State v. Walters

The defendant filed, in the lower court, a motion in arrest of judgment, assigning as an irregularity that the verdict was spread in the French language on the minutes of the court.

The jury rendered their verdict, which was recorded as follows : “ Coupable, recommandée á la clémence de la cour.”

Under Article 100 of the Constitution, the entry should have been made in the English language. In its present form, it is an absolute nullity. 8 L. R. 275, Dubertrand v. Laville.

There is a difference in the mode of returning a verdict in civil and in criminal causes. In the former there must be a…