The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-02-26
COUNTY GRAND JURY DEPLORES DISASTER Resolutions ofSyrpathy Adopt ed Before Adjournment REPORT MADE YESTERDAY Grand Jury Recommends an Assistant to the County Audltor-A Large
 Number of True Bills
 Were Found.
REPORT MADE YESTERDAY

The report of the grand juryrempaneled for the January term, which adjourned yesterday afternoon, contained resolu- tions deploring the Virginia mines dis aster this week, and offering sympathy to the widows and orphans of the de- ceased.
 The grand jury spent a busy day yes terday and 1t was S:SO o'clock yesterday afternoon before it's labors had been com pleted. The report was received by Judge Dan A. Greene, judge of the criminal court, and the jury was immediately discharged with the thanks of the court.
 The following is the complete report Of. the grand jury:
 To the Hon. Daniel A. Greene, Senior
 Judge of the Criminal Court of Jeffer-
 son County:
 We. the grand jury empaneled by your Honor on the 2nd day of January, l9Oo beg leave to make this. our final report: We held sessions from the End day of January continuously until the l4th day of January. when we found we had practically cleared the docket of cases before us for consideration. and, in ac- cordance with your Honors suggestion that the grand jury hold an adjourned session in this term, we adjourned by permission of the court on January l4th, and reassembled on February 18th. We fcommend this plan and think It uoes much to facilitate the despatch of busi- ness, and to give to parties charged with crimes a speedy trial We found on re- 2 assembling a large number of new cases on the docket for our consideration, and it has required two weeks of incessant labor to complete the business before us.
 We have docketed z70 cases and exam ined about $50 witnesses, and returned 157 true bills, and because of the fact that we have been unable to get before us material witnesses in many cases we have been compelled to ask your Honor to continue IS cases for consideration by the next grand jury.
 Appeal Cases.
 We respectfully call your Honor's att tention to the great expense put upon the county and incd atally upon the state in cases sent up from preliminary courts in this county. In great many cases the arresting officer, or officers are unable to tell anything about the case for the reason that they have no data to go by. The grand jury recognizes the fact that officers of Birmingham and Bessemer make so many arrests that 1t is a physical impossiblity to remember every arrest and the testimony adduced at the preliminary trial. Frequently the names witnesses and no location furnished whereby the officers maybe able to locate them. If the clerk of the inferior court, presided over by Judge Feagin, and the justices of the peace throughout the county, as well as the coroner. would be careful in securing the location of all witnesses, and take down a synopsis of their testf- mony at the preliminary trial, with this testimony before the grand jury that body could refresh the memory of every arresting officer and witness on the ex- animation of each case. It also ire uuently occurs that witnesses will give testimony at a preliminary investiga- ton, which furthers the ends of justice, but after months of delay they either purposely or honestly are unable to re- member anything that happened at the time the crime Is said to have been com mftted. The law requires that all com hitting magistrates shall take down be- fore them a synopsis of the witness tes- timony introduced on behalf of the state and preserve the same. We find that very few of them have complied with the law in this respect. If they would do this 1t would greatly facilitate the inquiry into these cases. The names of many witnesses are sent up to the higher court who claim to know absolutely noth- ing about the case in which they are Hubpoenated. This either grows out of the 1acI that they are purpOseiy Shleiu- Ing the party charged with the crime. or that they have made the same state rnent at the preliminary hearing, and therefore. should not have been sum- rnoned as a witness thereby putting the county to unnecessary expense Thou sands of dollars could be saved to the county if the system suggested by the grand jury could be adopted.
 Requirements of Justices.
 The law requires that justices of the peace shall produce before the grand Jury, for their inspection, their criminal docket We find from the great number of justices of the peace in the county. and the number of cases tried before them, that anything more than a super ncal examination JI their books is inl- practicable. and after carefully looking Into the manner of procedure in check ing the books of the various justices of the county, we would recommend that the law be so changed that the justices of the peace in addition to being re- suuired to produce their books before the grand jury for examination by them, that they also be required to produce them to the auditor at each term of the court for the purpose of having him check up the amount of fines received by them, showing the disposition of each case, and also that said justices be re- ouired to pay to the county treasurer any money in their hands due the state as shown by the auditors check. We realize that this would impose an extra amount of work on the auditor. and find from examination that the work now re- ouired of him by law consumes all his