up the jury list. ***" He insists that, upon these facts found by the judge, his motion to quash the indictment should have been allowed.
We do not care to place the disposition of this case upon the fact that the contention made in this court is different from and foreign to that made in the court below. The prisoner made his motion in apt time, and in accordance with the provisions of section 1741 of the Code. If, upon the facts found, there be any legal ground for quashing the indictment, we should not hesitate to grant the motion, although such grounds be different from those assigned in the superior court. Any suggestion made pursuant to the rules of practice prescribed either by statute or the procedure prevailing in the courts involving the integrity of the jury lists, or the manner in which the law in respect to making up such lists has been executed, is entitled to the respectful and careful consideration of the court. ...
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