The Bossier banner., 1881-03-31
The Prosecution OF Grimes,

AOt ehO oiIlCll uitt lu1d1 iue.-IF FSitttct
N@tOrd, IN the San Francisco Chronicle.
The Prosecution OF Grimes.
The prosecution of crime is usually
commenced by a complaint" This
is written statement of the offense,
signed and sworn to. 1t is presented
by the complainant to magistrate or a
police-court, whereupon a warrant is
issued directing an arrest of the person
complained" of by the proper officer.
Arrests for the more serious crimes
may, however, be made by officers, and
in many cases by private citizens, with
out warrant and the complaint is then
made afterward. The prisoner is taken
before the court or magistrate, and if
the otfense is a petty one, is forthwith
tried without a jury and sentenced; but
he may appeal to a higher court and
have new trial before jury, to which
every one charged with the crime has
right, however trivial the offense. If
on the other hand, the offense is a grave
one, the prisoner, after a hearing, is
ordered to be secured by Imprisonment
until the next session of higher court
unless he "gives bail;'' that is, unless
one or more persons ofmeans will agree
to forfeit to the Government a certain
sum in case he runs away. In this case
the prisoner is said to be ''bound over.n
When the higher criminal court meets
offenders who have appealed to it are
tried by a jury without delay. But
those who are bound over for seri-
Gus crimes are treated with more for
mality.
The higher court summons, for the
handling of important cases, a ''Grand
jury from twelve to twenty three
In number, who being instructed bv the
Judge as to their duties, hear evidence
in secret session concerning these per-
sons and others against whom COM
plant is made directly to their BODY.
No witness or lawyer appears before
them in behalf of a person accused, nor
is he heard himself, but LAWYER of the
Government commonly called the
prosecuting Attorney or District
Attorney" is present with them.
One great object of the Grand jury
is the protection of innocent people
against rash prosecutions. The
Grand jury vote upon each of
the charges made before them, and
if twelve or more of their number vote
against the accused, "bill' or sin
dictment' is prepared, which is a writ
ten statement of the charge, and the
" foreman (whom the Grand Jurors
choose as their spokesman and repre-
sentative) writes upon it, "A True Bill,n
and signs his name,
The wording of the bill follows the
ancient English form. An Indictment
for stealing, which is generally very
short, runs as follows:
., mT The Grand Jurors upon their oath present:
Inat A b. OF --, on the - day of
in the year Of our Lord, -, at -.
with force and arms, one watch. of the
value of - dollars, of the goods and prop
and carry away. against the statute in such
ease provided, and the law, peace and dignity
Oh the eCommonwealth. True Bill.
A. Y, Foreman of the Grand Jury"
The ending of an English indictment
is very musical: g Against the peace of
our Lady, the Queen, her crown and
dignity"
Indictments have to be written with
great precision. They are often long
and complicated, and prisoners fre,
quently try to have them quashed,'
by the court, that is to say, set aside On
account of errors.
In due time the Grand Jury appear
in the public courtroom with their in
1ictments, which the Clerk of the Court
files and records.
Each Indictment, then, or at some
later day, is read to the accused, who,
in reply to question of the Clerk, saws
either "guilty'' Or "not guilty" ;" of
which the clerk makes record. If he |
SO pleads guilty" he is sentenced: if
&c not guilty. he is to be tried before a
jury.
In trials for crime the jurymen are
sworn to decide fairly; the Indictment
IS read aloud to them; witnesses against
5he accused are called and examined by
'he Prosecuting Attorney, and upon the
other side, for the accused, by the pris-
oner or his lawyer. The lawyers argue
'he case to the jury, who finally retire
md agree upon a verdict, which they
subsequently declare in the courtroom.
The defendant has the right to see ey-
cry witness against him face to face.n
de can usually appeal to a still higher
tribunal upon legal points. If man is
'nce squarely acquitted of crime, he
'an never be tried again for it, even if
lis guilt subsequently becomes manifest.
sometimes there are other proceedings,
,ut they could not be explained in
hort space. Toutb's Companion.
st. Antonio and His Pig.
Our Naples correspondent writes: