Houston & Texas Central Railway Co. v. Terrell

Citations

• 69 Tex. 650
• 7 S.W. 670
• 1888 Tex. LEXIS 912

Syllabus

<p>1. Practice — Juror.—The Supreme Court will not consider, on exceptions, whether a juror whom the appellant was compelled to challenge peremptorily, was disqualified under the statute and should have been excused from sitting for cause, when the record fails to reveal that the appellant had exhausted his challenges before the jury was complete.</p> <p>3. Challenge of Juror —A juror whose wife’s sister is the wife of a plaintiff to a suit at the time of trial, may, in an action by such plaintiff for the recovery of damages for personal injuries, be challenged for cause. The damages, when recovered, would be community property of the plaintiff and his wife, and she, though not a nominal party, would be substantially a party to the suit.</p> <p>3. Same — Statute Construed. — Construing articles 3089 and 3094, Revised Statutes, held: It is contemplated by the statutes that the challenge, of jurors for cause should be made after their names are drawn by the clerk and the jury lists delivered to the parties, but this may be waived by counsel. If, before the delivery of the list, an exeep tion be taken to tho questions propounded to test the qualification of a juror, it can not bo objected on appeal that the examination was conducted at an improper time, when no such objection was urged before.</p> <p>Í. Same —In examining a juror on his voir dire, it is not improper to ask Mm if he knows anything about the facts of the ease, or if he has made mp his mind about the case. The examination need not be confined to the literal language of the statute, but may extend to an inquiry as to the bias or prejudice relating to the subject matter of the litigation as well as to that which may be felt toward the parties personally. A refusal to allow such examination touching the qualification of a juror affords cause for a reversal.</p>