Azoff

The defendant was convicted of murder in the first degree and sentenced to suffer death. «

The appeal is from the judgment and from an order denying a new trial, but no part of the evidence is brought up, neither is there complaint of any ruling at the trial, or of an instruction given or refused.

The motion for a new trial was upon the ground of misconduct on the part of the jury in that they received *633 evidence out of court. Upon the hearing of the motion the court refused to consider the affidavit of a juror which tended to show that the jury had read a newspaper report of the trial, or to permit the jurors themselves to testify orally to the same effect, but did permit the district attorney to read an affidavit of a juror, and other jurors to testify that nothing that they had read had influenced their verdict. The correctness of these rulings is questioned by this appeal.

The question as to whether the affidavit of a juror will be received to impeach the verdict was very early considered in this state, and has been frequently passed upon and always decided in the same way. The effect of the earlier cases cannot be better expressed than in the language of Chief Justice…