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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 16, 1955)
3 SIX MEDFORD (OREGON) MAIL TRIBUNE Sunday. January 18, 1953 Attorney General Discusses Role of District Attorney Br ROBERT Y. THORNTON Attorney General for Oregon Law enforcement is a chain of three links the arresting offi cer, the prosecutor and the Judge. In some respects the prosecutor in Oregon he's call ed district attorney is the most vital link in this chain. - Why? Because as county pros ecutor he virtually controls the enforcement of the state's laws In your county. How It Works Let's see how he works. To begin, no person is usually pros ecuted for violating the law un til the district attorney files a complaint or the grand jury in dicts him. Rarely will a magis trate grant a complaint without the sanction of the county prose cutor. If the prosecutor doesn't feel that the facts justify prose cution, the law does not require him to prosecute. Experience has shown that this system of entrusting the district attorney with broad dis cretion works out very satisfac torily. A district attorney cannot prosecute every supposed, and in some instances unfounded, charge which is brought to his attention. To do so would be to take away his energies from more important cases and clog our courts with needless and sometimes petty criminal prose cutions, imposing unnecessary costs upon the taxpayers. Must Weigh Facts He must weigh the facts of each complaint and prosecute only where in his judgment sound law enforcement and the public interest require it. Al though this system is in use, with local variations in every state in the nation, cases of abuse of discretion have been exceedingly rare. The district attorney Is the legal adviser to the grand jury. Grand jurors are not lawyers and they are not trained in "drawjng up criminal charges. They rely heavily on his guid ance. They have no authority to .call in another attorney to ad vise them if they are not satis fied with his advice. Similarly the law does not permit the grand jury to call upon the at torney general to enter the grand jury room and advise it in conducting an investigation, in terrogating witnesses or deter mining what constitutes proper and improper evidence. The grand jury may indict contrary to the legal advice of the dis trict attorney, but seldom does. Can Dismiss Indictment After the complaint or indict ment has been filed and the case is awaiting trial, the district at torney may elect to dismiss it entirely and cause an order dis missing the indictment to be en tered. In summary his discretion in dismissing criminal cases is practically unlimited, so long as he is free from dishonesty or criminal intent himself.. After conviction of a person charged with a crime, and be fore sentence, the recommenda tion of the prosecutor as to the sentence is often requested, by the trial judge, and is usually given great weight. The same applies to his recommendation for suspension of sentence, pa role or probation from jail or to the Oregon State prison. Impartial Umpire The third and last link in the law enforcement chain, the judge, is the impartial umpire at the trial. He has the highly technical and difficult responsi bility of seeing that both the state and the accused person. re ceive a fair trial. But he cannot try the prosecutor's case for him.' As a practical matter, likewise, the judge cannot com pel the district attorney to prose cute a particular case, "nor con trol the latter's discretion in de ciding for one reason or another that the case should nota be prosecuted. Most people think of their county prosecutor as a county official. They are wrong. Ore gon's 36 district attorneys, while elected locally in each county, are state officials and are paid BIBLE CONFERENCE CRUSADE FOR WORLD FELLOWSHIP Four Days Jan. 18-19-20-21 3 SERVICES DAILY-1 0:30-2:30-7:30 Outstanding Ministers Will Be Present To Meet Your Needs Body - Soul - Spirit Mcdford Full Gospel Church 609 Western, Medford by the State of Oregon. Where does the attorney gen eral fit into this picture? The law says that the. attorney general shall "consult with, ad vise and direct" the district at torneys in all criminal cases. The attorney general cannot, however, step into a county and start a criminal prosecution on his own hook. The law says that he can advise and direct the dis trict attorney to do so only. But if the district attorney does not choose to follow the advice or directions given him by the attorney general, contrary to the laws in some states, in Oregon there is nothing that the latter can do to compel compliance. , The governor can, if he chooses, direct the attorney gen eral to supersede the district at torney temporarily in a particu lar case or situation. But even the governor cannot remove the district attorney from office. The constitution requires a two thirds vote of the members of the state legislature to accom plish this Can Be -Recalled Of course the district attor ney can be recalled by the voters in the same manner as any other elected official. Thus we see that the prose cutor in a very real sense is the key to honest and efficient law enforcement. To accomplish this end the law entrusts him with great authority over the liberty of any citizen accused of commit ting a crime. Meet your district attorney. He's one of the most powerful officials in your community and in the whole state. Extended Banking Hours Voted for Rogue Valley Bank The annual stockholders' meeting of the Rogue Valley State bank was held here Thurs day, and it was voted to extend the banking hours at the new bank building on Court st. by one hour daily. " The new hours will be from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. week days, and from 9 a.m. to noon on Satur days. The walk-up window will be open from 3 to 5 p.m. week days, and from noon to 1 p.m. Saturdays. - There has been a "very satis factory" reaction to the bank's move to Medford from Eagle Point, shareholders were told by l H' li M . Jill Tx L A. ),. n.mn, -, ., nn. .11 AIDED by Vice President Nixon, Haline Gregory, night club singer, awaits phone call at Los Angeles home to dying mother in Communist-dominated Poland. (International) BASIN MEETING SET Portland (U.R) Fisheries multipurpose development of the Pacific Northwest will highlight a meeting of the Columbia