92 Cal. 239 | Cal. | 1891
Lead Opinion
This is an application for a writ of prohibition to prohibit the superior court of San Francisco, department No. 6, and the judge thereof, from proceeding further against petitioner upon two certain paper-writings purporting to be indictments. The main ground of the petition is, that the body of men who presented said writings had no legal existence as a grand jury, and that therefore the respondents have no jurisdiction or authority to arraign or try petitioner upon the same. Upon the record presented, two principal questions arise: 1. Was said body a legal grand jury? and 2. If it was not, then is prohibition a proper remedy?
The material facts in the case are undisputed, and are as follows: The respondent the presiding judge made an order that twenty-five names be drawn in the usual way from the “ grand-jury box ” (which contained the names of 144 persons selected by the twelve judges of the superior court), for the purpose of procuring a grand
The provisions of statutory law upon the questions here involved may be somewhat .briefly stated. The formation of grand and trial juries is provided for in the Code of Civil Procedure, commencing with section 204, and the general provisions on the subject are these: In January of each year the superior court of the county must make an order designating the estimated number of grand jurors, and also the number of trial jurors, that will be required for the business of the ensuing year, and thereupon the board of supervisors must select from the quali,fied citizens of the county — taking them, as nearly as may be, from the different wards and townships in proportion to population — the number designated by the court. A certified list of these names is given to the county clerk, who must write the names of the grand jurors on separate pieces of paper of uniform appearance, and, having folded them so as to conceal the names, must deposit them in a box called the “grand-jury box.” And whenever, during the year, a court orders a grand jury, it .is provided that the jurors shall be drawn by the clerk, in the presence of court. He must shake the box, so as to mix the slips containing the names, before drawing, and must observe other statutory directions providing against the unfair drawing of particular names for particular purposes. (Secs. 219, 241.) In cities and counties of more than one hundred thousand inhabitants, which includes San Francisco, the jurors are selected in January by the judges of the superior court, instead of by the supervisors. (Sec. 204.) In all other respects the law is the same. Such is the general method provided by statute for the formation of juries, and it is as wise a method as could well be devised to procure fair and impartial jurors, .and to prevent public officers from bringing together certain persons on a jury, in order to secure a certain result, — to annoy the innocent or protect the guilty.
There is, however, another provision of the code, —• intended .evidently for cases of neglect of duty or inad
It is apparent that the claim of power under the said section 226 to do the thing complained of in the case at bar should be closely scrutinized, and denied unless the power be found to be clearly given; for if it exist, it is a most arbitrary and dangerous power, — one that can easily be used to unjustly destroy character, liberty, or life. And in determining whether or not there be such legal power, we must discard all consideration of the worthiness or unworthiness of the purpose sought to be attained in any particular case. There must be attributed to the learned judge of the court below good motives and purposes; but if he have the power claimed, then such power must be conceded to every other person who may at any time occupy a similar judicial position. Under such power a court could easily procure the indictment, and perhaps the conviction, of any person whom it deemed to be an offender, by simply appointing a person favorable to its designs to select jurors with a
The asserted power of the court in the case at bar comes, if it comes at all, from these words, in the section last quoted,or an elisor.” It has no other source. The whole force and stress of the question involved rest on the word elisor.” The language is, not that the court shall direct the sheriff, “ or some other person,” or “ any qualified citizen,” or “ any other person over the age of eighteen ” (as in case of service of summons in civil cases), to summon the jury. There is no ordinary, general language used which would have denoted a legislative intent to give the court unlimited discretion under any and all circumstances, without any showing, to
