Commonwealth v. Hayden
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Indictment, on Pub. Sts. c. 207, § 4, alleging that the defendant, on April 3, 1891, at Boston, was lawfully married to one Annie Dillon ; and also that on September 2, 1894, at Boston, he unlawfully married one Emma M. Taylor.
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Indictment, on Pub. Sts. c. 207, § 4, alleging that the defendant, on April 3, 1891, at Boston, was lawfully married to one Annie Dillon ; and also that on September 2, 1894, at Boston, he unlawfully married one Emma M. Taylor. At the trial in the Superior Court, before Mason, C. J., the defendant seasonably moved to dismiss the indictment assigning as causes therefor: 1. That the foreman of the grand jury which presented the indictment was a special police officer. 2. That a grand juror testified as a witness before the grand jury of which he was a member at the same sitting of the court at…
1Opinion of the CourtBarker, J.
1. Special police officers are not exempt from service as grand jurors. Pub. Sts. c. 170, § 2. Nor does the fact that a juror is exempt absolutely disqualify him from service. He may be excused at his own election, or may be excepted to by any party, but, if he serves, the action of the grand jury or traverse jury is not made void. Munroe v. Brigham, 19 Pick. 368. See also Wassum v. Feeney, 121 Mass. 93; Moebs v. Wolffsohn, 143 Mass. 130.
2. There is neither authority nor reason for the contention that the indictment was void because one of the grand jurors appeared as a witness before the…
2Cases cited10 opinions
- Commonwealth v. WoodwardMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1893
- Wassum v. FeeneyMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1876
- Commonwealth v. MunsonMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1879
- Commonwealth v. FredericksMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1875
- Commonwealth v. NorcrossMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1813
5 more not listed; retrieve them via the Exa API.
3Cited by31 opinions
- McGrain v. DaughertySupreme Court of the United States · 1927
- Commonwealth v. FrenchMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1970
- Commonwealth v. GeaganMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1959
- Commonwealth v. MixerMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1910
- Commonwealth v. McNaryMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1923
26 more not listed; retrieve them via the Exa API.