1448                                      VETOES

May 4, 1966.

The Honorable J. Millard Tawes
Governor of Maryland
Annapolis, Maryland

Dear Governor Tawes:

At a meeting of the Rules Committee of the Court of Appeals
held on April 29, 1966 the Committee voted unanimously to request
you to veto House Bill 338. The bill provides that the attorneys
for the respective parties in civil and criminal cases shall have the
right to examine prospective jurors on the voir dire, whereas under
existing Rules 543d and 745 the matter is left to the discretion of
the trial court.

To explain our opposition to the change it may be well to state
what its proponents have in mind. In Maryland the standard proce-
dure is for counsel to submit requests for questions in writing to the
trial judge who then propounds the questions. Of course, if a proper
request is refused or any improper one granted the court's action
is subject to review on appeal.

In some states however, notably New York, counsel are allowed
a free hand. Hours, days and even weeks are exhausted in the proc-
ess, as in the famous communist trials. One author contends that al-
most every case can be won or lost through adroit examinations
of prospective jurors before the trial even starts. Counsel seek to
put forward their theory of the case and question the jurors as to
their reaction to it, cross examine jurors as to their beliefs, opinions
and past experiences on a wide variety of subjects. Aside from the
delays and irrelevancies the unfairness of this sort of trial tactics
seems manifest.

Since the rule making power was vested in the Court of Appeals
it has been the policy of the Court and its Rules Committee to yield to
the Legislature on debatable matters of policy. In the present in-
stance, however, to tie the hands of the trial courts is so far re-
moved from sound procedure that it strikes at the heart of the
judicial process and will lead we fear to gross abuse.

We earnestly request that you veto this bill.

Sincerely yours,

(s) William L. Henderson,
Chairman.

House Bill No. 367—Leasing for Private Oyster Culture

AN ACT to add new Section 708 (bb) to Article 66C of the An-
notated Code of Maryland (1957 Edition), title "Natural Resources,"
subtitle "Oysters and Clams," to follow immediately after Section
708(aa) thereof, to prohibit the leasing for private oyster culture
of submerged grounds which have been closed for a period of years
as the result of an order of the State Health Department, and to
provide when these grounds are available for leasing.