Chapter 308.
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CHAP. 308.— An act to amend the laws relating to the selection and service of jurors in the supreme court of the District of Columbia.March 1, 1889. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled*,Jurors. D.C. R. S. D. C., secs. 753, 759, p. 90, repealed. That sections seven hundred and fifty-eight and seven hundred and fifty-nine of the Revised Statutes of the United States, relating to the District of Columbia. be, and they are hereby, repealed.
Sec. 2. That section seven hundred and fifty-five of the RevisedRegulation of terms by supreme court. R. S. D. C., sec. 755, p. 90, amended. Statutes of the United States, relating to the District of Columbia, be, and it is hereby, amended so that it shall read as follows: The supreme court in general term shall have power by rule of court to regulate the period of holding its terms, as also the periods of all the special terms, and to fix the number of such terms, and to alter the same from time to time as public convenience may require.
Sec. 3. That section eight hundred and seventy-two of the RevisedQualifications of jurors. R. S. D. C., sec. 872, p. 102. Statutes of the United States, relating to the District of Columbia, be. and it is hereby, amended so as to read as follows: No person shall be competent to act as a juror unless he be a citizen of the United States, a resident of the District of Columbia, over twenty-one and under sixty-five years of age. and a good and lawful man, who has never been convicted of a felony or misdemeanor involving moral turpitude.
Sec. 4. That sections eight hundred and fifty-five, eight hundred andTerm for jurors. R. S. D. C., secs. 855, 856, 858, amended. fifty-six, and eight hundred and fifty-eight of the Revised Statutes of the United States, relating to the District of Columbia, be, and they hereby are, amended so as to read as follows: The term of service of jurors drawn for service in the supreme court of the District of Columbia holding a special term as a circuit court, or to serve as petit jurors in the special term as a criminal court, shall begin on the first TuesdayCriminal court.
R. S. D. C., sec. 807, p. 96. in each and every month in which jury trials shall be had and (subject to the provisions of section eight hundred and seven) shall terminate on the Monday preceding the first Tuesday of the following month, except when the jury shall be discharged by the court at an earlier day. The term of service of grand jurors in the special term as a criminalGrand jurors. court shall begin with each term of that court as fixed from time to time by the supreme court of the District of Columbia in general term, and shall end with such term, unless the jury shall sooner be discharged by the court.
At least ten days before the first Tuesday in each month whenJurors, circuit and criminal courts. jury trials are to be had, the clerk shall publicly break the seal of the jury-box. and proceed to draw therefrom the names of twenty-six persons to serve as jurors in such circuit court, and of twenty-six other persons to serve as petit jurors in such criminal court, and at least ten days before the commencement of each special term held as a criminal court the names of twenty-three persons required to serve as grand jurors in such criminal court shall be drawn in like manner: *Provided*, That when any jury shall have been actually*Proviso*.
Service. empanelled for the trial of any cause the jurymen composing the same shall be liable to continue in service until they have been lawfully discharged from said cause. Sec. 5. That section eight hundred and sixty-six of the RevisedR. S. D. C., sec. 866, p. 102, amended. Statutes of the United States, relating to the District of Columbia, 750 be, and it is hereby, amended so as to read as follows: It shall be the duty of the marshal of the District, at least five days before the beginning of the term of service for which a jury has been selected as provided by law, to notify each person drawn by serving on him a notice in writing of his selection as a juror, of the court he is to attend, and of the day and hour he is to appear.
Sec. 6. Exemption for one year after service. That any person who shall have been regularly drawn as a juror, and shall thereupon have served as a juror for the period of twenty days or more, shall be exempt from further service as a juror in the District of Columbia for the period of one year from the beginning of his said term of service, but nothing herein contained shall render such juror ineligible to serve as a juror during said *Proviso*. Limit of consecutive service. R.
S. D. C., sec. 851, p. 101, amended.year: *Provided, however*, That no person shall be competent to serve as a juror for two consecutive terms. Sec. 7. That section eight hundred and fifty-one of the Revised Statutes of the United States, relating to the District of Columbia, be. and the same is hereby amended by striking out therein the words “until otherwise provided by the legislative assembly.” Sec. 8. Selection of additional jurors. That section eight hundred and sixty-two of the Revised Statutes of the United States, relating to the District of Columbia, R.
S. D. C., sec. 862, p. 101, amended.be, and it is hereby, amended so as to read as follows: If any persons selected as jurors can not be found, or shall prove to be incompetent. or shall lie excused from service by the court, the clerk, under the direction of the court, shall draw from the box the names of other persons to take their places. And if after the organization of the jury any vacancies occur therein, they shall be filled in like manner. Sec. 9. Completion of panel.
R. S. D. C., sec. 863, p. 101, amended. That section eight hundred and sixty-three of the Revised Statutes of the United States, relating to the District of Columbia, be, and it hereby is. amended so as to read as follows: If at any time during the impaneling of a jury in any other than a capital case the regular panel, by reason of challenge or otherwise, shall be exhausted before the jury is complete, the court may in its discretion direct the clerk to draw from the box the names of other persons to serve as jurors and cause them to be summoned, or order the marshal to summon as many talesmen as may be necessary to complete the jury.
Sec. 10. Effect. That this act shall take effect on the fifteenth day of July, eighteen hundred and eighty-nine. Approved, March 1, 1889.