The Lewiston teller. (Lewiston, Idaho) 1900-1905, 1905-02-17
WOULD PAY
ALL ALIKE
Judre Mitchell Deals With
Abuses of Witnesses in
Preliminary Trials

TELLER; In connection with and in con-
sesruation of the subject Of necessary
amendments to our present statutes
which was dwelt on at some length
in my former communications. l wish
TO call the attention of the legislature
70 the statute regarding the non pay
nent of witnesses in preliminary trials
before justices in criminal cases. The
principal state witness in we will say a
case of assault on battery or an assault
With deadly weapon is subpoenaed
leaves his work (skilled labor for which |
he is getting $500 per day.. travels IL
miles, is kept two days and third day |
going home at his own expense. and |
gets nothing while juror (some |
ioafer probably around a saloon or liv-
cry stable who spends his time in
whiting sticks and telling dog stories.
Is summoned on jury before a justice |
walks a few hundred yards and vets his |
$500 per diem and mileage is there |
anything equitable about this kind of
against paying these witnesses is that
it would open the fioodgates of expense
to the countp. Well in reply to this
L say that the remedy is simple would
lie in limiting the number of witnesses
pro and con to say two and making 1t
mandatory on the justice to have them
bound over to appear in the district
court. In this way convictions would
oe secured in every case where there is
actual guilt, whereas now the differ
srnce between the number of well Sus-
@xin convictions
alarming, but there is another reason
FOR this WHICH will be referred to when
L come to discuss the statute on the
duties of the county attorney. Now I
take up the subject of perjury. Every
citizen who attends the courts in any
capacity whatever will have to admit
that the contradictory character of the
sworn testimony which he hears is
most appalling. One witness gets on
The stand and swears to a statement
FOR the prosecution and is followed by
nne for the defense he being secluded
during the former testimony and who
has the story he is going to tell all
xixed up (prcbably assisted by his at
very opposite. now what is the reason
AndL luIS ndppeHS 81 Often III our
courts of Justice?
It Is to my mind because legislators
nave SO reconstructed and watered the
good old common law oath. that it has
lost all its terrors. either temporal OF
spiritual, becoming a mere insiped af-
Sirmation. Now an oath according tc
Coke Blackstone and many other emf.
s~nent authorities is so binding in it,
nature that 1t must be of corpora
and spiritual character. having both {
physical and spiritual Cor religious
significance. a corporal significance il
double sense. first that he must kis
or touch with his hand the Book
,feither the four gospels or the Bible
the greater containing the lesser
which is considered sacred by owe
45O, 1000, 900 of the most civilized peopl
5nethe world: second. that If he swear
salseiy the liberty of his person is /
danger from the law and in the spirit
anal or religious sense. that his soul wi
oe damned eternally il he bears falls
witness against his neighbor But no
awitness gets on the stand raises h
! hand and says l solemnly swear. b
= what? or on what? why he swears /
nothing and is not really taking a
oath at all and consequently he III
blushingly tells the story that he ha
rrfade up his mind (assisted by son
anscrupulous attorney to tell in ord
20 try and save some one from Il
penitentiary or the gallows, and b.
sides he knows he can do this with al
solute impunity never having seen al
one punished by perjury. on the 9th
hand it is the experience of near
1000 years that even the most harden
criminal or even an alleged infidel w
hesitate to swear falsely IL he is cor
PEELED to make a corporal oath. Y
may call this superstition If you lii
Very we'll, why not take the fullest a
vantage OF 1t in China. This supers
ton is connected with the blood of
rooster and has due (or undue If y
please) influence on $50 millions
people, in making them tell the tru
Therefore let us not try to be wis
than the most distinguished of Chr
han jurists but go back to the good {
effectual common law oath and help
purify the court from the unblushi
and wholesale Icing which is fast re
dering the administration of justice
farce for what is a court or jury to
when the (alleged) sworn testimony
so conflicting. let us for a moment lo
at some of the logic which thu
<other) wise amenders of the 'old
liable common law oath use. First II
say, Christ says "swear not at
nsither by Heaven for it is Go
Throne nor by the Earth for it
Gods footstool. nor by Jerusalem fol-
is the city of (Melchisadec) the gr
king" Well this is simply a very
norant rendering of the passage.