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25 Panel 1 (1956)

handle is hein.journals/panelmbu25 and id is 1 raw text is: THE. PANEL To Increase the effectiveness of the Grand Jury System PUBLISHED BY GRAND JURY ASSOCIATION NEW YORK COUNTY FUND CORPORATION VOL. 25 JANUARY, 1956 NO. 1 Hits Resubmission of Charge to Second Jury Justice Gavagan Dismisses Indictment, Frees Prisoner By MANUEL LEE ROBBINS, Association Counsel Recently a prisoner in the City Prison sought his release on the ground that the charge against him had been invalidly presented to a second grand jury after a prior grand jury had dismissed it, While the validity of his deten- tion could have been tested in the Court of General Sessions, the Supreme Court also had jurisdic- tion since its writ of habeas corpus inquires into the regularity of all detentions or imprisonments. Ap- parently because the Court of General Sessions in a number of precedent decisions had already ruled against the prisoner's con- tentions, he brought an action of habeas corpus in the Supreme Court and the matter ultimately came on before Justice Joseph A. Gavagan who, in the course of his opinion, had to review the deci- sion of Judge Abraham N. Geller, of the Court of General Sessions, who had refused to release the prisoner. Judge's Order The facts of the case were not in dispute. The charge against the prisoner had originally been dis- missed by the grand jury which heard the matter and instead of approving the filing of the dismis- sal, Judge Geller ordered it re- submitted to another grand jury without any application on the part of the District Attorney and without any certification by the latter that there was new evidence at hand. The order provided that the direction of the court for re- submission be not exhibited to the second grand jury. (Continued on page 9) DUAL GRAND JURY ROLE 1S STRESSED IN HOCAN REPORT Grand Jury Indicts 5 in Track Fix . . . Accused of $100,000 Fur Theft by Grand Jury. . . . Grand Jurors Charge Official Lied on Graft.. . Newspaper headlines like these get considerable notice and help spread the idea that a grand jury is a body that confines itself to bringing in criminal charges against various defendants. In the popular mind, it is almost strictly an accusing body. The true picture, of course. is far from that. District Attorney Frank S. Hogan of New York County has out- lined most successfully the grand jury's HON. FRANK S. HOGAN real function in his report describing the activities of his office in the last six years. The grand jury's role is a dual one-accuser and defender. The grand jury . . . not only guards the liberties of the in- dividual, the report notes, It also protects his reputation. It has been described as 'the great bulwark of the innocent (Continued on page 5) Grand Jurors Given 18-Month 'Breather' The combined efforts of the County Jury Board, Deputy County Clerk James McGurrin and this Association have achieved success in the long cam- paign to increase the number of men and women on the New York County Grand Jury Panel and thus pave the way for establishment of a reasonable limit to the amount of time these civic-minded persons must devote to jury service. For the first time, the New York County Jury Board has formally set such a limit. Letters from County Clerk Archibald R. Watson, secretary of the board, inform 1956 Panel members that pursuant to Court Rule, Grand Jurors who have heretofore served as such will not again be called for service until the ex- piration of 18 months from the date when they last served. The 18-month breather is the result of a 60 per- cent increase in the Grand Jury Panel since 1949. The Association will continue its opposition to a State bill that would allow the Federal Court to call persons for grand or trial jury service immediately after they finish their duties on county grand juries. The Association has helped beat this bill three times. Bleownell Thanks Assn. For Stand Against Jury 'Tapping' Grand .T) Group Pushing Broad Legislative Program Our U. S. Attorney General, Herbert Brownell, Jr., has con- veyed his thanks to the Grand Jury Association of New York County for its support of his ef- forts to outlaw jury tapping. Following the disclosure that a microphone had been concealed in a Wichita, Kansas Federal Jury room and recordings of sup- posedly secret jury deliberations had been made in connection with a University of Chicago jury study project, Mr. Brownell de- clared he would ask Congress for a law to prohibit any future in trusions on Federal jury privacy. Proposed Amendment The Grand Jury Associatin picked up the ball in this state. It is pressing for action by the Legislature to ban jury tapping in the state's judicial establish- ment Proposed for adoption by the 1956 session is this Associa- tion-written amendment to Sec- tion 686 of the Judiciary Law: Any person who directly or indirectly operates or causes to be operated any device or in- strument by which the secret deliberations of any jury in a jury room are recorded, or who unlawfully eavesdrops such de- liberations for the purpose of publishing or recording them or who publishes or causes to be published in any form or man- ner whatsoever any recording of such secret deliberations, shall be guilty of a felony. When the jury bugging story broke, the Association quickly (Continued on Page 10)

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