The Minneapolis journal., 1904-12-26
JUDGE DEFINES
CORONER'S DUTY
MCGEE EXPLAINS HIS RECENT DE-
CISION.
Says It Has Been Misconstrued and At
tackled by Persons Prompted by
Selfish Interests-Tells What He
Meant in Limiting Investigations
County Treasury Needs Protection. :

Judge John F. McGee, whose decision
on the coroner s law has been frequently
referred to since the Peck wall dis
aster, puts at rest all doubt as
whether the decisions affect the
present case. Judge MCGEE feels
that he has been. unjustly quoted
and that straining applcat1on
of the last case has been made. lie
believes that an inquest is proper when
murder or homicide has been committed
in any of it's degrees. He says:
"The construction which l placed
upon section S43 of the general statutes
Of 1894, as amended by chapter " or
the general laws of 1901, was and IS,
so manifestly correct construction or
the law that Coroner Williams saw tit
to abide by the decision. The section
reads as follows:
Coroner shall take inquest upon view
of the dead body Of such persons only
as are supposed to have come to their
death by violence and not when the death
is believed to have been, and was evl-
IDENTIFY occasioned by casualty.
"Privided, however, that If such inquests
| be held the coroner shall request the
| county attorney to attend and conduct
the examinations of the witnesses.
"The statute provides that the cor
oner shall receive certain fees and
mileage for viewing dead bodies; also
so much per folio for testimony taken,
and certain fees for holding an inq quest
in addition to the expenses, OF the Jury:
"The bill of Coroner Williams IN the
case mentioned, as I now recall 1T,
amounted to about $400, and was made
up from cases in which persons died
from tuberculosis, heart disease, drown
ing in the river, falling from telephone
poles, and included a number OF cases
of boys killed in the Milwaukee yards
by falling under trains. In none OF
these cases was there single thlng
to suggest that death resulted from
criminal violence. In many of them
death resulted from accident or casualty.
1t did not appear that Coroner Williams
did anything different from what his
predecessors had been doing in cases
where the person died in Hennepin
county without physician being in at
tendance upon the case. In most OF
these cases an inquest was held and IN
many Of them post-mortem examlna'
tions with all the attendant expenses
in the teeth of the statutes and in de-
fance Of law.
What Homicide Is.
"Section 6449 of the laws Of 1894 pro
vides that Homicide is manslaughter In
the second degree, when committed
. without a design to effect death; by
any act, procurement or culpable negli
gence of any person which, according
to the provisions of this chapter, does
not constitute murder in the first OF
second degree, nor manslaughter in the
third Degree
"In the case of the persons killed
| in the Crocker hotel, their bodies will
3 show that their death was not from
| natural causes, but from violence. Ant
: if there is reasonable cause to bellev'
that their death resulted from culpabl'
negligence of any person responsible
l which would result in murder in tn
T.. second degree, then there would be n
doubt that it would be proper in thi
. case to hold an inquest.
:, "All of these sections in title IL O
: chapter 8 of the general statutes o
1894, following section 483, clearl,
J. show that an inquest is only to be he'll
a where there is reasonable cause to be
3 lieve that death resulted from crimina
: violence. IF the jury find that any mu1
der or manslaughter or assault has bee
committed upon the deceased, the COZ
oner shall bind over under recognizanc
such witnesses as he thinks proper t
' appear before the grand jury. If an
person charged by the inquest Of havin
committed SuCu Oueueo 4S uOO LII Cuf
b today, the coroner shall have the powe
8 of justice Of the peace to issue proces
, for his apprehension
"The fact is that ever since the opil
l. ion referred to was filed there has bee
h a studied attempt to create sentime1
d adverse to the opinion for the purpos
l. Of again subjecting the county treasur
to the illegitimate demands that ha
Q been made upon it prior to the fling {
q the opinion. The opinion itself is on]
=. misunderstood in quarters where tt
, misunderstanding is prompted by sci
7 |