Los Angeles herald., 1892-01-13
THAT MINORITY REPORT.
JUDGE SMITH ORDERS IT STRUCK
FROM THE RECORDS.
He Issues Rather a Testy Order His
Point of view-An Explanatory Inter
view With General Bouton.

Judge smith yesterday made an order,
which is given in full below, excluding
from the files of the court the minority
report of the grand jury, for the reason
that it was placed in the files after the
jury had been discharged. In an inter-
view, which follows the order of the
court, General Bouton, foreman of the
jury, relates the circumstances of the
filing of the report.
The order made by Judge Smith is as
follows:
In the superior court Of Los Angeles
county, state of California.
In the matter of the report of the
grand Jury. The court: 'It has come
to the knowledge OF the court that after
l discharged the grand jury, General
Bouton, the foreman, came in here and
left what was understood to be minor
ity report. That report was not sub
mitted to me, nor to the court, and it
got upon the files surreptitiously and
without any authority OF law. He bad
no more right to come in here and file
that report alter that grand jury was
discharged than any other citizen.
"If / had known that such report
as that was to be filed, or if it had been
presented by the grand jury as mi
nority report, of course it was the duty
of the court not to have discharged
them, but to have inquired into it; but
the party saw fit to wait until the grand
Jury was discharged, and the court is
now without any power whatever to re-
call them.
81 have ascertained from the clerk
that it is fact that that was not SUBJ
mitted with the report of the grand jury,
but was brought in here by the foreman
himself some time after they were dis
charged, and left on file.
"Let the order recite these facts and
that it be stricken from the files as hav-
ing gno place upon the files OF this court"
WHAT GENERAL BoUToN SAYS.
In an interview with HERALD re-
porter. General Bouton expressed him
self as follows regarding the report
which Judge Smith ordered withdrawn
from the files: 1.-The minority report
OF the grand jury was prepared some
time before the jury was discharged.
Several members of that body discussed
it very fully and it was adopted by
minority, aud is therefore record of
the proceedings of the jury.
"When we completed the final report
and started for the court house to file it
with Judge Smith, found that the
packages OF expert and committee re-
ports and the various papers which
had been filed with the jury were very
bulky, and placed the minoritv report
in my coat pocket. The majority re-
port was tied up with the other papers.
ia.s In the excitement attendant upon the
filing of the reports and papers with the
court clerk, and being also interested
in what Judge Smith said regarding
the work accomplished, entirely for
got that the minority report was in my
pocket. We were discharged within a
very few minutes of the time we went
into court, the reading of the report be-
ing dispensed with, and / had been at
my Office some time when 1 discovered
that had neglected to file the minority
report, which Ibad placed in my pocket.
y Il returned to the courtroom imme-
diately upon finding / still had the re-
port, and went up to department one
and placed it with the other papers filed
by the grand jury. I conceived it to be
my duty to do so, and l still insist that
it was my duty, and l should do the
same thing again under like circum-
stances.
Unfortunately the judge had left
the bench, and had no opportunity of
the matter to him.