The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1907-04-29

anime some people who are guilty o
crime. and are not aware Il the fac
that 1t has been discovered. and II
II should be disclosed It would prob
ably be impossible for the marshal
TO arrest them after they have been
Indicted.
The grand jurors will have the as
slstance Of the district attorney. or
one Of the assistant district attorneys.
for the purpose Of bringing out the
evidence and elucidatng the facts I'm
regard to any case. They will have
the assistance of that district attor
ncy all the time in the preparation
Of indictments. but when 1t comes To
determine the question Of whether
any person shan be indicted or not.
then no person has right tn be- pres
ent in the grand jury room but the
grand Jury itself. The assistant dis.
trict attorney nor anyone else has
right TO be present. The responsibility
is upon the grand jury and upon IN
grand jury alone. You cannot place
the responsibility upon any one else
You gentlemen must assume IT, and
tho law charges you with IT, TO de.
termlne whether n man shall be in
dicted or not. when you nave settled
the question, the assistant district at
torncy will prepare the indictment for
you.
But I'm the examination of crime.
gentlemen. you are not limited to any
class or any particular portion of the
community You have right tO ex.
anime all violations OF ne criminal
law, regardless OF who II is that vi
olates the law. The whole question
Of investigating crime Is In your
charge. You are charged with the
criminal law In every particular, and
where the evidence is sufficient. in
your judgment, TO secure a conviction,
II is your duty to indict
As a matter of course. II not infre-
luently Is the case that grand jurors
will hear possibly the evidence Of
the government alone. But the defend.
ant as n rule has a side to his case,
and may not wish TO disclose that to
the grand jury, but to produce II at
the trial of the cause. Hence, II
there is any question about sufficient
evidence to convict, there no use put
ting the government to the expense
OF going TO a trial. and an Indictment
should not be found. The government
should bring plenty Of evidence to
satisfy you to insure conviction,
otherwise you ere not required to in
dict. II would be folly 10 indict. II
Is often the case that great many
indicted persons come up for trial,
and II is soon disclosed that thcre
is not sufficient evidence to secure a
conviction. and the consequence IL.
the government is put TO large ex-
pense, and probably the defendant
also, when there is really no chance
TO convict. In such cases there should
be no indictment found. You gentle
men should use judgment and dis
cretion. The effort always Is to Sc
cure the very best citizens on tho
grand jury, men WHO are in favor ot
the enforcement Of the law. who are
In favor OF maintaining good order
in the community in favor Of the best
welfare OF good citizens In the com
munity. Such men are sought as
grand jurors, and all | want Is simply
for the grand jurors to use their
good sense and judgment, and to be
thorough and earnest in the detec-
tion and punishment II all crime, that
is, so far as you have any control of
It in the way Of instituting prosecu-
tions and bringing In indictments.
The district attorney calls my at !
tention 10 the fact that the laws OF !
Arkansas, which are in force here by |
an Act OF Congress, require the judges |
u Arkansas 10 give In charge To the |
grand jury certain ofenses, and es-
pecially TO call the attention Of the !
grand jurors thereto. II the court /
should chance TO omit any onense,
the assistant district attorney will /
call your attention 10 them. recall |
that the removal of mortgaged prop |
erty Is one OF the orenses that is |
particularly designated; gaming is .
another offense that the grand Jurors /
are required to have their attention
called to; yagrancy is another. and |
perhaps there are others; and all |
those that It il required by the laws
OF Arkansas that the judges <lall be
required TO bring 10
attention ~ the grand jury, | there
fore would respectfully call your at
tention to those various offenses, an.
uuph ntbaru tho .tat,,ta rau,,g,a.