Chap. 151.—An ACT to amend and re-enact Section 4895 of the Code of Vir-
ginia, as heretofore amended, relating to venire facias in felony cases and the
trial of persons jointly indicted for a felony, so as to provide that juries
summoned as herein provided may be used for the trial of civil cases as well
as felonies and misdemeanors. [S B 31]

Approved March 12, 1936

1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia, That section
forty-eight hundred and ninety-five of the Code of Virginia, as hereto-
fore amended, be amended and re-enacted so as to read as follows:

Section 4895. Venire Facias in Case of Felony; What to Command ;
Number of Persons to be Summoned, and How Selected ; Irregularities ;
Venire, When Persons Jointly Indicted for a Felony Elect to be Tried
Separately—The writ of venire facias in case of felony shall com-
mand the officer to whom it is directed to summon twenty persons of
his county or corporation, to be taken from a list furnished him by
the clerk issuing the writ, who are qualified in all respects to serve as
jurors, to attend the court wherein the accused is to be tried on the
first day of the next term thereof, or at such other time as the court
or judge may direct. At one term of the court only one jury shall be
summoned, unless the court or judge thereof otherwise direct; and
the jury so summoned may be used for the trial of all the cases which
may be tried at that term, including civil cases as well as felonies and
misdemeanors.

The list mentioned in this section shall contain the names of twenty-
four persons drawn for that purpose by the clerk of the court or his
deputy from the names and box provided for by sections fifty-nine
hundred and eighty-eight and fifty-nine hundred and ninety of this
code. Such drawing shall be in the presence of the judge of the court,
or in his absence of one of the commissioners in chancery provided
for by section fifty-nine hundred and ninety-two of this code, and a
reputable citizen not connected with the accused 6r the prosecution,
or, in a case of homicide, with the deceased, who shall be called upon
for that purpose by the clerk conducting the drawing. If the presence
of the commissioner cannot be obtained, the drawing shall be in the
presence of two reputable citizens not connected as aforesaid and called
upon by the clerk. The clerk shall notify the commissioner of the time
his attendance is desired, and it shall be his duty to attend at such time
at the clerk’s office. The drawing, except as herein otherwise provided,
shall conform as near as may be to the mode prescribed for drawing
juries in civil cases.

For good cause shown in any felony case the judge of the court, in
term time or vacation, may direct more than twenty-four names to be
drawn and placed on the list, and more than twenty persons to be
summoned. He shall in such cases specify the number of names to be
drawn and the number of persons to be summoned; the number drawn
shall not be more than four in excess of the number to be summoned.

If there is drawn from the box the name of a person who has died,
removed from the county or city or is related to the accused or to the
prosecutor, or, in case of homicide, to the deceased, or who is known
to the clerk or other persons attending the drawing, if the case be
in a circuit court of a county, to live within two miles of the place
where the crime is charged to have been committed, such name shall
not be placed on the list as they are drawn, and when twenty-four
names have been so placed the drawing shall cease, and a copy of
said list shall at once be made and signed by the clerk and the persons
attending the drawing, which copy shall be filed in the clerk’s office.
However, nothing in this paragraph shall be construed to relate to the
qualifications of jurors, or to confer upon any accused any right to
exact compliance with its provisions.

No irregularity in any writ of venire facias or in the drawing,
summoning, returning, or impanelling of jurors, or in making out or
copying or signing or failing to sign the list or in drawing more persons
than four in excess of the number to be summoned, shall be cause for
summoning a new panel or for setting aside a verdict or granting a new
trial, unless objection thereto specifically pointed out, was made before
the jury was sworn, and unless it appears that such irregularity, or
error, or failure, was intentional or such as to probably cause injustice
to the Commonwealth or to the accused; and no judgment shall be
arrested or reversed for the failure of the record to show that there
was a venire facias, unless made a ground of exception in the trial
court, before the swearing of the jury.

If a person, indicted jointly with others for a felony, elect to be
tried separately, the venire summoned for their trial may be used for
him who is first tried, and the court shall award a venire facias for
the trial of the others, jointly or separately, as they may elect.

lee eed