The CODE OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE contains these provisions: Jurisdiction of courts.]—Subject to the power of removal provided for in this chapter, courts of special sessions, except in the city and county of New York and the city of Albany, have in the first instance exclusive jurisdiction to hear and determine charges of misdemeanors committed within their respective counties as follows:

1. Petit larceny charged as a first offense.

2. Assault in the third degree.

3. Racing, running or testing the speed of any animal within one mile of the place where any court is held.

4. Wrongfully severing any produce or article from the freehold, not amounting to grand larceny.

5. Selling poisonous substances not labeled as required by law;

6. Wrongfully and maliciously removing, defacing or cutting down monuments or marked trees;

7. Wrongfully destroying or removing mile stones, mile boards or guide boards, or altering or defacing any inscription thereon;

8. Wrongfully destroying any public or toll gate or turnpike gate; 9. Intoxication of a person engaged in running any locomotive engine upon any railroad, or while acting as a conductor of a car, or train of cars, on any such railroad;

10. Setting up or drawing unauthorized lotteries, or printing and publishing an account of any such illegal lottery, game or device, or selling lottery tickets, or procuring them to be sold, or offering for sale or distributing any property depending upon any lottery, or for selling any chances in any lottery contrary to the provisions of law;

11. Unlawfully running, trotting or pacing horses or any other animals; 12. Offenses against the laws relating to excise, and the regulation of taverns, inns and hotels;

13. Making or selling slung-shot or any similar weapon;

14. Unlawfully disclosing the finding of an indictment;

15. Unlawfully bringing to or carrying letters from any state prison; 16. Unlawfully destroying or injuring any mill-dam or embankment necessary for the support of such dam;

17. Unlawfully injuring any telegraph wire, post, pier, abutment, materials or property belonging to any line of telegraph;

18. Unlawfully counterfeiting any representation, likeness, similitude or copy of private stamp, wrapper or label of any mechanic or manufacturer;

19. Malicious trespass on lands, trees or timber, or injuring any fruit or ornamental or shade tree;

20. Maliciously breaking or lowering any canal walls, or wantonly opening any lock-gate, or destroying any bridge or otherwise unlawfully injuring such canal or bridge;

21. Unlawfully counterfeiting or defacing marks on packages;

22. Unlawfully setting fire to wood or fallow land, or allowing the same to extend to lands of others, or unlawfully refusing to extinguish any fire;

23. Unlawfully or negligently cutting out, altering or defacing any mark on any logs, timber, wood or plank, floating in any waters of this state, or lying on the banks or shores of any such waters, or at any saw mills or on any island where the same may have drifted;

24. Unlawfully frequenting or attending a steamboat landing, railroad depot, church, banking institution, broker's office, place of public amusement, auction room, store, auction sale at private residence, passenger car, hotel, restaurant or at any other gathering of people;

25. Unlawfully taking and carrying away the oysters of another, lawfully planted upon the bed of a river, bay, sound or other waters within the jurisdiction of this state;

26. Removing property out of the county, with intent to prevent the same from being levied upon by execution, or secreting, assigning, conveying or otherwise disposing of property, with intent to defraud any creditor, or to prevent the property being made liable for the payment of debts, or for receiving property with such intent;

27. Unlawfully selling or giving to any Indian spirituous liquors or intoxicating drinks;

28 Driving a carriage upon any turnpike, road or highway for the purpose of running horses;

29. Cruelty to animals contrary to law;

30. Cheating at games;

31. Winning or losing at any game or play, or by any bet, as much as twenty-five dollars within twenty-four hours;

32. Selling liquors in a court-house or jail contrary to law;

33. Crimes against the provisions of existing laws for the prevention of wanton or malicious mischief;

34. Such other jurisdiction as is now provided by special statute or municipal ordinance authorized by statute. (§ 56, as amended in 1882.)

Exclusive jurisdiction.]-Upon filing with the magistrate before whom is pending a charge for any of the crimes specified in the last section, a certificate of the county judge of the county, or of any justice of the supreme court, that it is reasonable that such charge be prosecuted by indictment, and fixing the sum in which the defendant shall give bail to appear before the grand jury; and upon the defendant giving bail as specified in the certificate, all the proceedings before the justice shall be stayed; and he shall, within five days thereafter, make a return to the district attorney of the county, of all proceedings had before him upon the charge, together with such certificate and the undertaking given by the defendant thereon; and the district attorney shall present such charge to the grand jury. (Id., § 57, as substituted in 1882.)

