Civil Government of Virginia Part 13

An ATTORNEY-AT-LAW is a person legally qualified and licensed to act as attorney. A person not a lawyer might be called an attorney if appointed to do any business on behalf of another, but to be an attorney-at law a person must be qualified as stated in the text.

(See under Attorney-General, page 29.) A LICENSE is a permission to perform certain acts. It is usually in writing, and is issued by persons having legal authority to do so.

An attorney-at-law must QUALIFY before the court in which he wishes to practice. This means that he must produce evidence that he is legally licensed, that he must take an oath that he will perform his duties as an attorney, and also that he must take an oath that he will be faithful to the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Who May Practice Law in Virginia.

Any person duly authorized and practicing as Counsel or Attorney- at-Law in any State or Territory of the United

States, or in the District of Columbia; but if he resides in Virginia he must pay the prescribed license fee.

DULY AUTHORIZED means having received the proper license, and having qualified. PRESCRIBED LICENSE FEE is a certain fee or charge for the issuing of a license to practice in Virginia.

Juries.

Drawn by lot from a list of those well qualified to serve as jurors, furnished by the Judge of the Circuit or Corporation Courts. The list shall contain not less than one hundred nor more than three hundred names.

All male citizens over twenty-one years of age who have been residents of the State for two years, and of the county, city, or town in which they reside for one year next preceding their being summoned to serve as such and competent in other respects, are WELL QUALIFIED to SERVE as jurors within the State. But certain persons are disqualified as not competent, such as idiots, lunatics, and persons convicted of bribery, perjury, embezzlement of public funds, treason, felony or pet.i.t larceny.

Certain public officers and persons belonging to certain professions are exempt from jury service. The governor, the lieutenant-governor, postmasters, practicing physicians (doctors), and many others, are exempt from the duty of serving on juries.

Juries in civil and misdemeanor cases are chosen by lot. Once every year the judge of each circuit and corporation court makes out a list containing the names of not less than one hundred and not more than three hundred persons resident in the county or corporation and well qualified to serve as jurors. These names are written on slips of paper or ballots (each name on a separate ballot) and the ballots, after being folded so that the names may not be seen, are put into a box kept for the purpose by the clerk of the court.

Ten days before any term of a court at which a jury may be required, the clerk draws sixteen ballots from the box, without looking at the names until they are all drawn out. The persons whose names are thus drawn are summoned to attend at the term of court. Should more than sixteen be required, more are summoned, and on the day they attend the court their names are written on ballots and placed in a box, and from them the juries for the trial of cases are drawn in the manner already stated. This is what is called choosing or selecting BY LOT, the word lot meaning chance. It is considered the fairest way of forming a jury.

If jurors were appointed instead of being selected by lot, persons having prejudice or ill feeling against one of the parties in the case might be put on the jury, and the verdict rendered by such jury might be a very unjust one. But when the selection is by lot n.o.body knows who is to be on it, and so it is equally fair to both sides.

The number of persons on a jury is usually twelve, but in a civil case, if both parties consent, there may be a jury of only seven; or, the case may be tried and decided by a jury of three persons, one selected by each of the two parties to the suit, and the third by the other two; or, by the judge without a jury.

For juries in cases of felony the names of twenty persons residing at a distance from the place where the crime or offence is said to have been committed are taken from a list furnished by the circuit or the corporation court. Those twenty are summoned to attend the court, and from them a jury panel of sixteen is selected. The accused person may, without giving any reason, object to, or strike off, any four of the sixteen, and the remaining twelve will be the jury to try the case.

If the accused does not strike off any, or strikes off less than four, a jury of twelve is selected from the panel by lot. The attorney for the commonwealth--that is, the attorney who prosecutes the accused--may CHALLENGE--that is, object to--a juror, but he must a.s.sign a reason for his objection, and if the judge decides in favor of his objection, the person challenged is not put on the jury. A panel is a list of persons summoned to serve as jurors.

