direction, and shall be forthwith filed by him, with the inquisition, in the office of the clerk or the district court of the county.' If, however, the person charged with the commission of the offence be arrested before the inquisition can be filed, the coroner shall deliver the same, with the testimony taken, to the magistrate before whom such person may be brought, who shall return the same, with the depositions and statement taken before him, to the office of clerk of the district court of the county.' If the jury find that the person was killed by another, under circumstances not excusable or justifiable by law, or that his death was occasioned by the act of another by criminal means, and the party committing the act be ascertained by the inquisition, and be not in custody, the coroner shall issue a warrant, signed by him, with his name of office, into one or more counties, as may be necessary for the arrest of the person charged.' The coroner's warrant may be served in any county, and the officer serving it shall proceed thereon in all respects as upon a warrant of arrest on an information before a magistrate, except that when served in another county, it need not be endorsed by a magistrate of that county.' The coroner must, within thirty days after an inquest upon a dead body, deliver to the county treasurer any money or other property which may be found upon the body, unless claimed in the mean time by the legal representatives of the deceased. If he fail to do so, the treasurer may proceed against the coroner, to recover the same, by a civil action in the name of the county.' Upon the delivery of money to the treasurer, he shall place it to the credit of the county. If it be other property, he shall, within thirty days, sell it at public auction, upon reasonable public notice, and shall, in like manner, place the proceeds to the credit of the county.' If the money in the treasury be demanded within six years by the legal representatives of the deceased, the treasurer shall pay it to them, after deducting the fees and expenses of the coroner and of the county in relation to the matter, or the same may be so paid at any time thereafter, upon the order of the Court of Sessions of the county.' 1 Wood's Dig. art. 483–447. Before auditing and allowing the account of the coroner, the Court of Sessions' shall require from him a statement in writing, of any money or other property found upon persons on whom inquests have been held by him, verified by his oath, to the effect that the statement is true, and that the money or property mentioned in it has been delivered to the legal representatives of the deceased or to the county treasurer.' If the office of coroner be vacant, or he be absent, or unable to attend, the duties of his office may be performed by any justice of the peace of the county, with the like authority, and subject to the same obligations and penalties as the coroner.' In the counties of San Diego, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Sonoma, Santa Clara, Monterey, a coroner shall receive five dollars for each inquest he may hold, and twenty cents for each mile necessarily travelled to hold an inquest. In all other counties of the state a coroner shall receive ten dollars for each inquest he may hold, and twenty-five cents for each mile necessarily travelled to hold an inquest. Coroners' fees shall be county charges.1 A justice of the peace acting as coroner, shall be entitled to the same fees, payable in the same manner.' When an inquest shall be held by the coroner, and no person shall offer to take charge of the body of the deceased, it shall be his duty to cause said body to be decently interred, and in case that there shall not be sufficient property belonging to the estate of the deceased to pay the necessary expenses of the said burial, said expenses shall be a legal charge upon his county. The coroner shall be entitled to receive the sum of two dollars out of his county treasury, for attending to the burial of such dead body.' 1 Wood's Dig. art. 433-447. ? This provision in relation to money or other property of the deceased, controlled by the statute anthorizing the Public Administrator to take charge of such effects, and by the decision of the Supreme Court, declaring that the jurisdiction of the Court of Sessions is limited to criminal mat ters only. FORMS. Coroner's Subpana for Jurors. State of California, } BS: The People of the State of California send greeting: To Mr. A. B.: We command you that, all and singular business and excuses being laid aside, you be and appear before J. M. McNulty, county coroner for the county of San Francisco, at the police judges' court-room, on the first day of May, 1859, at seven o'clock, P. M., then and there to serve as a juror, in a certain inquisition now pending before said county coroner and herein fail not, or answer the contrary, at your peril. Given under my hand, this first day of May, A. D. 1859. Coroner's Subpoena for Witnesses. State of California, County of San Francisco, The People of the State of California send greeting: To Mr. John Minn: We command you that, all and singular business and excuses being laid aside, you be and appear before J. M. McNulty, county coroner for the county of San Francisco, at my office, on the fifth day of July, 1859, at twelve o'clock M., then and there to testify and give evidence in a certain inquisition now pending before said county coroner-and herein fail not, or answer the contrary at your peril. Given under my hand, this second day of July, A. D. 1859. J. M. MCNULTY, County Coroner. Coroner's Subpana for a Surgeon or Physician. State of California, City and County of San Francisco, ss: The People of the State of California send greeting: To William A. Douglass, M. D.: We command you that, all and singular business and excuses being laid aside, you be and appear before the undersigned, county coroner for the city and county of San Francisco, at on the day of then and there to inspect the body of a certain deceased person, and to testify and give evidence in a certain inquisition now pending before said county coroner and herein fail not or answer the contrary at your peril. Given under my hand, this , A. D. 1859. day of J. M. MCNULTY, County Coroner. Oath to Coroner's Jury. You and each of you do solemnly swear that you will truly inquire into the cause of the death of the person whose body is now lying here [or, whose body you have just viewed], who he was, when, where and by what means he came to his death, and into the circumstances attending his death and render a true verdict thereon, according to the evidence afforded you, or arising from the inspection of the body. So help you God. Oath of Witness before Coroner's Inquest. You do solemnly swear [or, affirm] that the evidence you shall give upon the inquest now pending, concerning the death of A. B. [or, the person now lying here, or, the person upon whom inquisition is being made], shall be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. So help you God. Inquisition by Coroner's Jury. State of California, City and County of San Francisco, } Before J. M. MCNULTY, Coroner. In the matter of the inquisition upon the body A. B. of deceased. on the We, the undersigned, the jurors summoned to appear before J. M.McNulty, the coroner of the city and county of San Francisco, at day of , 1859, to inquire into the cause of the death of A. B. [or, of a person found drowned in the Bay of San Francisco, or, found lying dead in the street, or as the case may be, whose name is unknown], having been duly sworn according to law, and having made such inquis tion, after inspecting the body, and hearing the testimony adduced, upon our oaths, each and all do say, that we find the deceased was named A. B., was a native of years, that he came to his death on the 1859, in this county, by drowning, having been found in the Bay of San Francisco, at or near the Washington street wharf, and that whether the same was accidental or intentional we have no means of knowing [or, by poison administered wilfully by his own hand, or, by the hand of, or, by the means or instigation of some other person to the jury unknown, or, and we further find, that we , aged about believe C. D. to be the person by whose act the death of the said A. B. is occasioned-stating the facts, as the case may be]. All of which we duly certify by this inquisition, in writing, by us signed, this day of 1859. G. H. I. K., &c. Coroner's Certificate of Death. Office of the Coroner of the City and County of San Francisco, I, J. M. McNulty, coroner, do hereby certify, that I held an inquisition upon the body of Peter Joram, a native of London, England, aged thirty-seven years, at No. 29 Washington street, on the second day of May, 1859. Verdict of the jury-death from intemperance. And I further certify, that I interred the body at the Lone Mountain Cemetery, in this county, on the third day of May, 1859. Dated, this third day of May, 1859. J. M. MCNULTY, County Coroner. Coroner's Warrant.. State of California, City and County of San Francisco, SS: The People of the State of California send greeting, to any sheriff, constable, marshal, or policeman in said state. An inquisition having this day been found by a coroner's jury before me, stating that a man, named George Hax, has come to his death by criminal means, by the act of a man named Richard Stew, you are therefore commanded forthwith to arrest the above-named Richard Stew, and take him before the nearest or most accessible magistrate in this county. Given under my hand, in the city and county of San Francisco, this tenth day of May, 1859. J. M. MCNULTY, County Coroner. |