Limitation.]-When a person is brought before a magistrate charged with the commission of any of the crimes mentioned in section fifty-six, and asks that his case be presented to the grand jury, the proceedings shall be adjourned for not less than five nor more than ten days, and if on or before the adjourned day the certificate mentioned in section fifty-seven is not filed with the magistrate before whom the charge is pending, and bail given by the defendant as therein prescribed, the magistrate shall proceed with the trial, and when the defendant is brought before the magistrate, it shall be the duty of the magistrate to inform him of his rights under section fifty-seven and this section. (Id., § 58.)

Trial and punishment of certain crimes.]-A court of special sessions having jurisdiction in the place where any of the crimes specified

The proceedings on the trial, in courts of special sessions, are now governed by the Code of Criminal Procedure. (4)

in section fifty-six is committed has jurisdiction to try and determine a complaint for such crime and to impose the punishment, prescribed upon conviction; unless the defendant obtains the certificate and gives the bail mentioned in section fifty-seven. (Id., § 59.)

(4) PROCEEDINGS IN COURTS OF SPECIAL SESSIONS AND POLICE COURTS

1. In counties other than New York.]—Assuming that a complaint has been made by some person, to a magistrate authorized to receive the same, upon a criminal charge cognizable by a court of special sessions, and that such magistrate has caused the offender to be brought before him, for examination, in the manner already pointed out (ante, p. 514), the proceedings are to be as follows:

Charge to be read to defendant, and he required to plead.] -In the cases in which the courts of sessions or police courts have jurisdiction, when the defendant is brought before the magistrate, the charge against him must be distinctly read to him, and he must be distinctly required to plead thereto. (Code Cr. Pro., § 699, as amended in 1882.)

The plea, and how put in.]-The defendant may plead the same pleas as upon an indictment, as provided in section 332. His plea must be oral, and entered upon the minutes of the court. (Id., § 700.)

Issue, how tried.]-Upon a plea other than a plea of guilty, if the defendant do not demand a trial by jury, the court must proceed to try the issue. (Id., § 701.)

Infant may waive jury trial. Peo. ex rel. Sammons v. Wandell, 21 Hun,

515.

Defendant may demand a trial by jury.]-Before the court hears any testimony upon the trial, the defendant may demand a trial by jury. (Id., § 702.)

Jury, how summoned.]-If a trial by jury be demanded the court shall issue an order to any constable of the county or marshal of the city where the offense is to be tried and having authority to execute process from the court, commanding him to summon twelve good and lawful men, qualified to serve as jurors, and not exempt from such service by law, and who shall be in no wise of kin, either to the complainant or the defendant, to be and appear before such court, at a time not more than three days from the date of the order, and at a place to be named therein, to make a jury for the trial of such offense. (Id., § 703, as amended in 1882.)

Summoning the jury, and returning the list.-The officer to whom such order shall be delivered shall execute the same fairly and impar tially, and shall not summon any person whom he shall suspect to be biased or prejudiced for or against the defendant. He shall summon the jurors personally, and shall make a list of the persons summoned, which he shall certify and annex to the order and return with it to the court. (Id., § 704.)

Punishing officer for not returning list; issuing new order for jury. If the officer to whom the order is delivered do not return it, as required by section seven hundred and four, he may be punished by the court, as for contempt; and the court must issue a new order for the summoning of jurors, in substantially the same form; upon which the same proceeding must be had as upon the one first issued. (Id., § 709, as amended in 1882.)

Depositing ballots in box]-The names of the persons returned as jurors must be written on separate ballots, folded as nearly alike as possible, so that the name cannot be seen, and must, under the direction of the court, be deposited in a box, or other convenient thing. (Id., § 705.)

Drawing the jury.]-The court must then draw out six of the ballots, successively; and if any of the persons whose names are drawn do not appear, or are challenged and set aside, such further number must be drawn as will make a jury of six, after all legal challenges have been allowed. (Id., § 706.)

See Peo. ex rel. Eckler v. Clark, 23 Hun, 374; Peo. ex rel. Murray v.
Justices, etc., 74 N. Y., 406; Peo. ex rel. Met. Bd., etc., v. Lane, 6 Abb.
N. S., 105; Duffy v. Peo., 6 Hill, 75.

