The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1893-05-24
DUTIES OF JUSTICES.
Judge Longsnecker Defines Their
Duties in Regard TO Holding
fncusStS-

lnquests sapsr FisilH c9TpoTts IN three cases
have been returned. and having been he'd
by justices Of the Peace, acting as ocroners,
are submitted to rs with the request that We
I aGjudge there was reasonable cause for hold
ing them and approve the same and the
costs made therein, in compliance with Sec.
Is. Act of27 May, IsIi, P. L. f0i. Pdrdon
1906, pl. I5s.
Early in lsll it was held by Gibson, C. J..
in exparte Schulz. WI 26a, thata Justice
Of the Peace had no right to hold suca in
quest. That opinion was followed by The
enactment OF Sec. Is in the omnibns bill
just mentioned, providing that in AL cases
where by law the coroner Of any county IS
'' required to hold an inquest over dead
s. body, it shall be laEfal for Justice OF the
Peace OF the proper county to hold the
same, ~ where there Is no lawfully ap-
poeted coroner, (2) or he is absent from
the county OF is unable 20 attend, l3 or
81 his Office is held more than ten miles dis
=. tant from the place where the death oc-
cured or the body found The Act also
provides no fees or costs shall De allowed
or paid said Justice or inquest until the
" proceedings are submitted 10 the Court
"s and said Court shall adjadgs hat
+. there ieas reasonable oallse tor Kidding said
Sc iaq.esf. and approve the same"
The conditions enumerated in the Act.
which give jurisdiction to the Justice, DO not
appear in the record of any one Of the cases.
The existing reason which in each case con
ieIs jurisdiction must appear upon the face
Of the return.
Coroners' Inquest 1 c. C. r l6
arvin Shaft Inquest 3 ID y
Leis Case o ID AS
But aside from these seemingly fatal de-
fecis in The three cases before Us, was there
the reasonable cause for holding inquesls
which the law requires, before We can make
the county liable for costs
YIN. Payne is found TO have come 10 his
death on the 9th Aug, -. Al OF near Trent,
through the explosion Of steam saw mil
boiler.
Charlotte Wolford, on the 18th Dec. 1872,
between 3 and p. m. at Bethel Station, by
being accidentally struck By an engine ofthe
Somerset and Cambria Z. r, causing in
slant death
Thomas P Donneliy and John Nezz, a
brakeman and a conductor on the B. & o.
r. T.. near Williams Station. on the night
Of Feb'y .. 1855. by their train running into
preceding freight train, '' causing wreck
Of both trains, and accidentally, casually
ana bv misflrtune7 killing both
No doubt whatever existed as % '' when.
where how and aiisr wLat manner these
several persons bad -ccme 20 their deaths
What public purpose was served By holding
irquests2 Wha. reasonable cFlss to suggest
their necessity
In Lancaster Co. Y. Mishlsr. i0O Pa. 62i,
Mr.. Justice MeFcur says, the duty Of cor
oner TO hold sa inquest rests on sound rea-
son. on that reason which is the life 0f the
law. Ii is not power 70 be exercised ca
pric.ously and arbitrarily asains: all reason.
The object Of an inquest is % sset iaforma-
tga and obtain and secure evidence. in csse
Of death by violence Or other undue means.
II there be reasonable ground TO suspect that
it was 50 caused. il becomes the duty Of the
coroner to act. II be has no ground OF sus-
pecling that the death was not natural
one. II IS a pergersion Of the whole spirit Of
the law 10 compel the county 10 pay bin
for such services"
h, re Inquest on Crosley 3 Pitts R. 425,
it was said: we discover no evidence ofaDy
sort ofsuspicion that the deceased came 10
his death by the &C; of any one 5ul himself
He was caught in the machinery which he
himself was working and no other person
was suspected of contributing 20 his death
and therefore there ought 10 have been no
inc uisition-"
BY violence, in this connection, must Be
understood the unlawful use Of physical
force. It is not every case OF sudden death, (
or Of death occurring n a tragic or extraor- I
dinsry manner that iustifies an inquest. Tn 1
less there is al least ground for suspicion
that death resulted from the criminal ac, Of +
another the coroner should not institute an
examination. 1.-THE cause OF death IS in T.
volvsd in no dolbt or mystery, if there is no /
indication offoul play, nothing which points /
to criminal conduct u criminal negligence /
on TIE part ofany other person, producing /
or contributing 10 the result, the Coroner or I
Justice should entail upon the county no /
expense by an official inquiry /
Under the English system Of forfeitures (
and drodaad, which prevailed until 1916, it /
was the duty OF the Coroner in every case Of !
death by violence or accident, whether felo- !
niously slain or o heTwise, 70 hold an in 4
quest. in order that the personal chattel .
which hsJ been the immediate occasion Of T
the death of Z rational creature might be val /
ued and identified for the purpose Of Forfeit 4
ure In Pennsylvania. however, the law
concerns itself only As 10 the caused Of death 7
with reference to detecting crime and dis
covering the criminal. to ascertain in pre-
liminary investigation whether there Is s,lf-
iicient round TO bring TIE affair to the at
tention ofthe criminal courts. The mere
fact Of a body lying dead, or that death was
sudden, does not justify an inquest, unless
there is reasonable suspicion Involving some
other person eTiminaily in the OocTrence-
Il. i the duty ofthe eorouer 10 bold an
inquest when he has cause to suspect
that the deceased was feloHio'.sir destroyed.
lO0 Pa 6ag supra.
When the cause OF death IS not doubtful
and there is no reason to suspect that II i'm
plicl,ed any one, an inquest should not be
held" ) c. c. r 10 SsPca.
Where death results from natural carses
or by mere accident there should be no IN
quest" Pa. c. C. IL IamS' Case, Id. 70.
These views have been 50 repeatedly held
and enforced in the Courts Of Quarter ses-
sions Of Penna- Of late that they are quite
familiar to the legal profession.
See Burns Case, 5 Pa C c. 549-Pfl1ts' /
Case. ID 265. Benders Case, 5 ID. 6C4-
Leis' Case 9 ID IA
II is only because an impression seems 10 4
prevail that in every case Of a man dying
out ofdOors, dying suddenly or in a tragic
manner, though by mere accident and EOm
a caHse thoroughly well known and under
stood. an inquest should be heid. that We
have said this much on the subject.
Il may seem hardship 10 the Justices and
their juries to refuse approval Of these bills,
becanse they certainly acted in entire good
fzitb, but the Act OF Assembly imposes on
US the duty Of passing on the question Of
reasonable ceilse with the same care that is