Santa Fe weekly gazette. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 185?-1859, 1857-07-04

u"' "oeholSo vi tuaG Qutl
IS solemnly confded to you, on this occasion
oy the laws Of this Territory by the conf
dence Of your fellowcitizeus, whose peace au(
whose lives are to be protected :; and b,
your own conscience, under the oath which
you have taken, to perform your duty to the
country without fear, favor orafecton
You cannot, gentlemen of the Grand jury
TOO fully estimatethe Importance and solemni
ty Of the duties which rest upon YOU To
preserve the public peace, and to protect the
lvesof your fellow-creatures, are duties which
you, arc called upon to perform. In coming
to the discharge Of such duties, you must lay
aside every thing like prejudice or affection to
wards those who may be presented to YOU as
Eae perpetrators OF crime. If you have reli
gious prejudices, or political prejudices or
private aaimositieS you must now Law Them
ASIDE You are now within the temple Of
justice here you have sworn to answer tbe
demands Of the law, and not to act ia obe.
dIeuce 10 the commands of passion This il
40 place for the settlement Of questions. reli
siouS, political, or personal, and, when Won on
plsS the threshold of the door within which
you are to conduct your deliberations, if YOU
do not there dismiss from your hearts all such
questions, you will prove false to yourselves
70 your country, to your conscience, and vour
tod' You are to look upon those who NAV
% presented to your consideration, as if thew
were unknown to you in any Of the relations
o. lief they should be friends, look upop
them as II they were strangers-if they should
DC eacmles, strive 10 forget that they are not
your friends. 10 do justice, fair and impartial
aS1ce, your high, your sworn aud solemn
dlty and, IN order to perform this duty in A
tfac ana faithful manner, yon must forget or
disregard the social condition d personal res.
pectAOllity of those WHO may be presented to
you as offenders against the peace aud the
laws Of the community. You should no soon.
CT llldlct the poor man than the rich nor
should you be more tardy in sending into this
court to be arralgned at the bar, the highest
member Of society, than you should be to
send here the humbleSt man, clothed in the
tatterS otpoverty. If the stranger. far from
home and friends, should stand before Won
accused oI crime, you should consider bis case
as calmly and impartally as you would the
Case Of nun whom you have known and res,
pected for years and, Ua the other hand if
your dearest friend should be presented to
you, as an offender against the Jaw, you are
bound by all the solemnities of your oath. and
all the obligations ofhonor, to Judge him bv
the law and the evidence, as if you knew him
not as If he, too, were stranger. The cir.
cumStance that the accused is your friend
does hot entitle him to your eniency while
under your oath, you are acting for the pub.
'ic nor does respectabllty Of condition give
claim to your favor
Oa the contrary, the man of respectabilty
aud intelligence, when he oilends against tho
peace OF society and the laws of the country
$ more severely to be considered than the Of.
ender who is destitute Of responsibility and
ievoId Of intelligence, But your rule of ac.
'lon must be, that the law has no fayorjtps
mat Its Judgments must be Steru and impar.
''al operating, alike, apon the rich and The
'".or, upon the high aud the low without
fear, favor or affection"
1t is not your duty Or your province, gen
lellen OF the Grand Jury to try the question
u the guilt or innocence ofpersons accused of
rlme' That duty appertains to the Petit
Jury, and is to be performed in the presence
\ the court. You are to enquire only, whe.
her there isSuldclent ground for sending the
ccuSed here to be put upon his trial. You
'lll, therefore, limit your examinations of wit.
eSSes to such persons as may be called to tes.
lfy on behalf of the prosecution. L. howev.
r. in the Cause Of the examination ofwitnesses
he general current of whose testimonies is in
ivor of the prosecution, any evidence should
Q elected favorable to the accused it will ;
Q your duty to take such testimony INTO !
favorable to the defendant. But
will be incumbent upon you SO suppress !,
he testimony OF q witness When you find that !.
s tcudeacy goes chiefly to the exculpatiou i.
t the accused, while there is other testimony
strong against the defendant to
,nder hisgult probable. !
ut is the duty Of the Grand jury to in !.
alre into the nature and probable grounds
the charge; but it is the exclusive pro- =
nee Of the petit jury to hear and determine !,
lder the direction Of the court upon points
law, whether the defendant is or is not y
lilty Of the charge, on the whole evidence
+ aud against them" 1t will, therefore. be :
'rceIved that, if tine Grand Jury were to y
'ar and consider the testimony Of witnesses
ION both sides, they would virtually try the
use, and thus usurp the province Of the nc. . .
Jury and the court. But, while it is the y
Ity Of the Grand jury to limit their exami- J J
.tions, generally to witnesses introduced in y
half Of the prosecution, it is their duty to !, :