New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1845-12-10
Hanging before Trial.

,oen,s az am, time but the practice OF condennlng
and Furnishing an accused person in newspapers and
barrooms before he has had chance to defend him.
selfor be heard is 30 as sometimes 10 meet
what il generally deserves, a severe rcbuke- Such
a case recently occurred in Baltimore, and in the
general comment on wha, was alleged 10 nave
occurred there, by which not alone the aile5eo
prits and their kindred were sufferers ou' '''e
cary of tina; city was assailed with desperate
for discrediting wholly or in part the charges prefer
..d and admitting the accused 10 bail. Philadelphia
and NewYork journals, through correspondents and
otherwise echoed the camor, and i, seemed al one
time as though the Judges would be torn from the
Bench and the accused lynched In the streets YET
two Of the latter have since been tired and Inc man
accusation in neither case sustained, and at length
public opinion seems subsiding into general con-
vic,on that committing officers may sometimes know
wha: they are about and Judges decide correctly, or
a, least as nearly SO those who hear small part
OF story. a correspondent has forwarded US from
Baltimore full account of the facts developed IN
the two recent trials requesting their publication as
an act Of justice the accused; bat this we cannon
make room for and the inherent responsiveness Oh te
subject and the fact that The Tribune but ianty Il
al all chirned in with the general clamor, renders
briefer and less repusive summary all iha' can DC
required Of u.s. Such we proceed TO give
The story which SO deeply and justly eXci'eo Tue
public indignation and sympathy purpor'ed 'ha' d
Young German girl residing in Baltimore, who had
been out spending the Sabbath with some friends IN
The country on The Hooksiown road, returning IN
the evening accompanied by her brother, when she
fr1htpne1 by
voupp villains By whom she subjected TO the most
shameful outrages TheyouDgment $50 the story
identified and arrested but Judge before whom they
we're taken refused incarcerate them and held them
=, answer on moderate BAIL Such the ground OF the
excitement and such $50 far regarded the person out
raged was the testimony herself and her companion
Oh the examination.
On the trials of the young men, however the io
lowing facts were elected;
That the prosecutrix Margaresta Ehemann, was wo
man OF some 80 years Of age-had been spending the
Sabbath not where she said but drinking various places
in HqnDv Aey and similar resorts Fes Point where
she remained until near 10 ocIock-that her companion
tMchael syler was not her brother. they both had
testified nor in any legal related to her-tha her re
lat;yes who accompanied her to this country had al
abandoned her on accoun, of her extremely ewd and in
decent behavior on the route hther both by land and on
the ocean, (of which ample and disgusting specifications
were given by the witnesses)-thet arriving at Bat
more her brothers refused stop at the
snme house with her. one of them returning 10 Ger
MANY and the other taking her egtimae child born in
Germany and removing the West. 1t fully appeared
on the trial that she and Sycr had gone voluntarily to the
desolate place where she was supposed to have been
dragged or carried and that Syer had declared their pur
pose in going thither impure one-having gone CON
sideraby beyond the place where she lived and out oil
well lighted street into dark untraveled quarter where
the foul assault. and outrage alleged 10 have taken
place and where though the night and the place were
intensely dark she unhesitatingy that the ive
young men arrested were the criminals She swore on
one trial that she did and the other that she did not
make cutlery We, the Railroad watchman was all the
time within twenty rods and heard noise, and when
he and the city wachmen came up on the alarm being
given by Syler she her feet and readily accom-
panied them hotel, kept by German named Mosher,
to whose wife she said she had been abused but did not
charge the horrible crime which she aerward tesf
ed nor did they hear Of such charge till they saw II in
the newspapers Going thence to the watch house she
there laughed and amused herself with the appearance
oil a drunken woman and nothing in her conduct that
night or day supported the idea that she had been
treated as she swore on the trial The Jury therefore,
the first Chat of Roberts, brought in verdict oil
assault with intent but the time adopted series
OF resolutions declaring that the complainant had pcrJur
cd herself IL would that least reliable wit
should have been required to M the identity OF one
or more total strangers in dark place intensely
dark night and il the witness could not be believed rs
to the character of the offence committed, which she
must know she could hardly be trusted to tell who co
mtied it which but possible that she stoHd know
On the trial the second against Sterling the Jury
did not agree-sevcn for scqual, five for conviction
aud discharged. We presume no more oil the ac-
cused will be tried, and that the Judge who originally
heard the complaint and decided 20 admit to bail would
be justified by those most vocerous in his condem
nation at the outset when he had heard the testimony
and they had only heard Of it. Aud We think no one
had heard all the testimony of and concerning the
complainant (whose positive contradictions are but in
part alluded 10 in this summary would wish to have any
one convicted of horrible crime on such testimony
OF the boys accused four from 10 10 Is years of
age