The record-union. [volume] (Sacramento, Calif.) 1891-1903, 1899-12-05


quot their offices. to comment upon
any sucn persons or officials who have
not been indicted by you, the law pro-
Vlo1ns that such comments shalt not
be deemed to be privileged, by which
Is meant, gentlemen, that where you
have not evidence against a, public Off
clal sufficient to warrant an ipdict-
ment, any comment in your report
tnat you might make against said Off
cdal, derrogatory of him as such off
cial, would be actionable. In other
words, any unfavorable criticisms you
might make in your report of a pub
dc official. against whom there was
not brought before you sufficient evil
dence to Justify an Indictment, could
be made the basis of a civil action for
damages against you for Islander or
defamation of character
You are instructed that an indict-
ment cannot be found without the con-
currence Of at least twelve Grand
Jurors
desire particularly to impress
upon you the TACT, and of which you
will no doubt be reminded by the Dis
trict Attorney at all proper times, that
when an indictment is found the names
of the witnesses examined before the
Grand Jury, or whose dispositions may
have been read before you. must be
inserted at the foot of the Indictment,
ors4ndorsed thereon, before it is pre-
sented to the court. / also desire to
impress upon you, gentlemen of the
jury, that you have no right to sub
pena, or by any other process or
means bring before you, any person
who is accused before you of any Of
tense which you are investigating, for
the purpose of testifying. The law
of this State is that no person shall be
forced to be witness against him
self. 1t has been uniformly held by
the courts. in constituting this provis-
ion of the law in relation to a person
accused of public offense, that
where he has been subpenaed to ap-
pear before the Grand Jury, and after
thus appearing, even apparently testi-
fles voluntarily, it is, nevertheless, an
infringement of that right guaranteed
to him by the law that he shall not be
compelled to testify, even though his
testimony might in no manner incrim-
mate him so far as the charge pending
against him is concerned.
ITO be more explicit, no person ac-
cused Of a crime, whether before q
Grand Jury or trial court, can, under
the law, be compelled to open his
mouth, one way or the other. upon
the subject Of the charge until he Of
fers to do so Of his own free will ana
volition- If, however, he expresses such
a dociy- m hof a
purpose of testifying, as will consti-
tute it a voluntary act upon his part,
then you may receive his evidence.
when an indictment is found by you
it must be presented by your Foreman,
in your presence, to the court, and
must be filed with the Clerk.
There seems to be prevalent an err
roneous impression concerning the
Importance of Grand Jury as a part
of the public machinery. 1t has been
repeatedly said, and the idea appears
to have taken some hold on the public
mind, that the duties of Grand Juries
have, through amendments as to the
manner of conducting their business
which have from time to time been
made by the Legislature, grown to be
rather perfunctory than serious; that
such bodies are called together, not be-
cause of any real necessity, but be-
cause the law simply so provides. This
is not true, as a matter of fact, gentle
men. There must exist somewhere
power, the exercise of which is prac-
ticable, to scrutinizingly and critically
examine, at stated times, just how the
business of the commonwealth is man
aged. The Legislature in this State
has wisely invested this power in a
body of citizens who presumably have
the interests of the public veal at
heart, who are called Grand Jury.
1.-THE work, therefore, of investigat-
ing the affairs of the public business
and inquiring into the condition OF
institutions maintained and supported
by the taxpayers, under authority or
law, is of serious concern to the pub
lie and must be careful and painstak-
ing. You should proceed, in the dis
charge of this important responsibility,
with that care and caution that you
would bestow upon your own private
concerns, for each of you, as citizen
and a taxpayer, is as deeply interest
ed as all other citizens to know wheth-
conducted and administered, and pub
lie moneys disbursed and expended,
with that economy and a view to the
welfare Of the peoples interests that
is consistent with necessary and ad-
mirable public service. To acquire
such a familiarity with the details OF
the conduct of public official affairs
will require time and the exercise or
business judgment, and I therefore
caution you against undue haste in at
tending to and completing the labor in
cumbent upon you under the law.
when you shall have finished your
labors you will present to the court
your report, and may therein make
such recommendations relative to the
of the business of the
county and city as the facts found by
you may suggest"
Notaries Public.