The Savannah morning news., 1902-03-03
TERM BEGINS TO-DAY
GRAND JURY OF SUPERIOR COURT
TO BE IMPANELLED.
THE CHARGE OF THE COURT
WILL he DEVOTED IN PART TO
NEED FOR REFORMATORY.

Judge Barrow VIII Deliver His
First Charge to a Grand Jury
when Court Convenes-Subject of
Reformatory Has Been Studied
and Investigated by Him and He
is Deeply Impressed With Its
Value to the COmmunity-Grand
Jury to he Chosen From Forty
Grand Jurors Summoned-COnsen
Verdicts to Be Rendered-Thomns
l.. Avant on Trial Tomorrow.
The March term of the Superior
Court of Chatham county will convene
at 10 o'clock this morning, when the
grand jury for the term will be i'm
paneled and sworn and Judge Barrow
will deliver his first charge since he
assumed his seat on the bench. When
the last term began Judge Falligant
was suffering from what proved to be
his mortal illness and the grand jury
was charged by Judge Seabrook of the
Atlantic Circuit.
1t is practically certain that some
portion of Judge Barrows charge to
the grand jury will relate to the. pro-
for youthful criminals in this county.
1t is a subject in which he is known to
take a deep interest and to which he
has recently devoted a considerable
portion of his time and attention.
The recommendation on this subject
from the last grand jury was the por-
ton of all the general presentments
returned to excite the particular APP
prevail and commentator of Ills HoE-
or, and he made it the theme of an
expression of his high appreciation of
the grand jurys services.
Forty grand jurors have been sum-
moned to appear in court this morn
ing, from which number twenty three
will be chosen to constitute the grand
jury for the term. AS a matter of
necessity, always some of those sum-
moned have to be excused for cause,
and when these have been stricken
from the list a sufficient number of
others are excused, either permanently
or subject to the call of the court, to
bring the number down to twenty
three.
petit jury has also been drawn and
summoned to appear this morning, and
| TO LnlS VIII ne SuDlnllltu sever d1 cases
in which consent verdicts are to be
taken or in which there is no appear
ance for or opposition to the grant of
verdicts by the defendants Among
these are two or three divorce cases.
There will be no trial of divorce cases
in a lump however at the present
| term as was the former custom. Judge
Barrow has determined to take them
up two or three at a time on days
| nil he business
! pressing, and thus permit of their dis
| position without material interference
with the trial of other cases in the
| court or unnecessary consumption of
! time.
Neither will the assignment docket
! be called to-day and cases assigned
| for trial throughout the term. 1t has
seemed to Judge Barrow that this
practice offered too many opportunities
| and inducements to counsel to get to-
! gether and agree to continuances, and
| he is at once anxious and determined
to have cases tried promptly. When
| they are once assigned they must
| either be tried or legal cause for their
continuance shown.
| To further this desired and very de-
! sirable end Judge Barrow has adopted
| the practice of assigning cases each
| Saturday for trial during the ensuing
week. The rule has worked admira
bly, in the past, as lawyers generally
are able to say whether they will be
able to try a case as far as a week
ahead. and on the day for which it
is assigned the trial generally comes
| off.
Tomorrow Thomas l.. Avant will
| face a jury on a charge of involuntary
| manslaughter. Avant is the trolley car
motorman whose car ran over and
/ killed a little child named Baker, some
months since. The grand jury came to
the conclusion that Avant haa oper-
ated his car without due and proper
| caution and circumspection, and that
! the fatal accident had been caused by
! his negligence.
For the rest of the week Judge Bar
row will not preside. There are a large
number of cases in which he is dis
! qualified from sitting, either because
he has been connected with them as
counsel in the past or for some other
reason. Judge Seabrook will try six
or seven of these cases on Wednes-
/ day, Thursday and Friday of this
| week.
The trial of criminal cases will
| probably be begun a week from to-
! Gay. There are many of these in which
| indictments were returned by the
! grand jury of the last term of court
and they will be assigned for trial as
! soon as practicable