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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

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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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