Q. Have you formed or expressed an opinion whether the facts charged, if proved, amount to piracy?
A. I should not consider myself competent to form an opinion upon that until I have heard the law on the subject.
Challenge withdrawn. Juror sworn.
Panel completed.
DISTRICT ATTORNEY'S OPENING.
Mr. E. Delafield Smith opened the case for the prosecution. He said:
May it please the Court, and you, Gentlemen of the Jury:
The Constitution of the United States, in the eighth section of the first article, authorized the Congress, among other things, to define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high seas, and offences against the law of nations.
In pursuance of that authority, the Congress, on the 30th of April, 1790, made provisions contained in an act entitled "An Act for the punishment of certain crimes against the United States." I refer to the 8th and 9th sections of that act, which is to be found in the first volume of the U.S. Statutes at Large, page 112.
In the State Courts, gentlemen, it is common to say that the jury is judge both of the law and the fact; but such is not the case in the United States Courts. The Court will state to you the law, which you are morally bound to follow. But in opening this case, I refer to the statutes for the purpose of showing you precisely what the law is supposed to be under which this indictment is found, and under which we shall ask you for a verdict.