A rule of construction that has always obtained is aptly expressed in section 16 of the Code of Civil Procedure, as follows: “Words and phrases are construed according to the context and the approved usage of the language; but technical words and phrases, and such others as have acquired a peculiar and appropriate meaning in law, or are defined in the succeeding section, are to be construed according to such peculiar and appropriate meaning or definition.” Now, the word “elisor” has a “peculiar and appropriate meaning in law,” as much as any word that can be suggested. It is not used at all in common language. No one in private or business circles would think of calling an agent or trustee an “ elisor.” It can be found rarely, if ever, in general literature. It is doubtful if the majority of men of good intelligence have any notion as to its meaning. Practically, it is known and used alone in law literature. And in the law its meaning is clear and unquestioned. It has always meant, and means now, a person appointed to perform certain duties pertaining to certain officers, when the latter are disqualified. He was originally confined to the duty of returning a jury in the event of such disqualifications; but in some states his duties are extended to the service of other process, but only in the event of the disqualification of some other officer. The provision for such appointment, as stated in Blackstone, is as follows: “If the sheriff be not an indifferent person,— as if he be a party to the suit, or be related either by blood or affinity to either of the parties,—he is not then trusted to return the jury, but the venire shall be directed to the coroners', who, in this as in many other instances, are the substitutes of the sheriff to execute process, when he is deemed an improper person. If any exception lies to the coroners, the venire shall be directed
Therefore, considering the universal meaning given in the law generally to the word “ elisor,” and without considering any other legislative provision upon the subject in this state, it would seem clear that when section 236 gives power to direct the sheriff or an elisor to summon a jury, it uses the word as designating a person to be appointed in the event that the sheriff has been “ challenged as incompetent.” Such construction is not only compelled by the only known meaning of the word, but brings the section into harmony with all the other sections relating to the selection of juries, the object of which is clearly to have jurors, as far as possible, fair and impartial. The sheriff is an officer elected by the people, and usually long before he is called upon to select a jury. If he should be secretly partial in any future case, it would be an accidental evil; he could not, at least, be appointed for such express purpose. And the fact that “coroner” was omitted (inadvertently or otherwise) from section 226 does not change the meaning of “ elisor,” — who is essentially one who is a substitute for some disqualified officer.
But our statutory law gives the same meaning' to “elisor” that is given to it in the general authorities. It is provided that, “with relation to each other, the provisions of the four codes must be construed (except as in the next two sections provided) as though all such codes had been passed at the same moment of time, and
It is contended that no matter how a body of men may have been gathered together, its acts cannot be attacked if it be recognized by the court as a “ grand jury,” — upon the principle sometimes applied to the act of de facto public officers. One of respondents’ counsel goes so far as to assert that the legal existence of a jury can be inquired into only by the proceeding of quo warranto; and while other counsel do not assume that very novel position, yet their views logically drift them there. But quo warranto does not lie against a mere temporary employment, like that of a jury; it lies only against the holder of a public office having a “fixed and permanent tenure.” (7 Lawson’s Rights, Remedies, and Practice, sec. 4040, and notes.) It would indeed be startling if a man could be put to the partial ignominy and hazard of a trial at the will of any set of men whom a court might choose to stylo a grand jury. But the cor
Our conclusion is, that the court below had no authority in law to appoint said Scott to select grand jurors, because there was no case to which the power of appointing an elisor applied.
2. Is prohibition the proper remedy ?
Prohibition lies in all cases where there have been proceedings “ without or in excess ” of jurisdiction, and there “is not a plain, speedy, and adequate remedy in the ordinary course of law.” (Code Civ. Proc., secs. 1102, 1103.) If the views hereinbefore expressed are correct, it is clear that the appointment of the so-called elisor was “ without jurisdiction.” Jurisdiction is usually defined as “the power to hear and determinebut, of course, it is difficult to express in abstract terms a statement of the distinction between error in exercising jurisdiction, and jurisdiction itself, that can be readily applied to all cases as they may arise. The law endeavors to fix definitely everything that can in its nature be so fixed, so as to leave as little as possible to the judgment or caprice of those who administer it. But as many future events cannot, in the nature of things, be foreseen and provided for, it follows necessarily that much must be left to the discretion of courts and other tribunals. And the main test of jurisdiction in any particular matter is, whether or not discretion is given the court as to such matter. In the matter before us, for instance, if the law intended to give the power to appoint an elisor in the event of disqualification of the sheriff, it is apparent that the law could not determine beforehand the disqualification of any particular person who might happen to be sheriff at any future time. It could not say that any such sheriff would be actuated by “bias or prejudice.” Consequently, the determination of the issue, when properly made, of such disqualification is necessarily left to the discretion of the court, and it
The only other question is,. Would petitioner have a plain, speedy, and adequate remedy in the ordinary course of law ?
