The North-Carolina standard., 1850-04-10

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prisoner must prove the provocation, the accident,
any other circumstance which goes to preclude TIL
malice, otherwise It s argued from the act itself. N,
provocaon OF words, however opprobrious, will init
lgate the motive for mortal blow, or one intended t
produce death, SO as to make it mansaughter whers
there is an intention to kill. If there is sufficient
provocation, it is mansaughter; but words are not
sufficient provocation THE Chief Justice read some
authorities from East's Crown Laws.] Malice Is
implied from any deliberate, cruel act against another
however sudden. When there is blow of deadly
dangerous weapon, with intent to do some great
bodily harm and death ensues, malice is presumed
If man, provoked by blow, with feeling Of re.
sentiment returns it. and kills his aggressor. is no,
excnsabIe, but it is less crime than murder; it is
manslaughter, with heat of blood. We see no evi-
dence in this of any provocaon heat of blood
There were angry feelings, but they do not amount to
provccation or heat of blood sufficient to render
the crime mansaughter. The purpose of Coroner's
nquestis to find how the dead body came to it's DEATH
There is no Distinction in the eye of the law, between
persons, whether it be colored pauper in country
almshouse, the most distinguished member of the
community. The same machinery of further proceed
ngs, in case the jury find that violence was used by
charge was made against an individual of having, in
some way or other, produced death. No one saw it
done The evidence is altogether circumstantia, yet
it may be sufficient to produce reasonable conviction.
Crimes are secret. There is necessity of crcum-
stantidl evidence, otherwise could not protect
ourselves from crime. Each of evidence has its
advantages There is common standard of com
parison. We may often arrive at as conviction
by circumstantial as by positive evidence The in
ference from the facts should be natural or neces-
sary one. and each fact should be proved by ITSELF
Suppose in the present the teeth found to be
those made for DR.. Parkman before his death that
fact is itself sufficient establish the conclusion that
the remains HIS if other facts are found re-
Pugnant to this. The allegation is that he entered
the Medical College about o'clock. and never came
out of it alive. Search was made during the week.
| The next Friday human remains found under
the Medical College. The place was taken possess
sion of by the police. Investigations made, and
the remains declared be those of Dr. Parkman
Is this proved! 1t is proved that he disappeared
from his home on Friday forenoon, and did not come
back to dinner, and never came back-this is estab-
lished. Has it been proved that he was seen any,
where after the hour he is said to have entered the
Thompson, Mr.. Wentworth, Mr.. Cleland, Mrs.
| Rhoades and her daughter, and Mrs. Greenough,
need not comment particularly. 1t is to be compared
with the proof on the other side. When such great
event happens, the whole community is thrown into
a committee of inquisition, and large number of
lines of inquiry Instituted, great many persons
found who have the object of the search. 1t
| became known on Saturday evening that Dr.. Park
man, man known to almost everybody, had disap-
peared. The whole community were put upon their
recollecons and would it be strange if great many
should remember that they had seen him, and yet
have been mistaken! If they had been mistaken,
would not others be found, when all intent, who
would testify that they saw him also? This negative
evidence it is true is not conclusive in ITSELF but it
goes to destroy the positive evidence, for we can
hardly conceive that if there had been mistake in
those who saw him as to his identity or the time,
great many others would not also have seen him, and
would not have recolleced it the next day. If Dr..
Parkman went to the college at the invitation of Dr..
of implied malice is put out of the question, for it
| was done by express malice. DR.. Webster admits
that DIR. Parkman came there, and, as he says, he
paid him money. 1t is in evidence that Webster staid
there that afternoon, and left there about o'clock.
! In so much DR.. Parkman has never been seen
since that afternoon If it shall appear that the remains
found in the apartments Of DR.. Webster were ident-
fed his body, the akbi is of no consequence. In
recent case in Richmond, stabbed with
knife; man was arrested who had knife in his
possession the day before; the handle of the knife
was found broken off near the deceased. 1t was
sworn to be that which belonged to the prisoner the
day before; and, on post naortem examination, a
blade was found, which by the scratched edges of
the broken steel, tailed with that of the handle This
| circumstance was allowed great weight. When a
circumstance of this kind established, then the
absence of any testimony to the conrary-tl,e proof
| OF concurrent crcumsances-fas strong tendency
to strengthen the conclusion. When party has at
tempted to suppress proofs, the circumstance acts
| prove consciousness Of guilt. When we apply
these principles to case, certain rules to be ap
Piled First, the circumstances upon which the
cusion depends are to be fully proved second, all
must connect together; no one must be inconsistent
with an act OF this nature or abi. An abi means
elsewhere. If man is charged with being in one
place, and he can prove himself in another at that
| time, then he must escape. This is a mode of de-
fence which easily suggests itself and may be
red by little contrivance. Third, the circumstances
must not only limit the guilt of the party, but they
must be such as to exclude every other reasonable
hypothesis They must exclude all reasonable doubt.
What is a reasonable doubt7 1t must be more than
probability. The facts must be such as to impli-
cate the defendant also. We must now, gentlemen,
apply these to the present case. The indictment
| charges J. w. Webster with the murder of Dr..
George Parkman, on the 23d of November last. The
Indictment has been referred by the defence, and
we have taken the matter into consideration It is
the rule OF law that the means and manner of the
crime shall be set forth, so that the prisoner may
prepare for his defence yet if death is produced in
some mode the law will let the criminal es-
cape. 1t has general rules which provide for new
cases. The last count sets forth that the prisoner
assaulted and killed George Parkman in some man.
| ner or by some weapon unknown to the jury. The
court are of opinion that this is good count. Dr.
Parkman have been assaulted with chlorofom or
ether, which stupifed and made him insensible, and
then death would have been caused by the weapons
to the jury unknown; and the jury were only bound
to set forth all they knew. That is necessary to be
proved. First it is necessary to prove the corpus
decf or the killing, so to exclude suicide or
cdent. DR.. Parkman was in good health, as appears
| by Mr.. Shaw, that morning.
We come now to the teeth. These the prin-
cpal signs Of Identification That the other parts
of the body did not differ in any material respect
from Parkman's, proves little in ITSELF but becomes
very important, If it is made that the teeth were
his 1t is serious inquiry, whether By the cores
Pondence OF the teeth to the mould the identity
be made out. We must rely only on the evidence
of those who have made this anhiact fheiv .fndv