The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-10-14
ORIGINAL STATEMENT

On the subject of tho recent report of the grand jury, con5emning certain alleged acts of Jerry Gwin in his of-
 flcial capacity as member of the
 board of revenue, and demanding his
 resignation, I herewith present the disinterested views of a lawyer.
 Tn the case of Notes ys Bares. so
 Alabama. Ss2, the supreme court of his
 state had the following to say concern ing an indictment by the grand jury:
 The finding of an indictment is an ex
 parte proceeding, conducted with
 closed doors, and it's privacy secured
 by solemn oath. While an indictment IS an accusation in writing, charging a person with an indictable offense pre-
 sented by n competent part of the court; though it is judicial affirma-
 cion that the evidence before the grand
 Jury is sufficient to put him on srial
 before a petit jury; it is an accusation and affirmation founded on such evi- dence as the prosecuting officer the grand Jury, the prosecutor, if any. may see proper to select and adduce: and Tt IS important to impair on the trial l Of the accused, the presumption of ;n- nocence The person charged is not permitted to be present. has no op ,or- tunity of being heard. can bring no leVidence, and cannot cross examine the witnessed produced" And -le supreme court held in this case that in civil suit Tor malicious prosecution the fact that the plaintiff has been indicted by grand jury of the criminal cf-
 fense, did not constitute prima facie evidence that the prosecutor. the de- fendant In the civil suit had proba able
 cause TOT believing the plaintiff to be guilty of the crime for which the grand jury indicted him.
 It is therefore pointed out that all the allegations contained in the ra-
 port of the grand jury are not iudiciaI- " determined by facts; indeed, as the supreme court has said. they do not even constitute prima facie evidence.
 of the matters alleged In the renort ,s
 the grand jury. That grave intus- tice may not be done, the voters ,r this county should fully Understand me weight to which the report of the grand jury is entitled The political opponents of MT. Gwin appear to be against him.
 The indictment of man hv tbe grand jury for a criminal ofrense is substantially analogous to the com mencement by that body of impeach ment proceedings against a public of hclal Before conviction or an i'm peachment may be had. the accused | before a
 competent court, composed of an inn
 partial judge and jury. before which
 the defendant has the right to appear
 and be heard and to present whatever
 defense he may have to offer. Such rights are fundamental and are guar
 anteed by our constitution. The grand
 Jury cannot convict and pass sentence
 on man Tn the opinion of the writer.
 the recent report of the grand jury is
 suject to the most severe criticism for
 demanding the resignation of Jerry
 Gwin. By such action it has. in ef
 feet, not only acted as a grand fury
 but also has usurped the functions of the trial court. jury and prosecuting attorney and has presumed to try convict and pass sentence of political execution on Jerry Gwin without hav- ing given him an opportunity to be
 present at his trial and be heard in his own defense. The excuse given by the grand jury for this unwarranted demand was that the present term of office of Jerry Gwin would expire be- fore trial for impeachment could be had. Would t accord with your idea
 of justice if the grand jury, believing a man to be guilty of murder, were to hang him forthwith because they thought he would die from natural causes before he could be tried? There can be no valid excuse for denying a l fair trial either to one accused of any offense or to a public official charged l with inconpetency
 CT hold no brief for Jerry Gwin, | and certainly think that the grand jury should have commenced impeachmen: proceedings against him, based on the evidence which it had before it. Bn Mir Gwin has not yet been heard. and 1 1t appears to- me that the report of tho grand jury is being most unfairly used against him. He should either be i'm peached after a fair trial or every democrat should vote for him in No- vember
 ANALYSIS OF ARTICLE '-rhe best way to determine the fair ness of the article and the justness of the criticism is to analyze the two to- gether.
 | "The first paragraph of the article is
 purely introductory.
 "The second paragraph of the article contains quotation from an opinion Of
 our supreme court and the statement or a point of law decided in that case. No
 imagination is necessary to understand
 the plain meaning of the law cited
 ''The third paragraph of the article points out to the voters of this county the proper consideration to be accorded
 (Continued on Page TweIve)