Imperial Valley press., 1935-11-16
EDITORIAL PAGE
SATURDAY,
NOVEMBER l6, 1885
a FAIR TRIAL
FOR EVERY MAN

FOR EVERY MAN
Criminal trials in Imperial county and
elsewhere in the United States are based
on the theory that every man, considered
innocent until proved guilty. is entitled
10 fair trial. Yet there probably new
er was a criminal trial in the United
States entirely fair both to the state and
the defendant. Certainly majority of
trials are not fair.
Any person, be he attorney or lavman.
VINO knows much of court procedure
knows that lawyers enter into trial of
criminal case, in most instances, as
battle of wits and technicalities. Seldom
is there concerted effort to present the
evidence bearing on the case in question,
and let the evidence speak for itself.
Through the loopholes of the law itself.
much pertinent evidence is barred from
the ears of a jury, and even from the
knowledge of the court. Officers cannot
tell all they know from the witness stand.
Neither can defense witnesses. The words
of dead man, directly accusing another
man Of his murder, cannot be introduced
into evidence unless the accused heard
the words at the time they were uttered
The brutality of a slain man often can
not become a matter of evidence in de-
fense of his killer.
The law, whether rightly or wrongly,
usually leans over backward in favor of
the accused. So entangled has its in
depreciation become that its original in
tentiOn may have been lost in the years
of litigation. Some of the fault, perhaps
most of it, lies in the law itself.
Attorneys engaged in continuous GRIM
inal court practice know, too, that juries
are seldom impartial. One of the most
important steps in trial of any criminal
case is selection of the jury Prosecu-
tion attorneys and defense attorneys
strain every effort to obtain for the jury
persons they believe will favor their
cause. 1t is through no fault of the jur-
ors in most cases, but individuals on
jury panel are labeled in the minds of
lawyers who have come into contact
with them in other trials as ''convicters"
or "acquitters." 1t is because of their
personal traits and mental characters
tics, unknown many times even to them
selves.
Prejudice passion and sympathy are
the chief weapons used by lawyers in
dealing with juries. Seldom are they
content with a straightforward present
alton of facts. Any human being is like
ly to be swayed by one of those three
emotions, without discredit to himself,
and upon this fact counsel is forced to de-
pend many times by the very law which
permits it. AS many cases have been
won by desperately oratorical attor-
ney, talking to the jury, as have been
won by evidence.
Another factor entering into unfair
criminal trials is the difference in abil-
ity between opposing counsel. An able
attorney on either side, opposed by a
weaker lawyer on the other, may win
case even though evidence and facts are
against him.
1t would be more fair, probably, if
there were no arguments by counsel fol-
lowing presentation of evidence A sum-
mary by the court of the facts as brought
out in evidence would allow the jury
more room for detached consideration of
the case before it, leaving less room for
prejudice, sympathy or passion.
Going a step further, much of the ele
ment Of sport might be eliminated and
more of the element Of justice attended
through board of non-partisan, non-po-
litical Judges charged with hearing the
evidence and returning an impartial YER
dict. The human element would remain,
it is true, and in the human element there
is always room for error, but full pre-
sentation of fact, linked with an absence
of passion or prejudice, might do much
to overcome existing difficulties.
Life and times change, yet the law and
its methods remain as they have been for
centuries Certainly there is room for
progress there, just as in civilization.
-O