The record-union. [volume] (Sacramento, Calif.) 1891-1903, 1899-12-05
new GRAND JURY SWORN IN.
JUDGE HART INSTRUCTS 1T IN
IT'S DUTIES.
Jury Selects J. o. Coleman Fore
man, G. M. Mott, Secretary,
and S. p. Maslin Expert.

The talesmen drawn week ago from
among whom to select a Grand jury
appeared in Judge Harris Court yester'
day morning.
| The jury, as chosen, is composed O
the following-named citizens: J. y
Coleman, W. e. Gerber, William john
ston, r. O. Kimbrough J. T. Fairbalrn
w. E. Lovdal, w F. Peterson. Frank j
Butler, A. J. Pommer, George M. Mott
Howard Kercheva1, S. III. Jackman
George A. Buchanan, F. C.tKnauer
J. M. Henderson, Jr., Charles Var
Norden, w. H. Dixon, F. Mcmillan and
c. M. Harrison
The jury subsequently organized by
electing J. O. Coleman foreman, Prem
tice Maslin expert, and George M. Mott
Secretary.
| Judge Hart, addressing the jury in
regard to its duties and responsibilities,
said:
| Gentlemen of the Grand Jury: The
law Of this State requires that; in all
counties in which there are three or
more Superior Judges, there shall be
drawn and impaneled, in each year, two
Grand Juries. Under the law it is the
duty of the Grand Jury to annually
make complete examination of the
books, records and accounts OF all the
offices of the county, particularly
those pertaining to the revenue; and it
has been, and is now, the custom here
to invest the Grand Jury, impaneled in
the month of December of each year,
with the responsibility of examining
into the affairs of the several public
offices of the city and county, inspect
ing their books and records, inquirfng
into the condition Of all public institu-
tons within the county and making,
generally, such other Investigations in
relation thereto as the exigencies of
each case may, in the judgment of the
Grand Jury, suggest and require.
| I'm this connection I will state to
you that if in your judgment the SER
vices of an expert are necessary to aid
you in your Investigations, the law au :
thorizes you to appoint or employ one
at an agreed compensation, not to ex-
coed So a day, payable as other county
charges. And also, in pursuing these
Investigations, if you find from the
books and accounts of the various Off
SAdAo "a lie equity oily lllOutyS QuC,
from any cause, to the county, it is in
your power to order the District At
torney to institute suit for the purpose
| of recovering the same.
1T is your duty to inquire into all
public Offenses committed or triable
within the county, and present them to
the court by Indictment.
'An Indictment is defined by the law
to be an accusation in writing, pre-
sented by the Grand Jury to a compe-
tent court, charging a person with a
public offense.
I'm inquiring into public offenses, it
is the duty of the foreman to first ad-
minister an oath to any witness ap-
pearing before you for the purpose of
testifying.
You are, in the investigation Of a
charge against any person for the pur-
pose of finding an Indictment author
lied to receive no other evidence than
such as is given by witnesses produced
and sworn before you, or furnished by
legal documentary evidence or the
deposition of a witness in the cases
mentioned in the third subdivision of
Setcion Csc of the Penal Code You can
receive none but legal evidence and the
best evidence in degree, to the exclu-
sion of hearsay or secondary evidence
Subdivision 3, Of Section $3.50, above
referred to, relates to dispositions which
may be read before you, under certain
conditions, as to the competency of
which you may first inquire Of the Dis
trict Attorney or the court.
you are not bound to hear evidence
FL loft hut
to weigh all the evidence submitted to
you, and when you have reason to be-
lieve that other evidence within your
reach will explain away the charge, yeu
should order such evidence to D. pro-
duced, and for that purpose may re-
quire the District Attorney to issue pro
cess for the witnesses. And you ought
to find an indictment when all the evil
dence before, taken together, ii unex-
planned or uncontrolled, would in
your judgment warrant a conviction by
a trial jury.
eff any member of your body should
learn, or should have reason to believe,
that public offense triable within the
county has been committed, it is mis-
duty to declare the same to his fellow
jurors, who must thereupon investigate
the same. It will also be your duty,
gentlemen, to inquire into the case of
every person imprisoned in the Jail of
the county on a criminal charge and
not indicted; into the condition and
management of the public prisons with
in the county; and into the willful and
corrupt misconduct in Office of public
officers, Of every description, within the
county.
You are entitled to free access, at all
reasonable times, to the public prisons,
and to the examination, without charge
of all public records within the county.
1.-THE law was so amended by the
Legislature of 1897 that the Grand
Jury, on the demand of the District At
torney, whenever criminal causes are
being investigated before them, must
appoint a competent stenographic re-
porter to report the testimony that may
be given IN such causes in shorthand
and reduce the same afterwards, upon
the request of the said District At
torney, to longhand.
1.-THE District Attorney may at all
times appear before you for the pur-
pose Of giving information OR advice
relative to any matter cognizable by
you as Grand Jury, and may interro-
gate witnesses before you whenever he
thinks it necessary, and no other per-
sons, except the District Attorney and
the stenographic reporters in the cases
above mentioned, are permitted to be
present during your sessions, other
than the witness actually under ex-
animation; and no person must be per-