Facts
- Fred Maxwell and others were indicted for murder by a grand jury in Erie County, Pennsylvania.
- A woman served as a member of the grand jury that returned the indictment.
- Defendants moved to quash the indictment, asserting women were not legally qualified to serve as jurors under Pennsylvania law and constitutional provisions protecting “trial by jury.”
- The trial court quashed the indictment, reasoning the state constitutional guarantee that jury trial remain “as heretofore” preserved an all-male jury as at common law.
- The Commonwealth appealed to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
Issues
- Whether women were legally eligible to serve on Pennsylvania juries after the Nineteenth Amendment made women electors.
- Whether the inclusion of a woman on a grand jury rendered its indictment invalid.
- Whether the Pennsylvania Constitution’s “trial by jury shall be as heretofore” language fixed juror qualifications to common-law limitations.
Decision
- The Pennsylvania Supreme Court reversed the order quashing the indictment.
- The Court held women were eligible for jury service in Pennsylvania.
- The indictment was reinstated, and the lower court was directed to proceed with trial.
Legal Principles
- Constitutional protection of the jury-trial institution does not require preserving every historical restriction on juror qualifications.
- Juror qualifications are generally subject to legislative definition and modification, even when statutory criteria differ from common-law qualifications.
- Where juror selection statutes draw jurors from “electors,” expansion of the electorate by federal constitutional amendment expands the statutory jury-eligible class unless state law validly provides otherwise.
- A grand jury indictment is not invalid merely because a qualified woman served on the grand jury.
Conclusion
The court held that, once women became electors under the Nineteenth Amendment, they fell within Pennsylvania’s statutory class eligible for jury service, and the state constitutional jury-trial guarantee did not entrench an all-male jury; therefore, the murder indictment returned by a grand jury including a woman was reinstated.