Washington v. State

• Decision Date: 12 February 1959
• Docket Number: 6 Div. 227
• Citation: Washington v. State, 269 Ala. 146, 112 So.2d 179 (Ala. 1959)
• Parties: Caliph WASHINGTON v. STATE of Alabama.
• Court: Alabama Supreme Court

Page 179

112 So.2d 179

269 Ala. 146

Caliph WASHINGTON v. STATE of Alabama.

6 Div. 227.

Supreme Court of Alabama.

Feb. 12, 1959.

Rehearing Denied May 14, 1959.

Act No. 333, 1953, is in pertinent part as follows:

'Section 11. The Clerk of the Jury Board shall, under the direction of the Jury Board, obtain the names of every male citizen of the County, over twenty-one and under sixty-five years of age, and his occupation, place of residence and place of business, and shall perform all such other duties required of him by law under the direction of the Jury Board.

'Section 12. Unless sooner required under the provisions of this Act, the Jury Board shall meet in the County Court House, in Birmingham, on the last Tuesday in August, 1953, and on said day each two years thereafter, make in a well-bound book a roll containing the name of every male citizen living in the County who possesses the qualifications herein prescribed and who is not exempted by law from serving on juries. The roll shall be arranged alphabetically and by precincts in their numerical order and the Jury board shall cause to be written on the roll opposite every name placed thereon the occupation, residence and place of business of every person selected, and if the residence has a street number, it must be given. Upon the completion of the roll the Jury Board shall cause to be prepared plain white cards, all of the same size and texture, and shall have written or printed on the cards the name, occupation, place of residence and place of business of the person whose name has been placed on the jury roll; writing or printing but one person's name, occupation, place of residence and of business on one card. When the cards have been so prepared, the Jury Board shall then segregate, remove and set aside the cards bearing the names of all jurors who served as jurors during the two years next preceeding July 15th of that year. The names of the jurors on the cards so removed shall continue on the rolls as qualified jurors, but the cards shall not then be placed in the jury box, but shall be retained as a reserve to be used as hereinafter provided. All other cards prepared as herein provided, shall then be placed in a substantial metal box provided with a lock and two keys, which box shall be kept in a safe or vault in the office of the Probate Judge, and if there be none in that office, the Jury Board shall deposit it in any safe or vault in the Court House to be designated on the minutes of the Board, and one of said keys thereof shall be kept by the President of the Jury Board. The other of said keys shall be kept by the Presiding Judge of the Circuit Court for the sole use of the judges of the Courts of said County needing jurors. The jury roll shall be kept securely and for the use of the Jury Board exclusively. It shall not be inspected by any one except the members of the Board or by the Clerk of the Board upon authority of the Board, unless under an order of a Judge of the Circuit Court or other court of record having jurisdiction.

'Section 13. Unless sooner required under the provisions of this Act, the Jury box now in use in the county shall continue to be used until the last Tuesday in August 1953 or until such time thereafter as the box is refilled as herein provided. Thereafter the Jury Board shall proceed to refill the box on the last Tuesday in August each two years in the manner prescribed in this Act.

'Section 14. The Jury Board shall place on the jury roll and in the jury box as herein provided the names of all male citizens of the County who are generally reputed to be honest and intelligent men and are esteemed in the community for their integrity, good character, and sound judgment; but no person must be selected who is under twenty-one or over sixty-five years of age or who is an habitual drunkard, or who, being afflicted with a permanent disease or physical weakness, is unfit to discharge the duties of a juror; or cannot read English or who has ever been convicted of any offense involving moral turpitude. If a person cannot read English and has all the other qualifications prescribed herein and is a freeholder or householder, his name may be placed on the jury roll and in the jury box.

