Evening star., 1938-10-10
By w. H. SHIPPEN, Jr.

Do Washington courts often penal
ize the witness-that innocent by
stander who. like the peace maker,
sometimes gets it in the neck" when
he steps forward to do his duty?
Protracted investigations, crowded
dockets in District and Police Courts,
trial postponements and other delays
in the administration of justice have
given rise, in some quarters, to the
debatable question:
If you happened to have first-hand
information of a crime. would you vol
unteer it to the authorities?"
The answer, as a public spirited citi-
zen, anxious to see justice done, is un-
questionably Yes" But there are
other sides to the question.
Suppose you happen by. say, as a
drunken driver runs down a pedes-
trian. Would you tell what you saw
to the police, or would you save your
self time and trouble at the price of
your conscience and keep your mouth
shut? There are quite few excuses,
if no justification, for the latter course.
If you decide to talk you may have
to keep right on talking for a long
time. The first patrolmen on the
scene Will want to know all about it,
as well as your name and address; so
will the precinct detectives, and the
homicide squad men from headquar-
ters, if the pedestrian seems likely to
die.
Must Face Delays.
Should death occur, you will be
summoned in few days to an inquest,
which may start at 1880 am. But
there are many inquests, sometimes
two or three in day, and the coro-
ner's staff Is overworked. It may be
or o'clock in the afternoon before
your testimony is required. Mean
while, you lin company with other
witnesses, some Of whom will be the
distressed relatives of the victim, or
OF the accused) must while away the
hours in crowded, hot room in the
antiquated Morgue on the water front.
To describe this as an ordeal Is putting
the case mildly.
The dilapidated Morgue, despite the
best efforts of the cororer's staff and
other District officials, is overcrowded,
ill-ventilated, poorly lighted and i'm
properly heated, often too cold in
winter, when the coal stove refuses
tc draw, and almost always sweltering
in summer Many summoned there
are the violently bereaved, or the re-
morseful, whose nerves are soothed not
at all by the too-morguelike atmos-
phere.
If the motorist is held for the
grand jury. you can expect to cool
your heels about the District Court
house several weeks later, waiting for q
hearing before the iriduisitorial body.
Should the motorist be indicted, you
doubtless will be interviewed by an
assistant United States attorney. and
possibly by attorneys for the defense.
Appear IS Witness.
The trial is next in order, about
three or four months later, for the
criminal docket in District Court is
at least that far behind. You leave
your work to appear as witness, but,
after hours of waiting, the case Is
likely to be postponed. In their effort
to catch up with the docket, the clerks
often set more cases for trial than
the three justices in the criminal divi-
sion can get to.
The prosecution probably will be
ready to go ahead with the trial, but
the chances are the defense attorneys
will move for postponement. They
may have other court engagements; =
witness may be i'll. out Of town, or
otherwise unavailable.
When the testimony is finally COM
pleted there is always the possibility
of a hung jury. with second trial
to go through with, or an appeal from
q conviction, with reversal by the
higher court.
II the victim Of the traffic accident
does not die, or If coroner's jury
finds there was no criminal negligence
involved in his death, you may have
to tell what you know in Police Court.
In the first case the motorist prob
ably would BE- charged with drunken
driving. and In ths second b would