Los Angeles daily herald., 1889-05-25
who SHALL PROSECUTEs
The Question which Agttates
CaunfY and City Officers.

Law huu dfo Idkou luIO oiioo ""eS>
Stanton's court has, as yet, not been de-
cided. Justice Stanton's letters to the
City Attorney and to the District Attor'
ney were published in yesterdays HER
AID, and yesterday City Attorney Nc
Farland forwarded the following reply
to Justice Stanton:
SIR Replying to yours of the 23d inst
will say that, since the organization Of
your court, there has not been day that
YOU have not found a deputy from my
office punctual in attendance upon your
court, ready and willing to prepare COM
plants and prosecute all cases arising
out of violations OF the ordinances OF the
city, and to perform all other duties in
connection with your court prescribed
by law for me to do. You are well
aware that all violations OF the State law
shave, heretofore, been prosecuted by the
District Attorney, and your demand
upon me to now assume duties which /
am not empowered by law to perform is
unauthorized and unwarranted. My
deputy acted under my instructions when
he refused to prosecute for petit larceny
and other violations of the State law.
Our Charter provides that it shall be
the duty of the City Attorney to prose.
cute, in behalf of the people, all criminal
cases arising upon violations of the pro-
visions of the Charter and city ordi-
nances and to attend to all suits, matters
and things in which the city may be
legally interested. The crime of petit lar
ceny is not violation Of the city ordi.
nances, nor OF the provisions of
the Charter, and is not a suit as therein
contemplated and if it was a violation
of the ordinances, the city would have
no power to prosecute the same, as our
Supreme Court in the matter of Sic, re-
ported in 73 Cal, page 143, has decided
chat municipal corporation has no
power to pass an ordinance furnishing
precisely the same acts which are pun
ishable under the general laws OF the
State. Petit larceny is violation of the
State law, and punishable by fine or i'm.
prisonment in the County Jail, and the
prosecution of which is wholly within
the province of the District Attorney, as
shown by Section 4,256 OF the Political
Code, which provides that he must at
tend the District and County Courts on
behalf of the people and conduct and
prosecute all public offenses, and to in
stitute proceedings before magistrates for
the arrest of persons charged with or
reasonably suspected of public offenses.
For the reasons stated above, l must
decline to comply with the demand
made upon me in your letter of yester-
day. Yours respectfully,
G. MCFARLAND,
City Attorney.
District Attorney Kelly also alleges
that it is not his duty to prosecute this
class of cases in the Police Court, and
has forwarded the following letter to JUS
tice Stanton:
DEAR SIR-Your letter OF the 23d inst,
notifying me that there are several pris-
oners in the city Jail charged with petit
larceny, against whom no complaint has
been filed, and requesting me to appear
there in person or by deputy, to conduct
the prosecution of petty misdemeanors in
your court, is at hand.
Replying thereto would say that no ap
plicstion has been made to my Office for
complaints in the cases named by you,
and that l am ready at all times to draw
complaints in all proper criminal cases
on application therefor, to me at my
office, No. l18 North Main street.
AS to my appearing in person or by dep
uty for the purpose of prosecuting petty
misdemeanorsi in your Court, after an ex-
animation OF the law, l am of the opinion
that it is not my duty, nor can | be re-
quired to 80 appear, your court being one
organized exclusively under the Los An
geles city Charter, with city jurisdiction
only, organized for the benefit of the city,
the county, of which 1 am an officer, re-
ceiving none of the fines therefrom.
While believing that you should be fully
sustained by the proper authority in the
administration of your court, it not
duties as above stated, do not, with my
present assistants, feel that can, in JUS
tice to the county, longer furnish q
deputy for the prosecution OF such cases
in your court, to the further detriment
and neglect of other and more important
duties required to be performed by me.
Further, l am ready and expect to
have my office appear in and conduct all
examinations that may be held in your
court, and would respectfully request
that you give me timely notice of such
examinations being held by you. Yours
truly, FRANK P. KELLY,
District Attorney.
In addition to these letters, District
Attorney Kelly has written the following
letter to the Board of Supervisors:
GENTLEMEN-Your District Attorney
would respectfully call your attention to
the accompanying copy of communica-
tion sent to him by Police Judge Stanton,
of the City of Los Angeles, in which he
demands that the District Attorney at
tend to the cases in his court.
I have heretofore attended. either in
person. or by deputy, by request of the
City Attorney, until such time as tie
legality of the Charter of the City of Los
Angeles was determined by the Supreme
Court, aud it was then expected that the
question of whether the Police Court was
a legal court would have been deter
mined.
My Interpretation OF the Charter is,
that it is the City Attorneys duty to
prosecute all cases in the Police Court,
that the Charter giving the Police Court
of the city of Los Angeles jurisdiction
over all misdemeanors committed within
the city limits, and receiving all the
fines, forfeitures and penalties, that the
city of Los Angeles should bear the ex-
penee of prosecution. that besides, it is
not the duty of the District Attorney of
the county to attend upon the Magis-
trates' courts, unless he is not otherwise
officially engaged in matters of more inn
portance.
Ihave not sufficient number of depu-
ties to attend upon two Superior Courts,
three Justices Courts and receive the
visitors that call at my office for infor-