Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1881-07-14
The Prosecution Of Crimes.

The prosecution oil crime is usually
commenced by complaint. IhiS
| IL a written statement OF the ofiense,
signed and sworn 10. II Is presented
BY the complainant 10 magistrate or a
police.eouri, whereUpon a warrant Is
ISSUED directing an arrest OF the person
"complained" Of By the proper ofhcer
Arrests for the more serious crimes
NAV, however, be made BY officers, and
in many cases by private citizens. with
out q warrant and The complaint Is the n
made aGterward. The prisoner is taken
before the court or magistrate, and II
the ofense is = petty one, IS forthwith
tried without jury and sentenced; but
he may appeal TO a higher court and
have a new trial before jury. 10 which
every one charged with the crime has
a right. however trivial the ofense. II
on the other hand, the ofense Is grave
one, the prisoner, after 4 hearing, Is
ordered TO be secured by imprisonment
until the next session OF higher court
unless he gives bail :" that is, unless
onp or more persons OF means Will agree
TO forfeit 10 the Government a certain
sum in case be runs away. In this case
the prisoner IS said 10 be "bound over. !"
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
mslity.
The higher court summons, for the
cEses; a "Grand
|:saRy."r from twelve to twenty-three in
number, who being instructed by The
nudge as to their duties. hear evidence
in secret session concerning these per-
sons and others against whom COM
plain, is made directly 10 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 il twelve OF
their number vote against the accused,
a "bilI" or "indictment" is prepared,
which is a written statement Of the
charge, and the foreman" (whom the
Grand Jurors choose as their spokesman
and representative writes upon it, "a
True Bill" 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:
"The Grand Jury upon their oath present
That A. b. Of, on the-dHy Of, in
the year of our Lord, at, with force and
ono watch, Of the value oC-dollars,
Of the goods and property of one, did fc!on-
iousIy steal, take, and carry awsy, against the
statute in such case provided. and against the law
peace and dignity of the Commonwealth. A True
A.Y., Foreman of the Grand Jury"
The ending OF an English indictment
is very musical: 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 fire.
quently try 10 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
dictments, which the Clerk ofthe Court
files and records.
Each indictment, then, or al some
later day, is read 10 the accused, who,
in reply to a question OF the Clerk, says
either guilty" or mot guilty" OF
which the clerk makes record. II he
"pIeads guilty" he is sentenced; if
"not guilty" he is to be tried before
jury.
In trials for crime the jurymsn are
sworn to decide fairly; the indictment
is read aloud to them witnesses against
the accused are called and examined by
th> Prosecuting Attorney, and upon the
other side, for the accused, by the pris
oner or his lawyer. The lawyers argue
the case to the jury, who finally retire
and agree upon a verdict. which they
subsequently declare in the courtroom.
The defendant has The right to see ev-
cry witness against him "face to face"
He can usually appeal 20 a still higher
tribunal upon legal points. liza man is
once squarely acquitted of CRIME, he
can never be tried again for 1t, even il
his guilt subsequently, becomes manifest.
Sometimes they are other proceedings.
but they could not be explained IN
short space Youths Companion.