MAJORITY VOTE

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 83, Issue 37, 14 February 1939, Page 6

MAJORITY VOTE

GRAND JURY’S FINDING UNUSUAL PROCEDURE AT WANGANUI By majority vote a grand jury in the Supreme Court at Wanganui yesterday found no bill in respect to an indictment against a motorist alleging negligent driving causing death. Grand juries, as a rule, do not declare in open Court whether the finding has been arrived at by majority or unanimous vote. The law provides that once 12 members of a - grand jury are unanimous the fore- < man may deliver the finding. The , function of a grand jury is not to , try the accused, but to review the evidence brought by the police in the ] Lower Court, study the indictment , framed by the Crown, hear any of the - Crown’s witnesses and then decide ' whether there is sufficient evidence to place the accused person on trial befor a common jury. It then becomes the function of a common jury to say whether a person is guilty or not. Not more than 23 persons and not less than 12 can sit on a grand jury. Thus if any 12 of the 23 are unanimous it enables the foreman to deliver the ] finding, that number constituting a majority. 1 There were 22 persons on the grand jury which deliberated yesterday at j Wanganui. It returned true bills in two criminal cases, one alleging as- j sault and the other relating to the Bankruptcy Act, but deliberated for nearly two hours on the third case. ( finally coming into Court with a finding of .no bill, which was supported ( by 12 members and opposed by lb. His Honour. Mr. Justice Reed, ar- ( repled the finding as nne of no hill and the case, accordingly, was struck -| out. The powers of a grand jury are

• fairly wide. Not only has it a right ; to throw a case out entirely, but also to amend or delete counts in an in- , dictment. An English case on record ’ I shows that two persons were charged with murder. The grand jury found a true bill against one of them for . murder and a true bill against the i’ other for manslaughter. The Court i accepting it as possible for that to be ■ done, proceeded with a trial for mur- ? der against one of the persons aci cused and directed that a new in- ■ dictment alleging manslaughter bo prepared against the other. Members of a grand jury are not ■ liable for prosecution for any action they may take in the grand jury room. Unlike a common juror, a member of the grand jury is not paid for his services, and, after returning a finding, the members leave the Court with the thanks of the country, given expression to hy His Honour, as the only reward for what they have done. As a general rule a grand jury at Wanganui does not sit for longer than half an hour. Yesterday’s deliberation was the longest for many years. The case was one which His Honour, in his charge to the grand jury, said had given him a good deal of concern. It presented certain difficulties. The car was in a proper state of fitness, brakes good, lights good. The motorist was conforming to the new regulations, round which certain difficulty was bound to be experienced, and keeping as far as [.lacticable to the left “I do not know how that, reg lation is going to work out.” he sa?L “but I can see certain difficulties,” In this case the facts were that two people were walking along a road at night, just, off the metal. Apparently the rear of the car struck one of them, the man. and he was killed. The motorist said that he did not see them. He was conforming to the regulations and to determine whether he had been negligent the jury would have to decide whether he had been keeping a proper look out and should have seen them, or whether he was travelling at an excessive speed. He admitted to travelling at a fair speed. “I have never known a grand jury return a true bill or a no bill by a majority vote,” said Mr. W. J. Treadwell, in an interview last, night, when yesterday’s procedure was referred to him. “That does not mean that a finding has not been made by majority vote, but the numbers have not been announced in open Court.” Mr. Treadwell has been practising in

Wanganui for upwards of 50 years. Mr. J. Hussey also said that he ha< never heard of a grand jury announc ing a majority vote. The usual prac lice was to declare a true bill or a n< bill.