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1 Wright 334

Worden v. Smith

Ohio Supreme Court

Decided August 15, 1833

Ohio Supreme Court · decided 1833-08-15

<p>Error — order of non suit — court cannot order a jury to find for a party — the jury are judges of facts</p> <p>Where the evidence is pertinent to the issue submitted to the jury, they are to judge of its effects, and the court has no authority to instruct the jury that the facts are proven, and to find for either party.</p> <p>If the court order a non suit.on account of the insufficiency of the evidence, it should enforce obedience to the order by process of attachment, and not leave it to the plaintiff’s option to become non suitor not, and upon his refusal order the jury to find for the plaintiff. It is-the province of the jury to try the facts in issue before them.</p>

Decided 1833-08-15

WRIGHT, J.

¶1The evidence given by the- plaintiff to the jury was competent and pertinent to the issue; it should not have been ruled out or withdrawn from the jury. If the court, supposing it all *342true, were of opinion it fell short of establishing a legal right in the plaintiff to recover, it had a legal right to order a non suit. Having made such an order, it should have enforced it. The refusal of the plaintiff to submit, was a contempt of the order, and might have been punished as such; but that refusal conferred upon the court no authority to withdraw competent evidence fro‘m the jury, or to give the jury direction what facts were established by the evidence. It is the province of the jury to try facts. In this Case, if the cause was submitted to the jury, it was upon their oaths to try the facts upon the evidence, and not to register the finding of the court on the facts. The court may express an opinion on the facts to the jury, but has no authority to order a jury how to find facts of which they alone are judges. If the jury were to find a verdict, the evidence should have been left to them. For this error, the judgment is reversed with costs.

¶2The argument, that there was no corporal touch, proved in the levy, is too nice for our perception.

¶3Let the cause be remanded, to be reinstated for further proceedings.

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