If there be such remedy, it must be by appeal. But it would be a difficult proposition to maintain that a defendant in a criminal case, forced through all the stages of a trial for felony without any indictment against him, or, which is the same thing in effect, upon a void indictment, would have a plain,' speedy, and adequate remedy because after conviction and judgment, and perhaps after suffering the ignominy of imprisonment in the state prison, he could have the illegal proceeding reversed on appeal. But it is not necessary to discuss that question, because it has been held several times by this court that the point here made by petitioner cannot be reached on appeal. It was so held by our predecessors, in People v. Southwell, 46 Cal. 141. In that case the lower court had made an order reciting that there were objections to the sheriff, and that the court intended to submit certain charges against him to the grand jury,' and for that reason appointing the coroner to summon the grand jurors. The defendant attacked, in the court below, the legality of the grand jury, upon the ground of such appointment of the coroner, by moving to set aside the indictment. On appeal, this court first held that the
And such, we think, was the decision of this court in Levy v. Wilson, 69 Cal. 105. In that case the petition was for a writ of prohibition. The petitioner set forth that he had been indicted by a body of men styled a
We are of opinion, therefore, that there is no jurisdiction in the respondent to proceed with the trial of petitioner; that the latter has no “plain, speedy, and adequate remedy in the ordinary course of law”; and that prohibition is the proper remedy.
Petitioner makes the point that at the time of the order complained of there was a rule of the superior court of San Francisco, made by the twelve judges thereof, and never repealed or abrogated, as follows: “Rule 4. It shall be the duty of the presiding judge to preside over the drawing and impanelment of all grand juries required by law or by the public interests to be drawn. Grand jurors must in all cases be drawn from the list of grand jurors selected by the judges of this court, unless the grand-jury box containing the names of jurors so selected shall be exhausted without securing a grand jury”; also, that the constitution requires a grand jury to be drawn, and that “ drawn ” means taken by lot from a jury-box; also, that one of the alleged indictments against petitioner shows upon its face that if the crime charged was committed at all, it was committed in the county of Sacramento, and without the jurisdiction of respondents; also, that the trial jurors before whom he would be tried have likewise been procured by another similar order
Let the writ issue, restraining the respondents, as prayed for in the petition.
Harrison, J., and Paterson, J., concurred.
Concurrence Opinion
This proceeding is an application for a writ of prohibition requiring the judge of department No. 6 of the superior court of the city and county of San Francisco to refrain from proceeding further in the trial of one Elwood Bruner, upon the ground that such course would be in excess of the jurisdiction of the court, the alleged indictment upon which the trial is predicated having no validity whatever, because found and presented by a body of men not a grand jury.
The questions presented upon this hearing are very important, and in some respects may be considered quite novel, when precedent is sought in the authorities of this state. But neither the novelty nor the importance of the matter under investigation demands that its final determination should be reached otherwise than by a most careful consideration of principle and authority.
In this case it is so apparent that the court acted without its authority in the appointment of an elisor that the matter demands no extended consideration. Section 4192 of the Political Code reads: “Process and orders in an action or proceeding may be executed by a person residing in the county, designated by the court, the judge thereof, or a county judge, and denominated an elisor, in the following cases: .... 3. When it appears by affidavit to the satisfaction of the court in which the proceeding is pending, or to the judge thereof, that both of those officers [sheriff and coroner] are disqualified, or by reason of any bias, prejudice, or other cause, would not act promptly or impartially.”
