This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1917 edition. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER III PUBLIC PROSECUTION AND PROSECUTORS THE public prosecutor (or district attorney as he is frequently termed) is a public servant, representing the sovereign power of the state, by whose authority and in whose name, under the Constitution in most jurisdictions, all prosecutions must be conducted. He is vested with the right to determine, whether or not a criminal prosecution shall be pressed to trial. His powers are far reaching and his resources unlimited. Being the representative of the whole people, who create his office, he has the respect and the confidence of the courts. He is the legal adviser to the grand jury, attends its sessions, and presents charges against accused persons for its action. He is an important part of the public's machinery of justice. It is constantly asserted that the district attorney, being a quasi-judicial officer, is required to jprotect the rights_of an accused person; that it is his duty to establish innocence as well as to prove guilt, and that, therefore, there is no need for such an official as a public defender. However alluring this viewpoint may "be, "and however we may be tempted to embrace it, the cold, sober truth is, that district attorneys are chosen to prosecute crime; the public pays and expects them to prosecute; their work and future success, political and otherwise, are often measured by the number of convictions they obtain. Even with the best intention to give an impartial and unbiased administration of their office, district attorneys, being mere human beings, cannot successfully play the double r61e of prosecutor and defender. If they were so perfectly constituted that they could properly safeguard the rights of the accused, there would be no need for private counsel to...