McNally, James B. M.

English

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How to Conduct a Criminal Case (Rev. Ed.)(Book Review)

St. John's University School of Law

St. John's Law Review Volume 11 Number 1 Volume 11, November 1936, Number 1 Article 31 May 2014 How to Conduct a Criminal Case (Rev. Ed.)(Book Review) James B. M. McNally Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.law.stjohns.edu/lawreview Recommended Citation McNally, James B. M. (1936) "How to Conduct a Criminal Case (Rev. Ed.)(Book Review)," St. John's Law Review: Vol. 11 : No. 1 , Article 31. Available at: https://scholarship.law.stjohns.edu/lawreview/vol11/iss1/31 This Book Review is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at St. John's Law Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in St. John's Law Review by an authorized editor of St. John's Law Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact selbyc@stjohns.edu. 158 ST. JOHN'S LAW REVIEW [ VOL. 11Section 77B of the Bankruptcy Act by the adoption of official forms and thepromulgation of appropriate General Orders and local rules. The work alsoembraces forms on review and appeal.The "Practice Hints", notes and reminders are valuable, while the inclusionof the Bankruptcy Act, General Orders and Equity Rules will prove veryhelpful in serving well the needs of the practitioners in the field. The book iswell arranged, compiled and indexed. It is a useful, practical handbook offorms, and should find a place on the library table of every bankruptcy andreorganization practitioner.SAMUEL C. DUBERSTEIN.*How TO CONDUCT A CRIMINAL CAsE. Revised edition. By William HarmanBlack. New York: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1935, pp. lxxvi, 483.The last two editions of this work, the first "A Real Criminal Case", andthe second "How to Conduct a Criminal Case", met with kind considerationfrom the profession and the author may again be assured that this edition willhave the hearty approval of both the bench and the bar. As stated in itspreface, legislative enactments since the last edition was printed in 1929 havemade the third edition necessary. The book outlines in chronological orderevery step in a criminal cause from the time of the arrest of a defendant tothe final disposition of the proceeding. Each separate step is described in itsorder and all alternative treatment is plainly indicated.Based upon the author's experience as Acting District Attorney in thelargest criminal law office in the world and thirteen years as a Trial Judge inthe Supreme Court, it may be described as a ready reference to important andmuch used criminal procedure and forms, thus giving a lawyer who devoteshis attention to civil practice an extremely useful volume in calling quickly tomind something that he once knew but has since forgotten. The book can berelied upon to give purposeful direction to a layman as well as to a practicingattorney. A graphic index reference chart, visualizing an entire criminal pro-ceeding, accompanies the book, and a cursory glance at this chart enables thereader to determine the status of a criminal cause with very little effort. Inwriting the book it appears to have been the purpose of the author to place inthe hands of the public a practical working manual of criminal procedure inplain, ordinary, everyday language with a view to a complete understanding ofevery point which may be raised in the course of a criminal proceeding fromthe time of the commission of the crime to the moment of the execution ofsentence or acquittal of the defendant.Technical motions, such as motions to dismiss indictments and motions toinspect the Grand Jury minutes, are treated completely and in a very under-standable and colloquial fashion. An attorney who has devoted his attentionto civil causes and is preparing for the trial of a criminal proceeding mayascertain by a reference to its pages such commonplace information as the* Professor of Law, St. John's University School of Law.BOOK REVIEWSexact mechanics of empanelling a jury in a criminal cause. Even a defendant'smotion to dismiss an indictment on the trial, and the verbiage used on themotion when made orally, are set forth in clear and concise language. Suchunusual subjects as the removal of cases from the Court of Special Sessions inNew York City under certification by a justice of the Supreme Court, or ajudge of General Sessions, or a county judge in counties other than New YorkCounty, or that it is reasonable that the charge be prosecuted by indictment, apractice authorized in some cases by the Inferior Criminal Courts Act, aretreated at length in the volume. On that subject there is very little literature.Interesting, involved and practical matters, such as extraditions, habeas corpus,demurrers and bail bonds, are treated in such a frank and understandablemanner that a reading of the pages devoted to these subjects is genuine pleasure.All in all, the volume is a well-written, practical work arranged in orderlyfashion, telling a "simple, understandable story of the procedure followed in acriminal case from an arrest to a final sentence or discharge, with a graphicchart, a graphic index, and accurate forms for every step."JAMES B. M. McNALLY.*CASES ON CRIMINAL LAW AND PROCEDURE. CASES ON CRIMINAL LAW. ThirdEdition. By William E. Mikell. St. Paul: West Publishing Co., 1933,pp. xxiii, 775. CASES ON CRIMINAL PROCFDURE. Third Edition. By WilliamE. Mikell. St. Paul: West Publishing Co., 1935, pp. x, 303.In 1933, Professor Mikell published the third edition of his "Cases onCriminal Law". The present volume, under the title of "Cases on CriminalLaw and Procedure", contains a reprint of the 1933 publication on CriminalLaw and the original third edition of "Cases on Criminal Procedure".The author does not indicate in either of his prefaces whether or not thetwo topics are to be treated jointly in the classroom. If they are to be sotreated, much would depend upon the ingenuity of the instructor in weavingthe cases into a logical whole, inasmuch as no attempt in this direction is foundin the volume. On the other hand, if the topics are to be treated consecutively,little is to be gained from co-publication unless it be that cross referencing ismade less laborious.The topics on Criminal Procedure are arranged in the standard methodThe cases are selected from a variety of jurisdictions and are naturally intendedto construe fundamental principles, rather than to impart the technique ofprosecution in any specific state. Supplementing the cases are many "pertinentsections" of the American Law Institute's Code of Criminal Procedure, theinclusion of which tends to picture more fully the various steps in the prosecu-* Professor of Law, St. John's University School of Law.'-See Book Review, Mikell, Cases on Criminal Law (3d ed. 1933),Edward J. O'Toole (1934) 8 ST. JOHN'S L. REv. 443. In view of this, onlythe materials in "Cases on Criminal Procedure" are reviewed here.1936 ]

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How to Conduct a Criminal Case (Rev. Ed.)(Book Review)

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