Hopt v. Utah
Citations
- 120 U.S. 430
- 7 S. Ct. 614
- 30 L. Ed. 708
- 1887 U.S. LEXIS 1988
Syllabus
<p>Evidence, or what purports to be evidence, in a criminal case, printed in a newspaper, is “ a statement in a public journal ” within the meaning of the act of Utah declaring that no person shall be disqualified as a juror • by reason of his haviug formed or expressed an opinion upon the matter or cause to be submitted to him, “ founded upon public rumor, statements in public journals, or common notoriety, provided it appear to the court, -upon his declaration under oath or otherwise, that he,can. and will, notwithstanding such an opinion, act impartially and fairly upon the matters submitted to him.”</p> <p>The judgment of the court as to the competency of the juror upon his declaration under oath or otherwise, as above, is conclusive.</p> <p>When a challenge by a defendant in a criminal action to a juror, for bias, actual or implied, is disallowed, and the juror is thereupon peremptorily challenged by the defendant, and excused, and an impartial and competent juror is obtained in his place, no injury is done to the defendant, if until the jury is completed he has other .peremptory challenges which he can use.</p> <p>The opinion of a physician, after making a post-mortem examination of the deceased, who <J>me to his death by a blow inflicted upon his head, as to the direction from which the blow was delivered, is admissible in evidence.</p> <p>If the evidence produced in a criminal action be of such a convincing character that the jurors would unhesitatingly be governed by it in' the weighty and important matters of life, they may be said to have no reasonable doubt respecting the guilt or innocence of the accused, notwithstanding the uncertainty which attends all human evidence. Therefore, a charge to the jury that if, after an impartial comparison and consideration of all the evidence, they can truthfully say that they have an abiding conviction of the defendant’s guilt, such as they would be willing to act upon in the more weighty and important matters relatin
How courts have described this case
Verbatim parenthetical descriptions written by other courts when citing this decision. Ranked by citation-network relevance.
- holding that an instruction “refer[ring] to the conviction upon which the jurors would act in the weighty and important concerns of life[] would be likely to aid them to a right conclusion”
- stating that the word “abiding” is proper because it has the signification of “settled and fixed”
- approving language referring to “the more weighty and important matters relating to your own affairs” and calling such language “as just a guide to practical men as can well be given”
- “The rule may be, and often is, rendered obscure by attempts at definition, which serve to create doubts instead of removing them.”
- no prejudice to accused by erroneous denial of a challenge for cause where he had other peremptory challenges available
- “the words ‘to a reasonable and moral certainty’ add nothing to the words ‘beyond a reasonable doubt;’ one may require explanation as much as the other”
Source: CourtListener parenthetical corpus (CC0).
Judges: Field
Read full opinion on CourtListenerSourced from CourtListener / Free Law Project (CC0).
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