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8 Panel 1 (1930)

handle is hein.journals/panelmbu8 and id is 1 raw text is: To increase the eficiency of the Grand jury Sysern Th11 PAN E. L A Publication Devoted to the Exchange of Views of Public Officials and Citizens in the Efll at- Prevent Crime and Secure the True Administration of Justice PUBLISHED BY THE ASSOCIATION OF GRAND JURORS OF NEW YORK COUNTY The contributions and letters in The Panel are either credited to their authors or signed with the names or initials of their writers and the Editor assumes no responsibility for the opinions contained therein beyond expressing the views that the subjects they treat of are worthy of the attention of Grand Jurors. VOL. 8 JANUARY-FEBRUARY, 1930 NO. 1 A SYMPOSIUM ON THE SUBJECT OF MATERIAL WITNESSES Mr. George Z. Medalie of the New York Bar has generously contributed an article for this month's PANEL on the subject of material witnesses. The Association of Grand Jurors of New York County considers this to be so important a subject and so fraught with special problems that we have invited a discussion of Mr. Medalie's paper by Messrs. Edward A. Alexander and George E. Worthington of the New York Bar. We have also included a report on the Seventh District Prison by Commissioner John S. Kennedy, of the State Commission of Correction, which gives a picture of the conditions under which many material witnesses are being held in this prison. Similar conditions no doubt exist in other prisons, not only in New York City but even more particularly in the county jails outside of the City. The Association believes that the subject is worthy of serious consideration and study. A STATEMENT OF THE FACTS AND SUGGESTED REMEDIES By George Z. Medalie, of the New York Bar. Law suits depend for their success on the ability of the litigants to prove their cases ordinarily by witnesses. Anxiety about the production of important wit- nesses is no greater in criminal cases than it is in civil cases. In criminal cases, how- ever, because they are of public concern, the prosecution is permitted to fortify itself by being allowed in certain instances to require that a material witness, in the discretion of the court, give a bond to in- sure, his appearance at the trial or be de- tained in jail if he cannot give the bond, until the trial is concluded. There are certain advantages in this to the public, which is primarily interested. There are some serious and at times unnecessary hardships to witnesses. There is also sometimes overzeal which causes unnec- essary inconvenience. There are also de- fects in the present practice which can be remedied by statute. There are other de- fects in the present practice which require no statute by way of remedy but which can be overcome by changes solely within the control of the courts and district at- torneys. A French sailor by the name of Jules Barboza was robbed at the waterfront of about ten or fifteen dollars. Oscar Pier- son was arrested and charged with the crime. The sailor was about to leave for France on the boat on which he was em- ployed. The Magistrate directed his de- tention as a material witness because he was unable to furnish the necessary bond. He was committed on April 25, 1927. The defendant who was charged with robbing him, was admitted to bail. The victim of the robbery remained in detention as a material witness and was not released from his prison until January 4, 1928. In part, the law is to blame for this gross injustice to an innocent person. In larger measure, the administration of the law deserves serious censure. If Pierson was guilty, he could have been convicted within two or three days. Efficiency on the part of the police and the district at- torney required that man's indictment not later than the following day. The dis- trict attorney could have brought him to trial immediately. In fact the rules of the Court of General Sessions require the case to be dealt with as a preferred case. This procedure would have received immediate recognition by the Indictment Bureau of the District Attorney's office, the Judges of the Court of General Sessions and the District Attorney's assistants in the trial parts, had they been properly informed by the magis- trate, the police officers in charge and the as- sistant district attorneys in the Magis- trates' Court. The law alone was not to blame. Assuming the enactment of prop- er legislation to protect this ignorant and penniless witness-and such legislation PUBLIC MEETING At the Hotel Astor at 4 o'clock on Thursday, February 6th, 1930 SPEAKERS Hon. Herbert H. Lehman Lieutenant Governor of New York Hon. Thomas C. T. Crain District Attorney of N. Y. County PAUL Moss, Chairman, Public Meetings Committee. will be proposed here-the witness would, nevertheless, be without either the means or the knowledge to procure the proper legal assistance necessary to take advant- age of such a change in the law. Occasionally more serious damage is done to more substantial people. A few days is sufficient for such a purpose. A notorious person by the name of Marlow was murdered. Ignace Coppa, who owned a restaurant which required his personal attention, was held as a material witness. He was detained from June 26, 1929, to July 30, 1929. For lack of his personal attention to his restaurant, his business was seriously damaged. And the Marlow case has not been tried. The law never contemplated that witnesses should be in- jured and punished. There is a growing tendency to jump all hurdles by statute where obstacles can be overcome by energy and speed. Pro- posed legislation of that sort is sometimes wished on unwilling district attorneys- In the 1928 session of our Legislature, a. bill was introduced that in homicide cases a police officer may arrest a person if he- has reasonable cause to believe him to be- a material witness, and that such a witness may not even be admitted to bail by a magistrate but may be released on bail only by a Justice of the Supreme Court. The bill failed of passage, perhaps because the report of one of the local bar associa- tions quoted Assistant District Attorney Brothers as stating that there was no ne- cessity for a statute that would interfere, with no good purpose, with the rights of decent citizens. This experienced prose- cutor stated at the time the duty of the

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