'Section 15. The Jury Board is charged with the duty of seeing that the name of every person possessing the qualifications prescribed by this act to serve as a juror and not exempted by law from jury duty, is placed on the jury roll and in the jury box, and they may summon and cause to attend before them any person residing within the County and examine him on oath touching the name, residence, occupation and qualification of any person residing in the County, and they may require the production of any books, papers or documents and generally to do and perform whatever acts to establish to their satisfaction that the jury roll conforms to all legal requirements. The Jury Board must not allow initials only to be used for a juror's name, but one full Christian name, or given name, shall in every case be used and in case there are two or more persons of the same or similar name, the name by which he is commonly distinguished from the other persons of the same or similar name shall also be entered as well as his true name. The Jury Board shall require the clerk of the Board to scan the registration lists and lists returned to the tax assessor, any city directory, telephone directories, and any and every other source of information from which he may obtain information, and to visit every precinct at least once a year to enable the Jury Board to properly perform the duties required of it by this Act.

'Section 16. The Jury Board shall have performed the duties required of it by law when they have prepared a jury roll and filled a jury box otherwise in compliance with the law, consisting of the names of qualified jurors in number equal to at least six per cent of the population of said County in accordance with the latest Federal Census, and having prepared said roll and filled such box with said number of jurors, said Jury Board shall not be deemed or held to be guilty of wilful neglect of duty nor be guilty of a misdemeanor.

'Section 17. Whenever the names in the jury box are exhausted or so far depleted that they will probably be exhausted at the next drawing of jurors; or whenever it shall appear to the Presiding Judge of the Circuit Court or Court of like jurisdiction that the jury box is so nearly exhausted as to require refilling, and the said Judge shall notify the president of the Jury Board; the said Jury Board shall thereupon place into the jury box all cards containing the names of jurors as prepared under the provisions of this Act in Section 12 and which have been withheld from the box when filled and set aside as a reserve. Provided, however, that in placing the cards held as a reserve in the box the Jury Board may delete and withhold the cards of the names of any jurors who have died or otherwise have been disqualified because of age or other reasons from serving as jurors.

'Section 18. For any court requiring grand and petit juries or petit jurries, and now or hereafter established for and held in a territorial subdivision of the County, the Jury Board shall make and keep a separate roll and make and refill a separate box for that court and territorial subdivision as provided by this Act, on which roll and in which box only the names of jurors residing in that territory shall be placed, which box shall be kept by the clerk of said court and the key thereof by the Judge of said court and all jurors for that court shall be drawn by the Judge of said court as provided in this Act from the separate jury box provided under this section, and shall be summoned as provided in this Act for summoning jurors otherwise drawn. The names of jurors whose names are required to be placed on the roll and in the box in this section provided for, shall not be placed on any other roll nor in any other box nor shall any such person be authorized or required to serve as a juror in any court outside of said territorial subdivision. If there is more than one court requiring grand and petit juries, or petit juries, established for and held in such territorial subdivision of the County, all of such courts shall procure their juries from the box in this section provided for, and this section is intended to apply to any division of a court that is held in such territorial subdivision, including the Probate Court. The preparation of a separate jury roll and the filling and refilling of a separate jury box as provided in this section shall be governed in all respects, in so far as applicable, by the same rules and regulations as are prescribed in this act for the jury roll and jury box used outside of such territorial subdivision of the County. In ascertaining the number of qualified jurors equal to six per cent of the population of such territorial subdivision, the Jury Board may consider the latest public school census of such subdivision and any other authentic data on the subject.'

David H. Hood, Jr., Bessemer, and Orzell Billingsley, Jr., K. C. Edwards, Birmingham, for appellant.

John Patterson, Atty. Gen., and Edmon L. Rinehart, Asst. Atty. Gen., for the State.

LAWSON, Justice.

Caliph Washington was tried for first degree murder in the Circuit Court of Jefferson County, Bessemer Division. He was convicted and sentenced to death. The case comes here under the automatic appeal statute. Act No. 249, Acts 1943, p. 217, approved June 24, 1943. See 1955 Cum. Pocket Part, Vol. 4, Code 1940, Title 15, § 382(1) et seq.

Appellant filed motions to quash the indictment and trial venire on the ground that his rights under the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States were violated in that persons of his race, the Negro rece, duly qualified under the applicable state law to serve as members of the grand jury and of the petit jury, were...