Case Name: State v. Grand Trunk Railway
Court: New Hampshire Supreme Court
Jurisdiction: New Hampshire
Decision Date: 1877-08
Citations: 58 N.H. 198
Docket Number: 
Parties: State v. Grand Trunk Railway.
Judges: Doe, O. J., did not sit.
Reporter: New Hampshire Reports
Volume: 58
Pages: 198–198

Head Matter:
State v. Grand Trunk Railway.
The cost of obtaining and prosecuting an indictment, upon Gen. St., c. 264, s. 14, against a railroad for causing the death of a person, is to be borne by the complainant, and is not a charge upon the county.
Indictment, upon Gen. St., c. 264, s. 14, for causing tbe death of a person. The question was reserved, whether the fees of witnesses before the grand jury, on whose testimony the indictment was obtained, should be allowed as costs to be paid by the county.
Aldrich, solicitor, and Ladd, for the state.
Ray, Drew Sf Jordan, for the defendants.

Opinion:
Allen, J.
This proceeding, though criminal in form, is, in some respects and for some material purposes, a civil suit. In its method of institution, the form of the complaint, and, perhaps, in other respects, it is criminal. In some respects it is criminal, in others civil. State v. Manchester & Lawrence R. R., 52 N. H. 528, 560; State v. Railway, 58 Me. 176. The object of the law authorizing the proceeding is not the punishment of a crime, but the compensation of the widow and children, or heirs, of the person whose life is lost through the negligence of the defendants. No part of the fine recovered is paid to the county, and the county has no interest in the suit. In such cases, it is reasonable that the expenses, including the witness fees, should be advanced by those for whose benefit the proceeding is instituted and carried on.
Case discharged.
Doe, O. J., did not sit.