| Show JUDGE MINERS CHARGE TO THE GRAND JURY at the sitting of the first district court at ogden nov 17 judge J A miner charged the grand jury in the be following terms gentlemen of the jury the law makes it ic incumbent upon ulion the court to charge the grand jury before they retire and the court charges you as follows you have taken an oath that you will diligently inquire into and true indictments make of all public offenses against the people of this territory Perri tory committed or triable in this district of which you shall have legal evidence and that you will indict no person through malice hatred or ill will nor leave any through fear favor or affection or the promise or hope of reward but in all your indictments you will state the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth according to the best of your skill and understanding understand i ng now these obligations are fully imposed upon you and each of you by law as sv well as by your oath and the law requires their fulfillment at your hands I 1 instruct you that you should in quire into all public offenses lenses of committed or triable in this court within this judicial district and those offenses returned to this court by the proper officers and present them to this court by indictment if the evidence warrants you in so doing this indictment referred to te is an accusation in writing presented by this grand jury to this court charging some person or persons v ith public crime or offenses and are found by you on testimony of witnesses produced before you or other legal evidence the foreman of the grand jury may administer oa oaths to any and all witnesses appearing before you and in the investigation vesti gation of charges for the purpose of an indictment you can re ceide no other evidence than such as is given by witnesses and sworn before you or such as may be produced by legal documentary evidence you should not in any case receive any but legal evidence and the best beat evidence in degree to the exclusion of hearsay or secondary evidence you are not bound to hear evidence for the defendant or such as am may tend to exculpate him for the charge made but it I 1 i your sworn duty to weigh all the evidence submitted to you carefully and when you have reason to believe that there is other evidence within your reach that may explain away the charge made or show the charge is a mistaken one a groundless false and viciously made you should in that case order such evidence to be produced before you and for that purpose you may request the prosecuting officer of the district the united states district adorney or his assistants to issue subpoenas for this purpose you at all times bearing in mind that it is the guilty offender that you should indict and not the innocent you should first ascertain from the evidence submitted whether or not an offense has been committed and next ascertain whether there is probable cause to suspect that any particular person or persons committed such an offense fenee of and you should always find an indictment when all this evidence before you taken together and unexplained would in your judgment warrant a conviction by a tri aljury tria lury you are further instructed that if a member of the grand jury knows or has reason to believe that a public offense triable within this district has been committed such juror should declare the same to his fellow jurors and they should thereupon investigate the charge made you must muse inquire into the case of all prisoners imprisoned in the jails prisons reform school and other places for confinement of persons charged with crimes or offenses against the laws in this territory and into the condition and management of the territorial reform school and other public prisons within this district and into the wilful and corrupt misconduct in office of public officers into all cases of bribery and falsifying evidence of every description with within in this district and if you find such in any officer as warrants a public trial you should so find no matter who such person may maybe be yn in the investigation of offenses Tenses of you should know no one person or er set of persons favorably or unfavorably wealth distinction and influence on the one part or poverty or want of social standing on the other part of the persons charged should not deter you frona from a full and careful investigation into eief every criminal act indictable by law you should under no circumstances show any partiality or favoritism to any man or woman all violations of the law must stand or fall by the same rule in this way only can the law be faithfully aad ad impartially enforced upon all offenders you are entitled to free access at all reasonable times to all public prisons in the district and have the right to examination without charge of all bublic public records within this district you au may also at all reasonable times come into court and ask its advice on questions af law you are also entitled to the advice counsel and aid of the district attorney of this district or his deputy or deputies and assistants and they or either of them may at all times appear before you for the purpose of giving information 0 01 advice relative to any matter cognizable by you and thea they or either of them may appear before fore you and interrogate witnesses whenever they or you deem it necessary but with the above exceptions you will allow no other person or per sons to be present during your session of the grand jury except the members thereof interpreters and the witnesses actually under examination and no person not even those excepted must be permitted to 10 be present during the expression of your opinion or when giving your votes upon any matter before you you are further instructed that it to is the duty of every member of the grand jury to keep secret whatever he himself or any other grand juror may have said or in what manner you or any other member of the grand jury may have voted on any matter before you you will also keep secret ill dl proceedings before you including evid evidence once taken before you except as the court may order for the furtherance of justice aud and the punishment of crimes or fenaes of committed before you or in your presence you will not disclose the testimony given before you by any person or witness to the person against whom such testimony is given or to any other person unless it is to be in a proceeding in court or a trial and as ordered by the court and you can not be questioned for anything you may say or any vote you may give in the grand jury relative to any matter legally pending before the jury except for a perjury of which any one of you may have been guilty in making an accusation or giving testimony to your fellow jurors your kour attention is also directed to all classes of offenses under the laws of the united states and espee especially lally to that class clam of offenses under the statute k known aown as the edmunds and the edmunds tucker act denominated as bigamy polygamy unlawful cohabitation adultery incest and fornication and in this connection it if is proper to say to you that all persons concerned in the com coca mission of any crime whether it be a felony or misdemeanor and whether they directly commit the act themselves constituting the offense tiff ense ur aid abet counsel command and advise others to do so and those also m who not being present at the commission of such crime or misdemeanor yet who advise counsel encourage aid command and abet such others to commit it such offense are guilty as principals X als of the offense so aided and counseled by them if committed and such persons may all be indicted by you no matter whet whether bersuch such offense be murder robbery larceny bigamy unlawful cohabitation or any other crime or misdemeanor and all persons who after full knowledge that a felony has been committed conceal the knowledge from a magistrate or proper legal tribunal or harbor and protect the person charged with the commission thereof are auces accessories to the crime committed corn miffed and are indictable dic table you may find occasion to enforce these rules of law as to polygamous marriages and other united states offenses as well as territorial offenses the use of fire arms and attempts to kill and murder are becoming too frequent and your careful attention is called to all such cases you will also investigate carefully all this class of offenses against the laws of the unit ed states arising within this district and see to it that you leave no such guilty persons through fear favor or affection or of any promise or hope ther eTor the law is imperative and should be enforced as well as obeyed to you is largely entrusted the lives and property of the people as well as their safety an indictment cannot be found without the concurrence of at least twelve grand jurors and when so found it must be endorsed a true bill and signed by the fore mate maki of the grand jury A grand juror against whom a challenge has been allowed cannot take part in the consideration of the charge against the defendant who ho interposed the challenge and the jury must inform the court of auy aidy violation of this instruction in this ibis instance I 1 think there has been no challenge allowed against any member of the present grand jury if twelve grand jurors do not concur in finding an indictment against the defendant who has been held to answer a criminal charge then all the depositions and statements if any transmitted to you must be returned to the court with tin an endorsement thereon signed by your foreman to the effect that the charge is dismissed sed when you find an indictment against a defendant the names of the witnesses examined or heard before the grand jury must be endorsed on the he foot of the indictment before it Wp is v presented resented to the court and when an indictment to is found by the grand jury the same must be presented by your foreman in your presence to the court by handing the same to the clerk thereof without reading the same or other announcement no ement with these instructions I 1 submit the matters under consideration to you gentlemen and you may retire under the charge of an officer to the grand jury room |
