The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1922-04-07

know that alternate jurors for the
petit jury panel are also required to
| be drawn in the same way, and from
| the same jury box? Do you know
that the Sheriff has $nothing to do
with the selection of the regular
panel of jurors and alternates, unless
both juror properly drawn and his
ialternate, by reason of death, Illness
removal from the county, or other
] wise, fail to appear for jury service
| The sheriff is required to serve the
| Jurors and alternates drawn by the
county court, in the manner provided
by law, and has nothing to do with
the regular panel otherwise, except
in case of a vacancy, as above stated.
Is it your position, Mr.. News Man,
that all of the 400 honorable citizens
whose names are now in the jury box
are unfit for jury service? Are all
| these men dishonest? Do you be-
lieve that any one of them would
commit willful perjury in order to re-
tain a position on the petit jury? If
you do so believe, then does your be-
lief to that effect extend to the en-
tire 400?
As an act of fairness, if such quail
ity be an integral part of your make
up, We respectfully ask that you Sc
cure a list of the jurors and alter
mates drawn by the county court on
the regular panel since January 16,
! 1920 1.-THE date of the taking effect of
your pet law and publish the same
on the front page of your paper, in
as prominent a place as given your
nefarious article of March 31st. Then
out of fairness to public official,
whom you are so anxious to advise
in the premises, add the list of men
selected by the sheriff to take the
place of those regularly drawn, and
who failed to appear or were excused,
by the circuit court. 1t will not take
much of your valuable space to be
this list with your subscription list,
and see for yourself how many of
these honest, law abiding, truthful
citizens, who take your paper, have
been previously offended and grossly
maligned and inexcusably slandered
by you.
Do you know, Mr.. News Man, that
the law providing the method of Sc
lecting the regular panel Of petit ju-
rors by the county court is manda-
tory? Do you know that this law was
a law long before the prohibition en-
forcement law was placed upon the
statutes of the state? Do you know
that to follow your suggestion would
lay the members of the county court
liable to Indictment for crime? Do
you know that to follow your advice
would subject the sheriff to a pros
ecution for crime? Do you know
that it is violation of criminal
statute nearly a century old for one
to solicit position on a jury? Do
you know that it is a crime to at
tempt to influence juror after he
has been selected to try cause in
court?
1t is crime to attempt to talk to
a juror after his selection, or to in
any way attempt to influence him by
any means except the introduction Of
proper testimony in open court. This
being true, it IS Just as ,dastardly,
from moral standpoint, for one to
attempt to prejudice those who must,
of necessity, be selected as jurors be-
fore they reach the court room. or be-
fore they are drawn. It certainly is
blowing both hot and cold for one,
under the guise of wishing the laws
enforced, to himself seek to so infiu-
ence those upon whom must rest the
burden of deciding, under the evidence
adduced in open court, whether one
charged is guilty of violation. Does
it behooves one who sets himself up as
favoring the enforcement of law to
advise the officers to themselves vio-
late some other criminal statute in so
doing. In Mr.. Denman's opinion the
means, whatsoever they may be,
justify the end. Not so with a law
abiding citizen.
Would the News have the county
judges canvass the citizenship of the
county to determine, beforehand, who
favor the enforcement Of the dry law
above all others. Does Denman ex-
pect Sheriff Hunt, in filling vacancies
in the regular panel for the May term
of circuit court, to personally inter
view each person as to his or her
stand on the enforcement of the dry
law before making selection? Why
not ask each prospective juror as to
his or her stand on each criminal
statute before making the selection.
Should such an outrageous method of
procedure be adopted as advocated by
the News, then truly, there would i'm
mediately spring into being a disre-
spect for all law.
| 1t would be well for Mr.. Denman to
go to the records of the circuit court
and find and publish the list of names
of the jurors in each case of an al
legged dry law violation since the ad-
option of the law. If he will do this
he will place before his readers
list of names that include some of the
very best of our citizenship. He will
| find there the names Of many men,
good, honest and true, who believe,
from the very bottom of their hearts,
that prohibition is boon to humane
ty, and who would convict a relative
or friend were his guilt established by
competent testimony. The fact that
there has not been a conviction at the
hands of jury in circuit court in one
of these cases has caused our neigh
Dor, Denman, to lose his head. Should
not each case stand on its own par
ticular facts? Should there by con-
viction merely because there is a,
charpe2 Are we living in Tnarica