OCR Text |
Show n , I II DELMAS FIRM BELIEVER IN THE JURY SYSTEM; OPINION Of THE TRIAL BY D. M. DELMAS. (SENIOE COUNSEL FOB HAEEY THAW.) NEW YORK, Feb. 7. Delphin Michael Pelmss, Nader of the California bsr and one of the most noted lawyers on. the Pacific coast, lias, us senior counsel, coun-sel, taken the head of the table in'the defense of Harry K. Thaw. Contrary to the general impreasion, he will not appear 6irnply as a pleader, but will assume full charge of the cross-examination of the witnesses produced by the District Attorney and in the examination of the witnesses called in behalf of the defendant. de-fendant. Mr. Delmas makes the following statement regarding the Thaw case: "This is my first experience ss sn advocate in the courts of this ytate, and it is but natural that I should be interested in the difference in procedure between be-tween the courts of New York and the courts of California. While the methods are not alike, the same general purpose is sought in the selection of a jurv, and that is to have twelve men enter the jury box with minds unbiased, ana who shall not be swayed bv prejudice on one side or the other. "I am a firm believer in the Justice of the Jur y system. It has been attacked at-tacked time and again, but It has withstood ail assaults and still remains a bulwark bul-wark of safely between a defendant and unreasonable clamor, which too often (he public prosecutor uses as an aid to the powerful legal machinery under his lirectlon and which brings to him an-added prestige. "In the State of California a defendant charged with a crime in which the penalty is death is entitled to twenty peremptory challenges, the commonwealth to ten. The distinctive difference between our procedure and yours is that we fill the jurv box before we exercise the right of peremptory challenge. "In San Francisco each of the twelve Judges of the superior court selects In January of each year 300 names for a venire. These ar placpd jn a wheel from which a panel of 200 is drawn. Wheneyer. in the opinion of a Judge of a superior court about to try a defendant for felony, the trial is likly to be prolonged, pro-longed, the court may decide upon the calling of one or two additional jurors, called 'alternates.' "So far as the newspapers are concerned, the spirit of enterprise does not differ materially from that displayed in San Francisco, except in extent, but what struck me most forcibly In the accounts I have read is the remarkable power of analysis and description displayed by the women writers. Such ability to depict and portray a scene, to study the attitude and expression of the defendant, de-fendant, to make a swift analysis of the mentality of each juror, to pick out the most striking characteristics of the lawyers engaged on both sides, would have set the old world aflame a century ago. It is marvelous. The men engaged in reporting the trial have done excellent w-ork, no doubt, but without any disparagement dispar-agement to their powers, I must admit that the women writers, with their stronger emotional natures, have presented the more attractive pen pictures, and without drawing any invidious distinction." |