46 Conn. 204 | Conn. | 1878
The defendant was elected a grandjuror of the town of Kent on the first Monday of October, 1875, and took the oath of office in February, 1876. On the evening of July 4th, 1876, an affray took place in Kent, between one Comstock and Wellington Watson, Jr., a son of the plaintiff. The case finds that Comstock committed a breach of the peace, and that the plaintiff procured a complaint to be drawn against him for the offense, and presented it to the defendant as a grandjuror, and requested him to sign it, and that he declined to sign it, and informed the plaintiff that he should not. It is further found that the defendant is a farmer, sixty years of age, that he had never before been a grandjuror, and that he was wholly unacquainted with law and with the duties of the office; and that he acted in good faith and in the honest belief that the offense was not of sufficient magnitude to prosecute.
The question presented by the record is, whether the defendant is liable to the penalty provided under section 28, chapter 12, title 20, of the General Statutes. This section provides that “ any grandjuror who, after he is sworn, shall neglect to make seasonable complaint of any crime or misdemeanor committed within the town where he lives, which shall come to his knowledge, shall forfeit two dollars.”
What is the fair and reasonable construction of this statute ? It is clearly a penal statute, and upon principle and elementary authority should receive a liberal construction in favor of the party accused. Giving it such a construction, we think it clear, under the facts found, that the defendant ought not to be held liable in this action.
But the plaintiff claims that, the court having found that an offense had been committed, namely, a breach of the peace, and that the defendant had knowledge of it, he was divested of all discretion in the matter and was bound to prosecute, no matter how trifling the affair may have been. In answer to this claim it is sufficient to say that the court finds that the defendant acted in good faith and in the honest belief that the offense committed was not of sufficient magnitude to prosecute. This we think is equivalent to finding that the defendant had no intention to neglect his duty, but that on the contrary he intended to discharge his duty, and believed that it was f®r the best interest of the community
We therefore advise the District Court to render ■ judgment for the defendant.-
In this opinion the other judges concurred.