The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1894-12-07

commonwealth side Of the case.
The defendant does not appear before
you, nor is his defense heard by you,
in no event can you put any costs up
on MIN, nor where felony is charged
have you anything to say about costs.
But where the word felony is not
found in the indictment (nor the word
feloniously), SO that the charge is a
misdemeanor only, if you do not find
the Indictment true bill--if not SO
many as twelve are agreed that it
ought to be so returned-then you
must dispose of the costs by putting
them upon the county or upon the
prosecutor, naming him, setting out
that such a person is the prosecutor.
All findings of the grand jury should
be signed by your foreman as foreman.
You do not make final disposition OF
any matter brought before you. In
other than criminal matters, as in ap-
plications for bridges or boroughs, a
majority of your members may report,
but no bill of indictment can be found
true without the concurrence of twelve
good jurors if not so many as
twelve agree to report true bill, it
must be returned ignored (or not a
true billy and you must also, in mis-
demeanors also, dispose of the costs
as we have already instructed you.
On an application for bridge or a
borough the law says that there shall
be full hearing this means that the
applicant or his counsel may be
heard by himself and his witnesses
and also any opponent ; so that the
whole question may be fairly before
you by testimony and by argument
thereon if the parties wish to discuss
the matter and you choose to hear
them. But when you are celebrating,
considering any question submitted,
no one not grand juror should be
present. The district attorney may
aid you in eliciting testimony relating
to a charge in bill Of indictment,
but he must not be with you when
you deliberate or vote. The proper
way to investigate such charge is to
call one at a time of the witnesses for
the commonwealth, perhaps best in
the order in which their names are
endorsed on the bill of indictment.
As each witness appears before you
he should be sworn or affirmed by
your foreman or by some one Of you.
The district attorney will give you the
form of the oath. He should then be
asked to tell what he knows touching
the matter-not what he has heard
from others, but what he knows him.
self. If necessary the district attorney,
or any member of the grand jury may,
by questions draw out from the wit
ness full detail of his knowledge on
the subject, but it is usually better to
let him tell his story, if he will, in his
own words, SO long as he doesn't
wander from the point.
If an examination of the first wit
ness called satisfies at least twelve of
your number that the bill is true, that
is, that the case must be returned for
trial, then you need go no further; if
it doesn't, then you must call another,
and so on until you have examined
every witness offered by the prosecu.
tion, before you can ignore the Dill,
but you may cease to call as soon as
at least twelve are convinced that the
bill ought to be returned true bill.
AS each witness is examined, mark
his name found on the back of the
bill s,cOr'a or $40, so that the prosecu-
tor may know whom you have ex.
amined. In case the bill is ignored,
the commonwealth is entitled to know
whether or not you have examined
every witness she has offered, if you
have not, you have Improperly ignor-
ed his bill, because the examination
of the witness or witnesses whom you
have neglected to examine might have
convinced you that the bill must be
returned true bill.
Costs can be put only on the
county or on the prosecutor--all on
the county or all on the prosecutor,
never on the defendant. A traverse
jury may in certain cases otherwise
dispose Of costs, but you cannot. A
name may be Endorsed as prosecutor.
If you find that person whose name
is Endorsed to be the prosecutor, and
if you put costs upon him, it is not
sufficient to say that the prosecutor
shall pay the costs. but you must
state in your finding who the prose-
cutor is, writing his name into your
hnding-whether the name indorsed
or some other who you may find to
be the real prosecutor in the case. In
felony, as we have said, you have
no power over the costs and conse-
quently have nothing to say about
them. But if a misdemeanor, you
find the prosecution ill.founded and
that the prosecutor acted from an i'm