Defendant in error

“ And this being so, it must be taken that the amendment merely expanded or amplified what was alleged in support of that cause of action, and related back to the commencement of the suit, which was before the limitation had expired.
Error is assigned upon a refusal to instruct the jury, as matter of law, that there was no evidence of actionable negligence on the part of the defendant, and that the evidence conclusively established an assumption by the plaintiff of the risk resulting in his injury. Both courts, trial and appellate, held against the defendant upon these points. ”

“ The plaintiff in error has assigned errors in several particulars, in the finding of facts, but as there is no bill of exceptions setting forth the evidence, no error of law can be assigned in respect to any finding of fact, and we are necessarily restricted to the question whether, upon the facts as found, there was error in giving judgment for the defendant. ”

“ In addition, omission of a reasonable-doubt instruction, though a "trial error," distorts the very structure of the trial because it creates the risk that the jury will convict the defendant even if the State has not met its required burden of proof. Cf. Cool v. United States, 409 U.S. 100, 104, 93 S.Ct. 354, 357, 34 L.Ed.2d 335 (1972) ; In re Winship, 397 U.S. 358, 364, 90 S.Ct. 1068, 1072, 25 L.Ed.2d 368 (1970) .
These same concerns counsel against applying harmless-error analysis to the admission of a coerced confession. ”

“ At common law the general rule undoubtedly was that where an erroneous judgment was entered by a trial court, or an erroneous sentence imposed, on a valid indictment, the appellate court, on error, could not itself render such a judgment as the trial court should have rendered, or remit the case to the trial court with directions for it to do so, but the only thing it could do was to reverse the judgment and discharge the defendant. ”

“ There being no error, of which advantage can be taken at this stage of the case, affecting the jurisdiction of the circuit court of the United States, the next matter to be considered is the defendant's motion to dismiss the writ of error, as having abated by the death of the original plaintiff, because it was an action to recover damages for a personal injury. ”

“ In applying harmless-error analysis to these many different constitutional violations, the Court has been faithful to the belief that the harmless-error doctrine is essential to preserve the "principle that the central purpose of a criminal trial is to decide the factual question of the defendant's guilt or innocence, and promotes public respect for the criminal process by focusing on the underlying fairness of the trial rather than on the virtually inevitable presence of immaterial error." ”

“ The above questions may be stated shortly and substantially thus:—Are there any defective counts in the indictment? Any defective findings of the jury? Any defects in entering the findings? Can judgment be reversed on any of these grounds? If one only of several counts in an indictment be bad; a verdict given of "guilty" generally; judgment awarded against the defendant "for his offences aforesaid," and the punishment discretionary—can judgment be reversed on a writ of error? ”

“ But the courts of many states, including some of great authority, have denied, upon broader grounds, the right of the state to bring a writ of error in any criminal case whatever, even when the discharge of the defendant was upon the decision of an issue of law by the court, as on demurrer to the indictment, motion to quash, special verdict, or motion in arrest of judgment. ”

“ There is no presumption in favor of defendant upon a criminal trial excepting that of innocence. Error in the record is not presumed, but must be shown. A presumption that proper forms were omitted is not to be made. There must be at least some evidence to show it. And yet, because the record fails to make a statement in terms that the defendant was thus arraigned and did so plead, this judgment is to be reversed, and that, too, without an allegation, or even a pretense, that the defendant has suffered any injury by reason of any alleged defect of the character in question. ”

“ There is no reason resulting from the sovereignty or dignity of the states which does not apply as well to cases in which the state is exhibited as plaintiff, as defendant; and every reason which allows the state courts to have a just cognizance of the cause permits that cognizance to be final. The state is a defendant to a writ of error, sued out against her, and there is but little difference between the summons by which an original suit is commenced, and a citation which is consequent on a writ of error. ”

“ Before a defendant can be held as an aider and abetter the government must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he committed an act which furthered or assisted the criminal transaction, and at the time he committed the act he knew that a crime was in process of commission, and with that knowledge he acted with intent to aid and abet in the criminal transaction.' While the above charges were requested by defendant, we nevertheless feel that the failure of the instructions to satisfy the standard we suggest is an error which we should notice. ”

“ Considering that a statute of limitations instruction is clearly required under established Supreme Court law and that the defendants had previously moved to dismiss the indictment because of statute of limitations and prosecutorial delay, the trial court's error was plain. [3] Third, the error affected substantial rights of the defen- dants. An error prejudices the substantial rights of a defendant when it "affect [s] the outcome of the proceedings." ”

“ It has repeatedly been decided that a request for a ruling that upon the evidence introduced the plaintiff is not entitled to recover cannot be made by the defendant as a matter of right, unless at the close of the whole evidence; and that, if the defendant, at the close of the plaintiff's evidence, and without resting his own case, requests and is refused such a ruling, the refusal cannot be assigned for error. ”

