Beasley v. People

Citations

• 89 Ill. 571

Syllabus

<p>1. Grand jury—of the number required. Although the statute requires the panel or list of grand jurors shall consist of twenty-three persons, a less number, if at least sixteen, will constitute a legal grand jury to find an indictment.</p> <p>2. Same—of filling the panel. The statute providing that if the panel, for any cause, shall not be full, the court “shall direct the sheriff to summon from the body of the county a sufficient number of persons having the qualifications of jurors,” to fill the panel, is not mandatory, but directory only. The word shall, in this connection, means “may,” leaving it to the discretion of the court whether or not to fill the panel at once.</p> <p>3. Indictment—when it must negative exceptions. Where an act is made criminal, with exceptions embraced in the same clause of the statute which creates the offense, so as to he descriptive of the offense intended to be punished, the indictment stating the act to have been done must negative the exceptions, so as to show affirmatively the precise crime defined has been committed. i</p> <p>4. There are exceptions to this general rule, as, where the exception or proviso is in a subsequent clause of the statute, or if in the same section and not incorporated with the enacting clause by any apt words of reference. In such cases it is a matter of defense, and need not he negatived in the indictment.</p> <p>5. While it is necessary that all exceptions contained in the enacting clause, creating or defining the offense, must be negatived, it is not required that the precise words of the statute be used for that purpose. Any equivalent words conveying the same meaning will suffice.</p> <p>6. It is not a valid objection to an indictment for an offense created by statute with an exception, that it negatives more than the statute requires, as it imposes on the prosecution the necessity for stricter proof and certainty in that respect than otherwise would be necessary, if the language of the statute wer