Section 226 of the Code of Civil Procedure reads: “ Whenever jurors are not drawn or summoned to attend any court of record or session thereof, or a sufficient number of jurors fail to appear, such court may order a sufficient number to be forthwith drawn and summoned to attend the court, or it may, by an order entered in its minutes, direct the sheriff, or an elisor chosen by the court, forthwith to summon so many good and lawful men of the county .... to serve as jurors, as may be required, and in either case such jurors must be summoned in the manner provided in the preceding section.” Section 242 of the same code provides: “When, of the persons summoned as grand jurors and not excused, nineteen are present, they shall constitute the grand jury.....If less than nineteen of such persons are present, the panel may be filled as provided in section 226 of this code.”
Conceding that the provisions of the Political Code quoted have no application to the matter of the impanel-' ment of a grand jury, and that section 226 of the Code of Civil Procedure is alone controlling, still, I have no hesitation in saying that, under that section, the court has no power to appoint an' elisor, unless the sheriff is disqualified. From any point of view taken, it is the necessary conclusion that the proper construction of section 226 is, that the court may appoint an elisor only when the contingency has arisen, whereby the officer elected by the people to perform such service, and which service is a duty enjoined upon him by statute, has become disqualified to act in the matter. The word “ elisor ” is a technical, legal word, with a technical, legal meaning,—a meaning definitely and uniformly settled by all the authorities; and under elementary rules of construction, such meaning must attach to it in this section of the code.
It is not necessary to amplify upon the necessity in the interest of good government for a strict construction of the law pertaining to the selection of jurors. It is the spirit of the entire law pertaining to the subject that the names of the jurors, both grand and petit, should always be drawn from the box, rather than that the great responsibility should be cast upon any officer of going out upon the highways and byways, and, of his own choice and will, selecting jurors. Our present law, in many essential features, is the outgrowth of an act of the legislature found in the Statutes of 1857, page 168, which provided, among other things, that all grand jurors, and all trial jurors in criminal cases, without exception, should be drawn from the box. This act of 1857 was the direct result of the gross failure of justice, under a corrupt use of the power previously vested by law in the officers of the court to select jurors from the body of the county, and which abuse of power resulted in the organization of the vigilance committee of 1856,—a matter which is inseparably connected with the history of this city and state.
The principles which are applicable and controlling upon matters of mandamus are equally applicable and controlling upon proceedings in prohibition; and in 3 Burr. 1268, Lord Mansfield, in speaking of the object and scope of the writ of mandate, said: “It was introduced to prevent disorder from a failure of justice and defect of police. Therefore it ought to be used upon ail occasions where the law has established no specific remedy, and where in justice and good government there ought to be one. Within the last century it has been liberally interposed for the benefit of the subject and admeasurement of justice. The value of the matter or the degree of its importance to the public police is not scrupulously weighed. If there be a right and no other specific remedy, this should not be denied.” The case of Quimbo
It would seem from the principles laid down in the foregoing authorities that in this case prohibition is pre-eminently the proper remedy. For if prohibition is not the remedy, then the defendant is barred from all remedy; for, as we will hereafter indicate, this court has repeatedly and uniformly held that the defendant has no appeal in such a case. It is confidently submitted that our judicial institutions are not so constituted but that the power to relieve an innocent man from an unjust and illegal prosecution and conviction must be found somewhere and in some manner in our judicial tribunals. Such is not only a principle of natural justice recognized by the intelligence and conscience of all civilized nations, but as a matter of abstract right, under our constitution, a defendant is entitled to á remedy.