“ The principal assignments of error have nothing of substance in them. When the plaintiffs agreed to admit upon the trial that the defendant's absent witness would testify as stated in the affidavit filed for a continuance of the case, and the court thereupon ruled that the trial should proceed, attention was not called to the fact that replications had not been filed to the first and third pleas, and judgment was not asked upon those pleas for want of such replications. ”

“ In such a circumstance, a capital defendant's interest in an exacting review of the alleged error is unquestionably at its height, because there is no "presumptive validity" regarding the jury's sentence. The State, on the other hand, retains no strong reliance interest in sustaining a capital verdict that may have been obtained based on a misunderstanding of the law.
Our refusal to apply a standard less protective than "reasonable doubt" to alleged errors in criminal trials in part guarantees the reliability of the jury's determination. ”

“ As the United States was not a party to the suit below, and, while defending the action by its proper law officers, expressly declined to submit itself as a defendant to the jurisdiction of the court, there may exist some doubt whether it has a right to prosecute the writ of error in its own name ”

“ As the same statute authorizes the court to take cognizance of the case, even when the title of defendant amounts to more than a mere cloud, and applies in every case when the defendant claims an adverse interest in or title to the property in controversy, it is clear that the assignment of error under consideration has no support. ”

“ The instruction requires the jury to find both that (1) defendant 'falsely connected' plaintiffs with the play, and (2) did so knowingly or through failure to make a reasonable investigation. This is certainly a charge satisfying the Court's requirement that 'a verdict of liability could be predicated only on a finding of knowing or reckless falsity in the publication of the Life article.' An error in the course of investigation might be mere negligent misstatement. Failure to make a reasonable investigation is something else. ”

“ As the majority concedes, there are other constitutional errors that invalidate a conviction even though there may be no reasonable doubt that the defendant is guilty and would be convicted absent the trial error. For example, a judge in a criminal trial "is prohibited from entering a judgment of conviction or directing the jury to come forward with such a verdict, see Sparf & Hansen v. ”

“ These irregularities, whatever might have been their original imperfections, if not waived, were in our opinion, waived, by the defendant going to trial upon the merits, and cannot now constitute any objection upon the present writ of error. For a writ of error does not bring up for review any irregularities of this sort. Judgment affirmed, with six per cent. damages. ”

“ In examining the allegations of a declaration in a court of law, a court of error examines only whether the plaintiff has set out a title or cause of action. 'If,' in the language of this court, 'it is defectively or inaccurately set forth, it is cured by a verdict; because, to entitle the plaintiff to recover, all circumstances necessary to make out his cause of action, so imperfectly stated, must be proved at the trial: but, when no cause of action is stated, none can be presumed to have been proved. The case is not to be considered as if before us on a demurrer to the declaration. ”

“ It is difficult to account for it, if there had been none. Yet all this evidence, and more, was before the jury. These assignments of error, therefore, cannot be sustained.
The sixth assignment of error requires but a single remark. We do not see that the evidence war anted the hypothesis upon which the defendants' second prayer was based; but if it did, it would be impertinent to the case. If the plaintiffs were mistaken in regard to their rights as against other insurers, such a mistake cannot affect their claim on the defendants' policy. ”

“ Where the charge of the judge to the jury is of a character to mislead the jury, the error is one of law, and may be corrected in an appellate court; but in every such case the part of the charge to which the exception is addressed ought to be distinctly pointed out. Unless that be done, the exception cannot be sustained as a ground for reversing the judgment, as that can only be done for error of law. ”

“ The court did not, in this or any other instruction, tell the jury that the burden of proof on the issue of the defendant's negligence was shifted upon the defendant. On the contrary, the jury were afterwards expressly instructed: 'The plaintiff's whole ground of recovery is that the defendant was guilty of negligence. ”

“ The timely and bona fide prosecution of a suit is, perhaps, the highest evidence of due diligence. If, in the conduct of that suit, the party should be impeded or wronged, by an erroneous decision of the tribunal having cognisance of his case, that wrong could, on no just principle, be imputed to him as a fault. It certainly does not tend to show him to have been the less diligent in the pursuit of his claim; and least of all should he be prejudiced thereby, when the error insisted on has been induced by the person who seeks to avail himself of its existence. ”

“ No case has been found in which, after a conviction and sentence, remaining unreversed, on some of the counts in an indictment, a second sentence, upon a subsequent trial and conviction on another count in the same indictment, has been affirmed by a court of error. ”

“ The Court of Appeals, in its opinion, conceding the assessment to be in many respects erroneous and to the prejudice of plaintiff, holds that, in the absence of fraud or intentional wrong, the defendants were not personally liable in damages for any error in the assessment. ”