People v. Hollis

STERNBERG, Judge.

The question raised by this appeal is whether the rule or statute prevails in the case of conflict between the provisions of a Supreme Court rule and a statute as to the number of peremptory challenges allowed a defendant in a criminal trial. Concluding that the right to peremptory challenges is substantive, and not merely procedural, we hold that the statute controls.

In the trial of this case, defendant, Kay Hollis, was convicted of second-degree assault following a jury trial. When the jury was empaneled, on July 15, 1981, the rule, Crim.P. 24(d), allowed a defendant 10…