Quasqueton guardian. (Quasqueton, Buchanan County, Iowa) 1856-1858, 1858-01-14
Conviction and Sentence of BOYD.

sometime since LOT roDDlng the mail al
this place, was brought before the Uni
ted States District Court at DUBUQUE
Judge LOVE presiding, on Thursday last
and after somewhat heightened trial
convicted of the offence charged. The
jury having recommended him to the
mercy of the court, on account of his
youth and former good character, he re-
ceived the lightest sentence the court
could bestow--two years imprisonment
in the State Penitentiary. Born was
ably defended by his counsel, Messrs.
SAMUELs, ALLISON, ADAMS and LOWELL,
but the testimony against him was clear
and convincing. w
From the following, which we find in
] the Express d: Herald, it will be seen,
that in order to satisfy the ill-feelings
which he has frequently expressed to-
wards our townsman Mr.. HARDIN, he en-
deavored to implicate him in the matter.
His assertions, however, show their own
falsity, and did not receive a particle
more of credeHce from those who heard
them uttered, than they do here. Any
little sympathy which heretofore may
have been felt for him, from the suppo-
sition that this was his first offence, must
be entirely obliterated by this outrageous
attempt to blast the reputation or throw
suspicion upon an honest and worthy
man, and leads US almost 10 regret the
leniency shown him. No one in this
community doubts Mr.. HARDIN's freedom
from any completely in BoYD's crime, and
this attempt at revenge, and the stolid in
difference which he has generally mani
tested since his arrest, shows clearly that
BofD is farther stepped in villainy than
his youth and former reputation would
seem to indicate.
The following are the closing proceed
ings in the case, as given by the Express
d Herald
At ten o'clock yesterday morning,
John S. Boyd, charged and found guilty
of robbing the y. S. mail at Quasqueton,
Buchanan Co., on the 9th of August
last, was brought into Court.
A motion was made for new trial by
his counsel on the following grounds
LIST. The Grand Jury was not selected
by an order of the Court.
Cd. There was no sworn officer Pros
ecuGng Attorney of the Court before the
Grand Jury.
3D.. The Petit Jury was not selected
by lot in accordance with the form pre-
scribed by the Code.
4th. The prisoner was not given the
privilege and right to challenge before
the Grand Jury.
Mr.. Barker replied that it was not nee
essary for an officer TO appear before the
Grand Jury, and in regard to selecting
the Petit Jury by lot, it was now too late
to offer such objections, an cited authori-
ties to the Court to substantiate the point
Mr.. Allison, on the part of the defense,
referred the Court TO the journal, wherein
no entry was made, at the time of the set
ting of the Grand Jury, of Mr.. Bakers
being prosecuting Attorney for this Court,
but only subsequent to that time.
The Court replied that it was inmate
rial, as it could be so ordered on the min
utes.
After the motion was argued to some
length, and with much skill, the Court,
taking up the points in their order, final
" oyerruled the motion.
The prisoner asked, through his coun-
sci, to address the Court.
The Court, after stating to him the
verdict of the jury, asked him if he had
aught to say before sentence should be
passed. With this privilege, and weeping
during the whole recitation, Boyd made
a statement, of which we give the sub
stance. He asserted he was innocent of
the charge, Notwithstanding the jury had
brought in verdict of guilty--that on
the night of the robbery he went into the
office and found two men in the act of APP
propriatiug the contents of the letter.
one of these men he could not tell where
he was the other was in Court. These
men, when they found they were caught
in the act, proposed to buy him off with
the $500 certiicatc-hc refused it, say
ing he did not want to be bought off, but
they insisted on his taking it, not as
" hush money" but as a gift. In accep
ing it he inquired whether they had
come honestly by it, and they assured
him they had. He counselled them to
destroy the 81 600 draft, as he didn't
wish the parties to be losers by it. He
further remarked that he had come to
Dubuque to see his sick cousin as testi
fed to, and on that occasion he had ne
gotiated the certificate of deposit; but
he was innocent of the theft, and if the
man who was guilty had the least spirit
of man in him, he would never let him
(Boyd) suffer for the offensc by incar-
ceration in the States Prison, but would
confess the charge-he respected the
mans family, they had nursed him while
sick in Quasqueton, and he didn't like
the task imposed on him. Here the
prisoner looked around the court room
until his eye rested on S. w. Hardin, the