Smith v. McMillen

In this case the Circuit Court permitted the written instructions given upon the trial to be sent to the jury, in the absence and without the consent of one of the parties, and after the jury had been, for a long time, in deliberation upon the case.

The principle is, that the jury shall take the law from the Court. The mode in which the Court communicates with the jury is by addressing them in open Court. The jury take the law from the Court through the ear. By so doing, they generally stand upon equality, because none but men with hearing ears are competent jurors. In the jury-room, then,…