Wells v. State
Nebraska Supreme Court
Error to the district court of Eillmore county. Tried there before Weaver, J., upon an indictment against Wells for horse-stealing. Verdict of guilty and that value of horse stolen was $21. Wells moved for a new trial, assigning as one ground of the same that the jury had rendered a verdict under a misapprehension of the legal effect of the same.
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Error to the district court of Eillmore county. Tried there before Weaver, J., upon an indictment against Wells for horse-stealing. Verdict of guilty and that value of horse stolen was $21. Wells moved for a new trial, assigning as one ground of the same that the jury had rendered a verdict under a misapprehension of the legal effect of the same. This ground was supported by the joint affidavit of nine of the jury, who made oath that they did not believe Wells guilty of a felony, and did not and would not so-find, and that a verdict so finding was not their verdict. This affidavit was made…
1Opinion of the Court
Lake, J,
There was no error in refusing to set aside the verdict on the affidavit of the nine jurors of the panel that found it. They do not say that-it fails to express their finding precisely upon the matter entrusted to their decision, viz., the larceny of the horse; but simply that the grade of the offense, and its punishment, are greater than they had supposed; so much so indeed, *412that had they been advised of it, they would not have found him guilty.
With the punishment of the accused the jury had nothing to do. That was a matter exclusively within the province of the judge, within certain…
2Cited by3 opinions
- Mizell v. StateSupreme Court of Florida · 1896
- Walker v. StateSupreme Court of Arkansas · 1888
- Ray v. StateNebraska Supreme Court · 1882