466

THE GREEN BAG

by law. Nor shall any tutor, curator, pupil, or spouse be obliged to declare against the accused, nor his relations by consan guinity or affinity in the direct line, ascend ing or descending without limitation of degrees, and in the collateral line to the second degree inclusive; but if these persons voluntarily wish to testify, and after the judge shall have advised them that they may abstain from doing so, their declara tion shall be received, the record showing the circumstances. Each witness must be examined separately by the judge, and in the presence of the secretary or the assisting witnesses, and no one else shall be present at the examination. The witnesses shall protest to speak the truth, shall be speci fically warned of the law against false tes timony, and shall give their declaration, orally, which shall be written down as nearly as may be in the same words used by the witness, and when finished shall be read over by or to him. and when found correct shall be signed by him. If sufficient reason should appear to suspect that any witness has testified falsely or contradicted himself in his statements, he may be at once arrested, and a process begun against him on the spot. The "facing of the witnesses" with the accused, as established by the Constitution as one of the sacred "Rights of Man," is known in Spanish as careo (from carear, to face), and I shall use this Spanish word, as being the most explicit, in speaking of this very interesting phase of the process. It is provided, in this respect, by the Code of Penal Procedure, that the careos of the witnesses among themselves and with the accused, or of the witnesses and the accused with the complainant, shall be had during the instruction as well as on the trial, that in each instance one single witness shall be "faced" with another witness, or with the accused, or with the complainant, and that when the careo takes place during the instruction no other persons shall be present except those to be "faced." The careo is

effected by reading over to the witnesses those parts of the respective declarations which are considered to be contradictory, and calling the attention of the "parties faced" to the contradictions, so that they may have it out between themselves, and thus if possible develop what is the truth of the matter in dispute. Any documentary evidence which may have been adduced during the instruction shall be added to the record, after notifica tion to the parties. If the Ministerio Pub lico is of the opinion that proofs of the crime may be found in the correspondence of the accused through the public mails, the judge may, upon request, order such correspond ence to be detained and delivered to him; and all such letters shall be opened by the judge, in the presence of the secretary, of the Ministerio Publico, and of the accused, if he is to be found; the judge will then read them privately and if they contain nothing relevant he will deliver them to the accused or some one for him, first sealing them in a new envelope; but if they contain matter bearing on the crime, he will advise the accused of the contents, and will add the letters to the record for future use against the accused. It is provided that the process of instruc tion must be conducted with all possible brevity, and be concluded at the latest within six months; and the Penal Code provides that if the instruction should exceed the time above fixed, the judge may credit the excess time on the punishment which may be inflicted after judgment. If the judge of instruction, upon the con clusion of this investigation, be of opinion that a crime, triable by jury, has been established, he shall order that the record be laid before the Ministerio Publico, the accused and his defender, within the strict limit of six days, that they may offer any further proofs which they may have, in which event the judge shall take such fur ther evidence within the term of fifteen days; at the end of which time the judge