To SUMMON is to call or notify a person or persons to appear in court. A person who is summoned to attend as a juror and who, without sufficient reason, fails or neglects to do so, may be punished by a fine of not less than five nor more than twenty dollars.

Persons summoned as jurors are ent.i.tled to receive one dollar per day for service on a jury, and mileage at the rate of four cents per mile travelled in going to and returning from court. (Further explanation as to the duties of juries will be found under Pet.i.t Jury, page 71.)

Grand Jury.

Consists of not less than nine nor more than twelve persons taken from a list of forty-eight selected by the Judge of the Circuit or Corporation Court from the qualified jurors of the county or city in which his Court is held. A Special Grand Jury shall consist of not less than six nor more than nine persons.

The princ.i.p.al duties of the GRAND JURY are mentioned under Circuit Courts, page 55. The law requires that "the grand jury shall inquire of and present all felonies, misdemeanors, and violations of penal [criminal] laws committed within the jurisdiction of the respective courts wherein they are sworn."

To PRESENT is to make a statement or PRESENTMENT to the court as explained on page 55. Every grand jury has a chairman or speaker, who is appointed by the court and is called the FOREMAN. The foreman is required to take an oath or swear that he will "present no person through prejudice or ill-will, nor leave any unpresented through fear or favor," but that in all presentments he "shall present the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth."

In this way the foreman is SWORN, and the other grand jurors must swear that they will "observe and keep" the same oath taken by the foreman. An oath is a solemn statement or declaration with an appeal to G.o.d, or calling G.o.d to witness that what is stated is true or that the person shall tell the truth.

Witnesses before giving evidence in courts at the trial of a case must make oath or swear to "tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth." While the witness is repeating the words of the oath he holds a Bible or Testament in his hand, and kisses it when he has repeated the words.

There are two kinds of grand juries--regular and special. There is a regular grand jury at two terms in each year, of the circuit, corporation, or hustings court. But a grand jury may be ordered by a circuit, corporation, or hustings court at any time there may be special or urgent need for it, and such grand jury is called a SPECIAL grand jury.

Grand jurors are ent.i.tled to the same compensation and mileage as pet.i.t jurors (see next section).

Pet.i.t Jury.

Consists of twelve members.

Duties. Hear evidence before the court in civil and criminal cases and render a verdict according to the law and evidence.

The PEt.i.t JURY is the jury impanelled--that is, put on a panel or list--to try cases in court. How such a jury is formed is stated under Juries (see page 68). Pet.i.t jurors, like grand jurors, must take an oath to do their duty honestly. (The word jury is derived from the Latin word jurare, which means to swear.)

It is the duty of the pet.i.t jury to hear the evidence in the case it is to try, and to give a verdict in accordance with that evidence. If the evidence presented before the court proves the accused to be guilty, the jury must give a verdict of "guilty"; if the evidence is not sufficient to show that he is guilty, they must give a verdict of "not guilty." (For verdict, see page 11.)

The verdict of the jury must also be ACCORDING TO LAW. This means that the jury must give heed to the law of the case as explained by the judge. Evidence might be offered which would not be lawful.

It is the duty of the judge to decide whether evidence is lawful or not, and if he decides that any evidence is illegal or unlawful, then the jury must not pay any regard to it in considering their verdict.

QUESTIONS.

1. By whom are court clerks appointed or elected, and for how long do they hold office?

2. How are court clerks paid? 8. What are the duties of court clerks?

4. What are dockets?

5. What are the tipstaff and crier, and what are their duties?

6. How is the commonwealth's attorney chosen, and for how long?

7. Where must the commonwealth's attorney reside, and how is he paid?

8. What are his duties?

9. What is LEGAL ADVICE?

10. What does prosecuting criminals mean?

11. What is a WITNESS?

12. What are the qualifications of an attorney-at-law?

13. Define LICENSE and QUALIFY.

14. Who may practice law in Virginia?

15. Define DULY AUTHORIZED and PRESCRIBED LICENSE FEE.

16. What are the qualifications of jurors?

17. What cla.s.ses of persons are exempt from jury service?