Bradford County telegraph., 1906-06-22

and true prcsentment make Of all such
matters and things ~ shall be given you
in charge; the counsel for the State of
Florida, your fellows and your ON n,
YOU shall keep secret unless required to
disclose the same BY some competent
court"
This, gentleman, Is one of the vital
points that determine the usefulness of a
grand jury or not. Grand juries, unless
they keep the secrets of the State of
Florida, their own and their fellows.
defeat every purpose for which they are
organized. The object of their secrecy
is that the parties may not know that
YOU are investigating their cases and
escape before they can be arrested upon
an indictment; In order that they may
not tamper with the witnesses or manu-
facture testimony to be sent to your
body; in order that witnesses may
testify before your body when they
know that their testimony is known to
no one but the grand jury. and cannot
be divulged except by order of this
court.
Now, grand jurors frequently make
some remark upon the streets, or in
speaking to each other as to something
that has occurred in the grand Jury
room and unintentiOnally let out q
secret of the grand jury. Therefore.
the better and only plan for grand
jurors to keep the secrets Of the grand
Jury, is to transact and hold all their
conversations concerning the grand
Jury work, purely in the grand jury
room, and when they leave the grand
jury room leave the grand jury talk
behind them until they assemble again.
And l respectfully charge you upon
this subject of keeping the secrets of
counsel, of yourselves, of the State of
Florida, and OF your fellows. Frequent.
ly remarks come to my ears made by
that the grand jury is doing; and these
parties could not possibly obtain that
information unless there was leak
somewhere in the grand jury room,
except from the witnesses that were
being summoned before that body.
You shall present no man for envy,
hatred, or malice, neither shall you
leave any man unpresented for love,
fear, favor, affection, reward or the
hope thereof; but you shall present
things truly as they come to your
knowledge according to the best of your
understanding. So help you God.
Follow the oath that you have taken
upon being impaneled, observe every
word of that during your deliberation,
and then will follow, as surely as day the.
night, that your actions will be right.
In voting upon the question of wheth-
er you will, or will not find true bill,
at least twelve of your number must
vote in the affirmative. Any less mum.
Der than twelve voting in the affirma-
tive, you would return mo BILL"
The law requires that your body shall
consist of not less than fifteen, and not
more than eighteen; so, at all times,
when your grand jury is in session, you
must see that at least fifteen of your
number are present.
If less than fifteen are present you
can take no action as grand jury; any
action taken by less than fifteen of you
is null and void. The law gives you
the right to make your own hours of
meeting and adjOurning. As citizens
interested in your county, you can make
those hours to suit your own conven-
ience.
If at any time during yonr delibera-
ton any question arises before your
body upon which you wish further in
structions from the court, you will
come into court and make it known.
will give to You such other instructions
as deem proper.