The Calumet news., 1913-10-16
Urges CELEBRITY
IN PROSECUTION
OeIsy in Conducting the Criminal
Cases Serious 0etriment

Indianapolis, liu', oSt'' ~ B." itih-
IA, tbe present delays and uncertain-
dos Of criminal prosecutions the
e,sndlng Committee of Criminal Law
,,oform today reported IA number of
concentrations at the annual meet
.,g of tho American Prison associa .
,ion The report says:
oTba committee desires 10 empha-
sI1e its opinion, which Is sustained
~, the general trend Of newspaper and
,,hlic eentiment throughout the Unit
., states, that the delays and un-
,,rtainties I'm the prosecution Of Grim
,pol cases are a detriment to the en-
tire community. The best guaranty
agains, crime Is the certainty and Gel
GRITTY IT its prosecution and punish
mont. ana this should be the aim OF
the criminal law and its admlnistra-
tors.
The recommendations follow:
Il. Legislation or constitutional
gmendments should be had requiring
courts of criminal appeal To disre-
card errCr In the admission OF reJec-
lIUH 0l tNlttHNts VI III NIt -llSli uNllOll
# tho jury where the guilt Of tho de
fandant is plain. The statute direct
ing that the Appellate Court disre-
card error not affecting any substan-
tlal right Of the defendant has been
found in practice nor TO be a suffi-
,ient guarantee against improper re
,ersal5 The point aimed at is an as
c,rtainment OF guilt.
Defendant Should Testify
"2 The existing privilege of the de-
rcndant To remain silent without q
corresponding privilege existing i'm thu
prosecution 10 comment on nls silence
hould he abolished. The defendant
60 several Jurisdictions now Is re-
quired 10 take the same risk as any
other witness. The defendant shoulA
not he permitted TO plead prior jeop-
ardv In the event Of q mistrial or re-
tria. unless the merits Of the issue
have been In some form actually de-
t,rmnod.
"3. indictments and information
should be simplified and amendments
thereto made easy. The requirements
should be that the defendant be ad-
yi,e5 with reasonable certainty of the
charge against him. Peculiar forms
Of language should De abolished and
simplicity substituted for the com
mon law method of pleading. The only
trst of the Indictment or information
should bc an application Of the doc
Uiucs res adJudicata; IN other words.
if the Indictment describes the Of
Tense 50 that second prosecution
could not lie for the same facts Il
should be deemed n sufficient indict-
menr Amendments should be per-
miued al ltbitum, reserving, however.
to the defendant the privilege OF an
.dJ5urnment for preparing such addl-
uon3l defense as nigh, he necessary.
Avoid Evasion OF Service
g. All available testimony con
corning the issue should be made
available.
a serious defect In our present
s.,cm is the fact that witness
12Iinst whom no criminal charge is
pending may by simply crossing an
Invisible state line, avoid the subpoena
~ IN" jurisdiction where the crime
was committed and thus render inn
possible the prosecution of the offend
'r There should be provided some
method Of interstate rendition of wit
resses.
In this connection legislation
huuld be sought in all states making
'yailahla in the court trying the in
drtmont the testimony of witnesses
taken N any lower court on taken
IN earlier trial and who are either
t"et or absent at the time Of the trial.
5a The power Of the trial court to
summarize and 10 comment on the ev-
iacnce and direct the iury's attention
To considerations enabling them To-
hettor weigh the evidence may be well
brotdonod."
Mental Factor IN Crime
Iu % Paper on The Mental Factor
Crime" Dr. Daniel Phelan. OF
Kingston, Ontario, divided insane
criminals into two general classes:
those vino suffer from epilepsy and
those vino show some Of the many
forms of mental abnormality. The in
sane criminal he defined as ~ per-
son who whilst insane commits no.
'priously anti-soCial act, usually ag