Vitelle

Defendant was convicted on the third count of the indictment. The offense charged was that of a felonious assault upon the person of one Mason, by means of force likely to produce, and which did produce, great bodily injury. The defendant appeals from the judgment and from an order denying his motion for a new trial. The sole ground of appeal is that the court erred in overruling defendant’s challenges for cause to four jurors of the panel.

It seems to be conceded by counsel on both sides that at the time of the examination of these jurors it was well understood that the evidence would show that the defendant was a member of an organization known as the Ku Klux Klan, and that his alleged actions and conduct toward the complaining witness upon the occasion mentioned in the indictment were, according to the prosecution, a part of his activities as a member of that organization. Defendant’s challenge to each of the four jurors was based upon the claim that the examination of the jurors showed that they were prejudiced against the defendant because he was a member of the Klan, and that they were disqualified on account of actual bias as defined in section 1073 of the Penal Code. It…