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
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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. : - ' ' ,- ' '
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