The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1954-03-11

which, by its proper performance.
can have a distinct influence on
the welfare Of the community.
The Grand jury is the body
which makes accusation in for.
NAL manner against persons sus-
pected Of being guilty Of crime,
SO that they shall be brought to
trial to answer such accusation
The persons from whom you re-
ceiVe information in the usual
course Of your duties are the Wit
nesses brought before you by the
States Attorney Upon the evil
dence heard by you, you present
such persons. whereupon the
States Attorney draws up an in
dictment, and the accused is there
upon put on trial in the Criminal
Court. 1t is through your body
that, in normal course, accused per-
sons come before this Court, and,
unless you are convinced that a
reasonable case Of suspicion has
been made out against any person
who is accused, it is your duty to
dismiss the charge.
Your function is double. 1t is,
on the one hand, to indict, and thus
bring TO trial persons whom you
suspect Of having committed
crimes, and on the other hand, to
dismiss persons whom you believe
have been accused unjustly, or
against whom the evidence is so
slight that you feel that such per-
sons should not be brought to trial.
It is not your duty to determine
guilt OF innocence. That is the
function Of the Petit Jury or Of
the Court. 1t is your duty to pre-
sent and indict persons against
whom evidence is brought which,
if unexplained OF uncontradicted,
would warrant their conviction;
and it is equally your duty to see
that no person is subjected to prose-
cution based merely on public
clamor or private malice.
1t may seem to some Of you I'M
necessary to go through the pro-
cedure of hearing testimony, pre-
sentiment and indictment before the
person accused is actually called
to trial. but the fact is that over
a period Of several centuries the
common judgment Of the people of
this State has been that the re-
quirement that the Grand Jury
should be Convinced Of the reason
ableness of a charge before anyone
shall be brought to trial, is valu-
able safeguard to the liberty of
the citizen. 1t has also been the
experience Of our people that the
Grand Juries have performed
their duties faithfully. You thus
have a tradition Of efficiency, as
well as fairness, to live up to.
1t is your duty, as representa-
tives of this State, to use your
powers SO that the criminal law
may be both forcefully and fairly
administered.
Probably most of the matters re-
curing your attention will be laid
before you by the States Attorney.
And usually the questioning Of wit
nesses will be done by him. How
ever. you too have the right to ask
questions, either in or out OF his
presence.
You should consider all evidence
which may throw light on the
matter under investigation, whether
it tends to establish the innocence
or guilt of the accused. If, in the
course of your Investigations, You
have reason to believe that other
evidence exists, not presented to
you. but within your reach, which
would qualify or explain away
the charge under investigation, it
is your duty to require such evil
dence to be produced. After you
have heard the evidence with re-
spect to any charge, you should
then proceed to deliberate among
yourselves as to whether or not
an offense has been committed
1t is necessary in the case of
any presentment for twelve of youl
members to vote in favor of such
an indictment or presentment. An