Code Henry

If the suspect is not present, the seized objects shall be inventoried and placed in a box or bag, on the closure of which the judge shall apply a strip of paper with his seal at both ends.

If the nature of the crime or offense is such that there is reason to presume that proof may be obtained through papers, documents, and effects in the suspect's possession, the judge shall proceed immediately to the suspect's domicile, to search for everything he deems useful for discovering the truth of the matter.

If the suspect is domiciled in another parish, the judge shall immediately notify the lieutenant judge of the suspect's domicile; and the latter shall be required to carry out without any delay, his transport as stated above, and wherever necessary, for the purpose of conducting the search prescribed by the preceding article.

The delegated lieutenant judge shall seize the papers or effects found in the suspect's domicile that may serve either for conviction or for discharge, and shall draw up an official report thereof.

The official report drawn up by the judge, other than the one of the place of the offense, shall be sent under seal, together with the seized papers or effects, to the judge of the place of the offense.

All seized objects, including those presented to the suspect, shall be closed and sealed, if they are of a nature that writing cannot be inscribed upon them; they shall be placed in a vessel or in a bag, at the closure of which the judge shall attach a strip of paper, which he shall seal with his seal at both ends.

The operations prescribed by articles 87, 88, 89, 90, 92, and 96, shall be carried out in the presence of the suspect, if he has been arrested; the objects shall be presented to him, for the purpose of recognizing and initialing them, if applicable; and in the case of refusal to do so or inability to write, mention shall be made thereof in the official report.

In the case of a flagrant offense, and when the offense may be classified as a crime, the judge shall have the suspects present arrested, against whom serious indications exist.

If the suspect is not present or could not be arrested, the judge shall issue against him an order directing that the suspect be brought in. This order is called a Mandat d'Amener (Warrant to Bring). The officer of the maréchaussée shall be required to execute it.

The judge shall immediately interrogate the suspect brought before him, and shall then order that he be taken into custody, deposited, and registered at the parish ban du roi, if the case warrants, until the moment of his transfer to the ban du roi of the place where sits the seneschal court from which the issuing judge derives jurisdiction; which order shall be presented to the director of the ban du roi, and the operative part inscribed in the margin of the prison register, under penalty of eight gourdes fine against the maréchaussée officer and the director.

The judge shall have himself accompanied, as needed, by one or two persons who, by virtue of the art or profession they practice, shall be deemed more capable of giving an opinion on the nature and circumstances of the crime or offense.

If it concerns a violent death, or a death whose cause is unknown or suspected, the judge shall have himself assisted by one or two surgeons or physicians, who, after having taken an oath to fulfill, in honor and conscience, the commission given to them, shall examine the state of the corpse, and shall state in writing their opinion on the cause, circumstances, and appearances of the death.

If the corpse has been buried, the judge shall order its exhumation; he shall have it identified, if possible, and shall establish its condition, as prescribed by the preceding article; he shall draw up an official report thereof, which he shall sign at the bottom of each page, together with the experts, physicians or surgeons who assisted him, and those who identified the corpse.

The official reports, accounts, acts, papers, weapons, instruments, and all other objects for conviction or discharge, drawn up or seized pursuant to the preceding articles, by a parish lieutenant judge, shall be transmitted by him without delay, on a numbered and initialed inventory, to the clerk's office of the seneschal court of the district; at the same time, the suspect shall be transferred, under the escort of the maréchaussée, from the parish ban du roi to that of the city where the seneschal court sits.

The above provisions, for cases of flagrant offense, shall also be observed whenever, in the case of a non-flagrant offense committed inside a house, the head of the household requests the judge to establish it.

In the case of flagrant offense and in those assimilated thereto by articles 82 and 105, the seneschals or their lieutenants may directly, and on their own authority, perform all acts attributed to the parish lieutenant judges, without needing the king's prosecutor's conclusions.

If offenses or crimes have been committed by soldiers or military employees, outside their service, the necessary proceedings to establish the corpus delicti or crime, and to preserve the evidence, shall be conducted by the judges of the places where it was committed, who are required to arrest the suspects or to request the garrison commander or the lieutenant de roi of the locality to have them arrested. These judges shall hear witnesses, seize the evidence, draw up an official report, and send to said lieutenant de roi a certified copy with inventory of all the proceedings, as well as all objects they have seized, which they shall have sealed and stamped. And the suspect, if the judge had ordered his arrest, shall be transferred to the ban du roi of the residence of the lieutenant de roi.

Upon receipt of the official reports, papers, and effects sent in accordance with article 104 above, the clerk shall bring them to the attention of the seneschal court judges; who shall designate one of them to conduct the investigation of the case against the perpetrators and accomplices of the crime or offense.

Any person who believes himself to have been injured by a crime or offense may file a complaint before the lieutenant judge or the seneschal court, and constitute himself a civil party.

The complaint shall be made by petition, which shall contain the statement of the facts, the time, the hour, the place, and all the circumstances of the offense or crime, and in addition the conclusions of the complainant; it shall be signed by an attorney.