Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1903-08-13

duties to discharge in the court of
that magistrate and our official char
acter is to be reserved for the per-
torrance of that official duty.
Not Duties of County Attorney.
When an arrest is made without a
warrant the person or officer making
the arrest is to proceed without de-
lay before a magistrate and there file
person. This is the duty of the peace
officer or of the private person. This
method and that of filing formal in
formation before arrest are the meth
GODS provided by law for setting the
machinery of criminal law in motion
when the grand jury is not in session.
In no place has the law imposed these
duties upon the county attorney. To
be, sure in his capacity as private
citizen he has a perfect right, if he
chooses, to file the information which
will procure the issuance of war
rant, but that important act ought to
be performed by some other person,
or by a peace officer, and the county
attorney should be left free too per-
form his official duty in fair and
impartial way unhampered by prev
the same case.
1.-THE numerous provisions of the
law are cited to show that there is
nothing in legislative enactment in
this state which even looks in the
direction of making the county attor-
ney prosecuting witness in case
or imposing upon him the duty of
verifying informations before a mag
istrate and thus becoming the prose-
cutting witness.
Must Take Much Blame.
-Four and a half years experience
in this Office and in one of the larger
counties of the state where the COM
mission of crime is frequent has de-
monstrated to me that it would be
unwise for the county attorneys to as
sumo the duty or role of prosecuting
witness in criminal cases. When the
county attorney has faithfully present.
ed all the case the state has upon an
information filed before magistrate
he has done his duty in that case, land
when by testimony he has called the
attention of the grand jury to indict.
able offenses SO that they have an op-
portunity to indict, and he has furth-
er advised the grand jury as to what
the law is bearing upon cases before
them ought to go no further before
such grand jury except perhaps to ex.
press his opinion as to whether the tes-
timony procured or procurable in a
given case would secure or warrant a
conviction
ITO be sure some individuals. wise or
otherwise will indulge in much cen.
serious criticism of the county attorn.
ey because some offenders against the
criminal law are never indicted or are
acquitted, and in their wisdom, such
critics assume that the county attorney
can brush aside the grand jury, the
court and the trial jury and arrive at
results without even the leave of these
other factors in the work over whose
acts he has no supervision or control.
"It is pernicious public opinion
or sentiment which is disposed to
charge all improper acquittals or mis-
carriages of justice to the county at
torney.
'"The trial jury saves from the gal.
lows and penitentiary more men who
richly deserve to reach those goals
than all other agencies combined and
when public sentiment and criticism
turn themselves upon the weak backed
jurymen who so readily find reason
able doubt then will public sentiment
do more to assist in the enforcement of
the criminal law and to bring offend
ers to justice than it ever did in the
past"