It is unnecessary to quote further authorities from other states or countries; the question as to whether or not the writ of prohibition is the proper remedy has been squarely met and decided in the affirmative by this court in the case of Levy v. Wilson, 69 Cal. 105, and unless that case shall be overruled at this time, it stands all-controlling upon the case at bar. Like this, as shown by the verified petition filed, that was an application for
The court had jurisdiction to impanel a grand jury, to the same extent and in the same manner that it had jurisdiction of the crime of murder. It had no jurisdiction to impanel a grand jury in a manner without the law, and as its caprice might dictate; neither had it jurisdiction to take a man vi et armis, charged with murder, and proceed to hear and determine his guilt or innocence. Conceding the court had jurisdiction of the offense of murder, and by reason of a valid indictment had jurisdiction of the defendant, it would have no jurisdiction to proceed to try the defendant without a jury; or, upon a verdict of guilty by a jury, it would have no jurisdiction to render a judgment that the defendant be crucified. In the case of Windsor v. McVeigh, 93 U. S. 282, in the opinion of the court, this matter of jurisdiction was clearly and succinctly discussed by that eminent jurist Mr. Justice Field, wherein he said: “ Though a court may possess jurisdiction of a subject-matter and of the parties, it is still limited in its modes of procedure, and in the extent and character of its judgments. It must act judicially in all things, and cannot then transcend the power conferred by the law. If, for instance, the action be upon a money demand, the court, notwithstanding its jurisdiction over the subject and parties, has no power to pass judgment of imprisonment in the penitentiary upon the defendant. If the action be for possession of real property, the court is powerless to admit in the case the probate of a will..... The judgment's mentioned, given in the cases supposed, would not be merely erroneous, they would be absolutely
Were the acts of the court in the formation of this grand jury in excess of its jurisdiction?
Under the constitution, the court has jurisdiction to form a grand jury, but by reason thereof it would not follow that it had jurisdiction to form such grand jury in any way it saw fit. Section 192 of the Code of Civil Procedure says: “A grand jury is a body of men, nineteen in number, returned in pursuance of law.” A grand jury is not a body of twenty men returned in pursuance of law, neither is it a body of nineteen men returned to the court in pursuance of no law.
The court has jurisdiction to impanel a grand jury, but it has jurisdiction to impanel it only in accordance with the provisions of law; and when it impanels it without the law, it is acting in excess of its jurisdiction, and such a body is not a grand jury, for it does not fill the test demanded by the section of the code just quoted. If, by reason of its general jurisdiction granted by the constitution to impanel a grand jury, it has the power to form one of nineteen men, not in pursuance of law, it would have the same power to form one consisting of forty men, or possibly forty women. It is no more requisite, viewed by the statute, that the grand jury should consist of nineteen men, than it is that it should be returned according to law. Indeed, from a stand-point of honest, conscientious results, the number of the grand jury is insignificant, as compared to the manner of its selection. When the law declares that a grand jury shall consist of nineteen men, and the court impanels a grand jury consisting of ten men or
The principle declared by the foregoing cases, to wit, that a body of men sworn as a grand jury, if not composed of the number required by law, or if not impaneled in pursuance of law, is not a grand jury, and that an accusatory paper presented to the court by such body is not an indictment, and that consequently the court has no jurisdiction to try a defendant upon such paper, has been upheld and affirmed directly in many other eases. (See Rainey v. State, 19 Tex. App. 479; State v. Williams, 5 Port. 130; Stokes v. State, 24 Miss. 621; Burley v. State, 1 Neb. 385; State v. Lawrence, 12 Or. 297.)
Respondent insists that the court having jurisdiction
The action of the court in appointing an elisor cannot be mere error, any more than, a judgment of imprisonment for life upon a conviction for petit larceny would be mere error. In both cases the fatality is an absence of power to make the order. If it is simply an error of the court to appoint an elisor and order him to summon nine men as grand jurors, without any authority in law, it would only be an error of the court to have selected the men itself from the by-standers or from its personal friends. It would have been simply an error of the court to have impaneled a grand jury consisting of ten men. If an order appointing an elisor to summon nine men as grand jurors, made in direct contravention of law, is mere error, then an order for
We have now determined that the court acted in excess of its jurisdiction in the impanelment of this grand jury. Has the defendant a plain, speedy, and adequate remedy other than by prohibition?