Challenges.]-The same challenges may be taken by either party to the panel of jurors, or to an individual juror, as on the trial of an indictment for a misdemeanor, so far as applicable; and the challenge must, in all cases, be tried by the court. (Id., § 707.)

Talesmen, when and how ordered and summoned.]—If six of the jurors summoned do not attend, or be not obtained, the court may direct the officer to summon any of the bystanders, or others, who may be competent, and against whom there is no sufficient cause of challenge, to act as jurors. (Id., § 708.)

Jury, how constituted.]-When six jurors appear and are accepted they constitute the jury. (Id., § 710.)

Their oath.—The court must thereupon administer to the jury the following oath or affirmation: "You do swear,' [or 'you do solemnly affirm,' as the case may be,] that you will well and truly try this issue, between the people of the state of New York and A. B., the defendant, and a true verdict give, according to the evidence." (Id., § 711.)

Trial, how conducted.]-After the jury are sworn, they must sit together and hear the proofs and allegations of the parties, which must be delivered in public, and in the presence of the defendant. (Id., § 712.)

Jury may decide in court, or retire.]-After hearing the proofs and allegations, the jury may either decide in court or may retire for consideration. If they do not immediately agree, an officer must be sworn to the following effect: "You do swear that you will keep this jury together in some private and convenient place without food or

drink, except bread and water, unless otherwise ordered by the court; that you will not permit any person to speak to or communicate with them, nor do so yourself, unless it be to ask them whether they have agreed upon a verdict; and that you will return them into court when they have so agreed, or when ordered by the court." (Id., § 713.)

Delivering verdict, and entry thereof.]-When the jury have agreed on their verdict, they must deliver it publicly to the court, which must enter it in its minutes. (Id., § 714, as amended in 1882.)

Discharge of jury without verdict.]-The jury cannot be discharged, after the cause is submitted to them until they have agreed upon and rendered their verdict unless, for some cause within the meaning of sections four hundred and twenty-eight and four hundred and twenty-nine, the court sooner discharge them. (Id., § 715.)

When cause to be retried.]—If the jury be discharged, as provided in the last section, the court may proceed again to the trial, in the same manner as upon the first trial; and so on, until a verdict is rendered. (Id., § 716.)

Subpoenas, and punishing their disobedience.]-The court may issue subpoenas for witnesses, as provided in section 608, and punish disobedience thereof, as provided in section 619. (Id., § 729.)

Punishing jurors for non-attendance.]-If a person summoned as a juror fail to appear, he may be punished by a fine not exceeding five dollars, imposed by the court, by an order entered in his minutes. The order is deemed a judgment, in all respects, in favor of the poor of the town or city. (Id., § 730.)

No fees to jurors or witnesses.]-No fees are payable to a juror or witness for his service or attendance in a court of special sessions. (Id., § 731.)

When defendant requests a trial by court of special sessions, preliminary examination dispensed with.]-When the defendant, upon being brought before the magistrate, requests a trial by a court of special sessions, the preliminary examination of the case is dispensed with. (Id., § 732.)

Subpoenas; how issued; how to be indorsed; fees for.]-Whenever any magistrate shall issue any subpoena in any criminal proceeding or trial, he shall indorse upon the back thereof a memorandum showing whether the same was issued for the people or for the prisoner; and every officer or other person who shall insert the names of witnesses in a subpoena issued for the people, intended for the prisoner, with intent thereby to deceive any person, or to obtain any pay as for services in subpœnaing witnesses for the people, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor; and no such magistrate shall charge or be allowed for more than six subpoenas in any one criminal case, nor shall any board of supervisors allow any charge for issuing or serving any subpoena in any criminal case or proceeding, issued or served on behalf of a defendant. (Laws of 1845, ch. 180, § 18; 3 R. S., 7th ed., 2548.)

It has been held that it is not necessary to the validity of a conviction before a court of special sessions that the court should inform the prisoner of his right to be tried by a jury, or that he should expressly waive such right. (5 Wend., 251.) Yet it seems that the defendant's right to a trial by jury may be waived, by agreement, at any time before judgment, and he be tried by the court alone. (1 Hill, 343.)