Commonwealth v. Henderson

Citations

• 242 Pa. 372
• 89 A. 567
• 1913 Pa. LEXIS 889

Syllabus

<p>Criminal law — Homicide—Jury—Selection of jurors — Excusing jurors for cause — Physical disability — Conscientious scruples— Bight to impartial jury — Discretion of court.</p> <p>1. In the selection of a jury to try one accused of murder, it is not error for the court to excuse a juror because he is crippled, although the juror has not asked to be excused* where in the opinion of the court such juror is physically unable to stand the strain which would necessarily be imposed upon him in the trial of the case. Such matters are within the discretion of the trial judge.</p> <p>2. In such case, it is not an abuse of discretion on the part of the court to excuse jurors for cause on account of their having stated that they are opposed to capital punishment, though such jurors have qualified themselves under the law by stating that they could disregard their conscientious .scruples and render their verdict according to the law and the evidence. In exercising his discretion as to the fitness of a juror to serve, the trial judge has the juror before him and much latitude must be left him; and the weight to be given to the answers of a juror when examined on his voir dire is not to be determined exclusively by his words as they appear in the record. The court in the exercise of a wide discretion may conclude that such juror is not competent to enter the jury box for the purpose of rendering an impartial verdict notwithstanding his words to the contrary, and nothing short of. a palpable error will justify a reversal of a trial judge in passing upon a challenge for cause.</p> <p>3. The right to have a cause tried by an' impartiál jury does not give a right to the service of any particular individual, and where tbe full panel has not been exhausted the defendant is not prejudiced by the exclusion of jurors for cause.</p> <p>Trial — Temarles hy district attorney.</p> <p>4. A conviction of murder of the first degree will not be reversed because the district attorney made promis