In the cases of People v. Southwell, 46 Cal. 141, People v. Welch, 49 Cal. 174, People v. Colby, 54 Cal. 37, People v. Hunter, 54 Cal. 65, People v. Goldenson, 76 Cal. 328, and others not necessary to note, it was held that a defendant had no appeal to this court from such action of the trial court in impaneling a grand jury as is disclosed by the record in this case. As early in the history of the legal jurisprudence of this state as the case of People v. Hunter, 54 Cal. 65, this court said: “Such must be considered the settled doctrine in this state.” Conceding that these cases do not establish the true rule, and that the defendant can appeal to this court to right such wrongs, yet such remedy is not plain and speedy, neither is it adequate. It cannot be said to be plain and speedy, when at every mile-stone marking his path to this court there may be found an obstruction completely blocking his way in the form of a supreme court decision, placed there by the very court toward which he is traveling for relief. His remedy by appeal is not adequate. To say that an innocent man can be charged and convicted of a crime involving the greatest moral turpitude, and lie in a felon’s cell until he can be set at liberty when his appeal has dragged its slow length along to this court, and that such remedy is adequate for his wrongs, is a travesty upon the use and meaning of words. In the case of Havemeyer v. Superior Court, 84 Cal. 399, 18 Am. St. Rep. 192, this court decided that the
For the foregoing reasons, I think the writ should issue as prayed for.
Dissenting Opinion
I concur in so much of the opinion of the court as holds that the appointment of an elisor to select and summon talesmen for the completion of the grand jury was, in the absence of any finding of disqualification of the sheriff, a violation of the statutory provisions regulating the formation of grand juries. But I do not think it can be held that the superior court is exceeding its jurisdiction in proceeding with the trial of the petitioner upon the indictments which have been presented against him, and if not, its action cannot be arrested by prohibition.
Precisely the same vice which infects the proceedings in this case was disclosed in the Southwell case, and several later cases in which it has been followed (People v. Southwell, 46 Cal. 141; People v. Colby, 54 Cal. 37; People v. Hunter, 54 Cal. 65), in all of which it was expressly held that for such a violation of the statutory provisions ou this subject there was no remedy by appeal. This would, of course, be, as the court intimates, only an additional reason for holding that prohibition is the proper remedy, if, as contended, the superior court has no jurisdiction to try an indictment found and presented by a body so irregularly organized.
But I think that while the only point expressly decided in the Southwell case was, that there was no rem
But what is a valid, constitutional grand jury? It is, I think, a body of men possessing the constitutional requisites of a grand jury as distinguished from merely statutory requisites. As to the former, the legislature cannot dispense with them, nor can it, by altering or refusing to enact rules of procedure, deprive this court of the constitutional power to enforce their observance through the medium of an appeal or writ of error, or by prohibition, when that may be necessary. But as to mere statutory regulations in regard to the selection and summoning of talesmen to complete the panel of a grand jury, — which exist only by the grace and favor of the legislature, — it is entirely competent for the same power which has prescribed them to determine what, if any, advantage may be taken of their violation.
This principle I find very clearly and forcibly stated by Judge Andrew's, delivering the opinion of the court of appeals of New York in the case of People v. Petrea, 92 N. Y. 144: “ If the defect in the constitution of the tribunal deprived it of the character of a grand jury in a constitutional sense, there can be no doubt that the court would have been bound to have taken notice of it, although no statute authorized it, or even if the statute assumed to preclude the raising of the objection. But when the defect is not of that character, and the defendant may be held to answer the indictment without invading any constitutional right, then the question is one of procedure merely, and the right of the defendant to avail himself of the objection is subject to the regulation and control of the legislature."
This, it seems to me, is unquestionably a sound view, and it is conclusive of this case. Here the grand jury was not selected as the law prescribes, but it is not lack
As to the objection that the indictment for bribery in this case shows on its face that no part of the offense was committed in San Francisco, no answer is made, and I do not see how any answer can be made to it. But although it seems pretty clear that the superior court of San Francisco has no jurisdiction of the offense charged, I do not think this court should interfere by prohibition, until the particular defect referred to has been called to the attention of the superior court by demurrer, and even then appeal would be the usual and sufficient remedy.
