The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-01-14
Uselcssness of the Coroners' Jury.


The following paragraph appeared In
THE Sun yesterday:
"A Coroner's jury decided yesterday that PIErRo
PoLucIA, who stabbed FRAYcIsoo srsLIo to death In .
quarrel In . saloon at $40 East 1Nth street on
Jan. 6. acted in self defence. Coron& FIrzPATRICK
discharged the prisoner, but he was rearrested by
order Of the District Attorney as soon a. he got
outside the court room and will be Arraignsi before
. Magistrate today"
Later the mar was held without bail in a
police court. Such an occurrence. so far
from being unusual, is a matter OF frequent
happening in the Coroners' courts OF the
various boroughs. II the Coroner commits
accused persons to prison to await the
action OF the Grand Jury, all goes smoothly;
but 1t Is and has long been tho custom,
both Of the polEe officials and OF District
Attorneys, to disregard entirely the dis
charge Of prisoners by Coroners when
such action did not Seem to them
proper. They have almost invariably been
unwilling to agree to the release OF ac-
cused persons before the question OF prob
able guilt has been submitted to the investi-
cation OF the Grand Jury. Coroners usually
protest against the arrest Of discharged
prisoners under these circumstances, and
friction between the two sets OF officials
is common. But the Coroners can only
splitter and the police officers march OF
In possession OF their prisoners.
OF similar impotency are the invcstiga-
tions by Coroners' juries into the causes OF
death by accident, as in falling buildings
or in railway disasters. The censures or
recommendations OF the Coroncrs' courts
are valueless for any future legal proceed
ings and are, indeed, but empty words.
The question, therefore, becomes exceed
ingly pertinent, what is the function Of
Coroncrs' courts and juries, and what do
they amount to. anyway?
The Office OF Coroner is one Of the Oldest.
II not the oldest, known to our Anglo-Saxon
civilization. 1t originated. OF course, in
ages Of disorder and lawlessness when
there was hardly anything correspondingto
a police force, aud the need Of some official
TO investigate cases Of peculiar death was
the first thing required. Astime went on and
government attained a moro elaborate or
ganization, these Coroners' Investigations,
except in communities where they were an
"NtN"i f'A' VI Nv ~ Shi'l Jhi az vi INlltt
proceeding, became OF little value. In Eng
land to-day, for instance, the Coroner sends
an accused person to prison IL the Jury
charges the latter with guilt; but, IL the Jury
declares that there is no reason to hold the
accused, the verdict is acquiesced in by the
law officers OF the Grown, unless it is on its
face a gross miscarriage Of justice. A
Coroner's investigation, under such circum-
stances, is clearly useful.
In the interior of New York, up to within
O few years. Coroners' Investigations were
conducted with old-lashioned minuteness
and were prolific causes OF trouble and
expense to citizens and taxpayers. Wit
nesses, jurors and Coroncrs were paid by
the fee system. The fees were large and
the taxpayers grumbled. They saw that
the cases were mostly those OF an unim-
portant character where the causes OF
death were obvious. In important cases the
police and District Attorney acted indepen.
IDENTIFY. The candidates for coronershlps
were often forced to pledge themselves that
they would not summon juries and hold
formal Investigations save when absolutely
necessary. But this did not accomplish
large results. A general movement
throughout the rural communities for the
entire abolition OF Coroncrs eliminated at
the last session Of the Legislature in the
enactment OF two amendments TO tho
statutes. one giving the Boards OF Super
visors OF each county power to pay
Soroners by salaries instead OF by fees, and,
snother' apolishing Coronersi juries, save