Ba sin Inter-Agency committee at Walla Walla, Jan. 19, William A. Pearl, chairman and Bonne ville power administrator said Saturday. officers. The emphasis on friend ly service and convenience for patrons, both in Medford and from out of town, apparently has "made a hit" with the bank ing public, officers added. Two New Directors Two directors were added by action of the shareholders. Named to fill the posts were Ralph Pierce, a vice-president of the bank, and J. H. Stanley, a rancher in the Antelope area. Directors who were reelected include W. H. Young, president; Clarence H. Young, executive vice - president and manager. Frank P. Farrell, Leonard Brad shaw and Thomas H. Shearin. An annual dividend was de clared at the meeting. The bank has paid a dividend to share holders for many years. All but two of the bank's '14 share holders were present at the meeting. Dead line for Sunday Classified la at noon Saturday. as a o NOBODY! There isn't any such thing. There are, however, lots of people who enjoy a glass of milk before bedtime. ? More important, they enjoy the sound sleep that comes quickly, stays all night through. And the next day they feel . fit as a fiddle, right as rain. Why don't you try Nature's own nightcap ...a glass of milk at bedtime. Sound advice for sounder sleep. - Eye Clinic-Visits Total 25,000 Elks Conclave is Told The Dalles Approximately 25,000 patient visits have been recorded by the Children's Eye clinic at the University of Ore gon medical school in Portland since it was founded five years ago by the Oregon State Elks association. . " Visually handicapped children of needy parents in Oregon's 36 counties and Alaska have been examined and treated at this pioneer eye clinic, representa tives of the Elks association were told here at their mid-winter session this week end. Hal Randall, Salem, chair man of the Elks Eye Clinic com mittee, said the clinic's work was receiving nationwide atten tion. This was acknowledged by the special guest, Grand Exalt ed Ruler William J. Jernick, Nutley, N. J., corporation execu tive who is on tour of Oregon lodges. Randall quoted Dr. John Bond director of the clinic, as saying that Oregon's 41 Elks lodges,1 through the clinic, have provid ed "a tremendous amount of medical service for the low-income families of the state." The Elks association has contribut ed nearly $85,000 to support of the clinic, including several thousands of dollars for research equipment. Practicing eye specialists in Oregon have reported that the Elks program is making parents aware of the frequency and ser iousness of children's eye diseas es, Randall said. As a result, neglected cases of serious eye disease ' in young children are becoming less common. Last year, 1033 new children were examined in the clinic, which increased the load of new patient visits by 38 per cent over the previous four years. This in dicates a growing need for the services of the clinic for those children whose parents other wise could not afford it, Randall pointed out. About one-third of the chil dren treated at the clinic live outside-Portland and Multnomah county. Around Hollywood .By ALINE MOSBY , United Frets Correspondent Aline Mosby Hollywood (U.R) One of the most" popular qulzzers with the movie stars isn't Groucho Marx 4pjy-fi but a studio ISll 1 publicity man who doesn't even give out prizes. John Spring er, a praiser for RKO, is a walking ency clopledi a on movies. Some citizens go in for remember ing baseball batting averages, but Springer knows the casts, di rectors and release dates of some 6,000 movies. Thus filmites from 6tars to columnists often buttonhole the publicist and try to stump his amazing movie memory or de mand he give them an on-the- spot quiz about who played in what films. Stars Quizzed. Too Marlene Dietrich and Mel Ferrer wanted to be quizzed when I took them to Chicago for a personal appearance," recalled Springer. "Bob Preston, John Beal and Milton Berle also have good movie memories." Another high scorer is ex- child star Roddy MacDowell, who knows about movies made when he wasn't born. Springer says Roddy knows Richard Bar thelmess credits "backward and forward." Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh also ask Springer, to quiz them. Their specialty is romantic teams, such as Janet Gaynor and Charlie Farrell. I watched Springer shine at a recent press gathering where he was surrounded by film col umnists. He was not even stumped when someone asked him who was in , "Mother Ma cree." He knew it was a 1927 silent, starring Belle Bennett and directed by John Ford. He not only quickly recited the cast of the silent "Beau Geste" (Ron ald Colman, Neil Hamilton, Ralph Forbes) but knew the sup porting players (William Powell, Noah Beery, Mary Brian, Alice Joyce, Norman Trevor, Philip de Lacey) and the director (Her bert Brennan). "I've always been a movie fan," he shrugged. "I can't re member my phone number but I can remember the cast of Birth of a Nation'." , Film studios and magazines use him as a reference library, and the -publicist writes movie memory quizzes for a film mag azine, "Films in Review," with out using film history books. One actress, Nancy Carroll, tele phones him to find out the names of her own pictures. The most frequent question asked Springer is what picture Mae Busch played in, or if there was a Mae Busch.. The late sil ent star has become a household word again since Jackie Gleason mentioned her on his television show. : "She was in 'Foolish Wives' and 'The Unholy Three'," Spring er recited. ' - ' 157 ARRESTED ' ; Portland (U.R Portland police department's radar unit had accounted for 157 arrests on traffic violation - charges , from noon Thursday until 8 a.m. Sat urday. : - ' ' ,- ' ' NEW HOOVER 237 E. Main Use Tribune Want Ads v For Best Results SAMSON'S FEED PRICES Watch for this Ad each Sunday for Samson's money-saving Feed Prices This Week's Special HAY FOR SALE 28.00 to 33.00 PER TON IN LOAD LOTS We Have Grass Hay, Grain Hay, and Alfalfa. For Prompt Delivery PHONE 2-5295 Wheat, Field Run Hen Scratch Samson's Spec. Egg Mash No. 2 Triangle X-tra Egg Pellets Samson's Special Dairy Feed Cracked Corn - " Rolled Oats .cwt $4.30 ..cwt. 4.40 Ground Oats & Barley , cwt.. .cwt. -sk. -.cwt sk. -cwt. 4.50 5.00 3.05 4.40 2.75 3.60 Samson Feed" & Seed Co. 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