The other objections to the indictment do not, in my opinion, involve any question of jurisdiction. Upon these grounds, while fully concurring with the court in its construction of the statute relating to the appointment of an elisor to select and summon talesmen, I am constrained to dissent from the conclusion that the error of the superior court can be corrected by prohibition. ,
Dissenting Opinion
I dissent. The indictments pending against petitioner in department No. 6 of the superior court of the city and county of San Francisco were returned by a body of men impaneled by that court as a grand jury, and charged by it with the duties pertaining to such a body. In my opinion, the learned judge of that court committed an error in making the order which directed the summoning of some of its members by an elisor, in the absence of a showing that the sheriff was disqualified to perform that duty. Section 226 of the Code of Civil Procedure provides: “When, ever jurors are not drawn or . summoned to attend any court of record or session thereof, or a sufficient number of jurors fail to appear, such court may order a sufficient number to be forthwith drawn and summoned to attend the court, or it may, by an order entered in its minutes, direct the sheriff, or a elisor chosen by the court, forthwith to summon so many good and lawful men of the county, or city and county, to serve as jurors, as may be required, and in either case such jurors must be summoned in the manner provided in the preceding section.” This section does not, when properly construed, give to the judge an absolute discretion to select any person to summon jurors to complete the panel, without reference to the sheriff or his disqualifications. If such were the intention of the law, it would have been more clearly expressed by omitting the word “ sheriff” altogether, and simply providing that the jurors should be selected by some person named for that purpose in the order, and then the court would have been left with complete discretion to select the sheriff or any other person to execute its order; but such is not its language, and giving due effect to the meaning of the word “ elisor,” in the connection in which it is here used, the true meaning of this section is, that the court shall direct the sheriff to summon such jurors, or in case of his disqualification, some person to act in his place. But this error of the court did not convert the persons impaneled by it as a grand jury into a body of usurpers, without any sem
The court having this jurisdiction over the general proceeding, it follows necessarily that the jury impaneled by it is a de facto body, having the right to exercise the functions of a grand jury, and- whose indictments can only be questioned in the court to which they were returned,, with the right of appeal from any judgment therein. Every possible objection-which, under the law or constitution, can be taken to the formation of such grand jury must be presented by the- accused in that court, and not by an independent and collateral action in another court.
This decision has never been overruled, but, on the contrary, has been repeatedly referred to as authority in later cases in this court, and seems to be conclusive of every question presented by this record. Indeed, my attention has not been called to the decision of any court, either in this state or elsewhere, in which it has been held that an irregularity in the formation of a grand jury of the character here complained of can be corrected in a collateral action.
In Wharton’s Criminal Law and Practice, sec. 350, it is said: “ If the body by whom the indictment was found was neither de jure nor defacto entitled to act as
This seems to me to be the true rule, and in the case of Ex parte Haymond, 91 Cal. 545, we held, upon the same state of facts disclosed in this record, that this same grand jury was a de facto jury. This being so, in my opinion, the superior court has jurisdiction to proceed upon the indictments, and any judgment which it might make would not be void, and therefore the writ should be denied.
In the foregoing I have assumed that the offenses charged against petitioner are alleged to have been committed in whole or in part within the city and county of San Francisco. If, however, the indictments are defective in this respect, as it is not shown that the attention of the superior court has been called thereto, petitioner is not entitled as a matter of right, at this time, to the writ demanded.
Dissenting Opinion
I dissent. It,seems to me that the only serious question in this case is, whether the court, in the absence of an affidavit showing that the sheriff and coroner were “disqualified, or by reason of any bias, prejudice, or other cause would not act promptly or impartially,” has the power to direct “an elisor chosen by the court forthwith to summon so many good and lawful men of the county, or city and county, to serve as jurors, as may be required,” which was fully and carefully considered in People v. Southwell, 46 Cal. 141,
In that case the court said: “We think the court erred in directing the venire to be summoned by the coroner instead of the sheriff.” That shows that it was not a case in which the court was authorized by law to direct the venire to the coroner. Had it been, the court could not have said that it was error to so direct it. I think the opinion of the court in People v. Southwell, 46 Cal. 141, is amply supported by reason and authority, and that it would be much safer to follow than to overrule it.
I therefore think the application for a writ of prohibition in this case should be denied.