Download or read book Journal of the American Institute of Criminal Law and Criminology, Vol. 2 written by Criminal Law and Criminology Institute and published by Forgotten Books. This book was released on 2017-11-05 with total page 954 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Excerpt from Journal of the American Institute of Criminal Law and Criminology, Vol. 2: May 1911-March 1912 The common law rule that the trial judge, in charging the jury, may comment on the evidence, may express an opinion as to the weight of the evidence, or any part of it, provided he does not give binding instructions and leaves the jury free to determine the questions of fact, has always prevailed in Pennsylvania. This is the present practice in England. Profs. Lawson and Keedy, in their report on Criminal Procedure in England, in the January number of this journal, say: After coun sel have addressed the jury the judge reviews the evidence in detail, and directs the jury as to the law governing the facts. In this summing up the judge generally expresses his opinion regarding the weight and importance of the evidence. This has always been regarded as a very important function of an English judge. This important judicial function has been preserved in the federal courts and in some of the state courts, although it has, unfortunately, been much limited or abol ished in many of the states. It is certainly a valuable function and of great aid to the jury, especially in cases with complicated facts and much testimony. Our loose systems of pleading multiply subsidiary questions of fact in most cases and render necessary a large amount of evidence. The summary of the testimony by the trial judge and the directing of their attention to the salient points and as to where the weight of evidence lies are important elements of the trial by jury. In states where constitutional or statutory limitations have been placed on this power of the judges it is believed that experience has universally shown that such changes were unwise and detrimental. They are being severely criticized, especially of late, in all states where they exist. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.