Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1859-10-07

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card to the hands OF the parties that McD
nut one hand into his pocket and reaching
around the body of Mex opened the knife
with his other hand. and the knife was
sent into his body by their falling
In renlv tn the argument of the prosecu-
ton. that uni. s. Med was in danger OF De-
inc killed. or of receiving great bodily harm
he had no justification for using the khiie
he asked the jury to place themselves In the
same situation. and see whether or not they |
should consider themselves in danger OF great
hodilv harm. when man Threatened TO
kick their faces off from them Mr. Chi'Iehueh
made mention next of the indlctmentoi the
other two on the same charge with McOoh-
nell. Logan four months agb had said moth
ing ofary remark made by the tall lAan' but
now had raked up from his memory AFTER 50
l,pr n time. the recollection that Ban had
repll,d to the QUESTION of Mckeen s. sup
nnsa n WAS eith.r of us The Court hao al
lowed the circumstances reg trding the SAT
ur,lay night previous to come bel re the Ju-
nv for their consideration and to nave what
ever weight they should consider que 10 IT,
The prisoners had, knowing Mcheen was
in the store. according to the piosecu.ioa'
gone to the store and called HIM OUT anu Tue
next moment seeing M1Sher on the otner s'de
of the street. and taking him Tor Mcheen,
had turned directly about and pursued hiin'
Rat Mr. Moshpr does not believe either one
of the resnondents 10 have been the persons,
and there WAS no evidence that Mcdonnell
or Kelly were about on the night OF the l4th
of Nav. If there was anything IN that affair
it was simply this
They saw a light and were attracted across
the street-made some jokes about ''old tin
ker" &c, whic those within rightly con-
sidered as mere boys play. In regard to the
remarks of some one OF the respondents ''but
let's 90 and see what the fellow has got to
say about it, 'and the reply OF the other, mo
let's not 90 where is the necessity OF draw
ing this into the case ? He asked the jury if
they coul1 believe that Mcdonnell had not
ben guilty Of lesser crime hanmurder
he counsel for pros cutiOn will tell you,
YOU have nothing to DO with consequences OF
YOUR yerdict-the sheriff may as well say he
| has nothing to do with consequences OF cut
ting the halter Mr. Chittend N impressed
upon the jury the Obligation Of their oath.
and expressed his qualification at their ear
nestneSs ard effectiveness, saying that he
never saw jury pay 50 close attention to a
case las they had for four days past.
lie now lett the lives OF those young
men in their hands. lie had asked
thin as Jurors, and he now asked them as
men to receive his theory of the case. He
appealed to them as men who had mothers.
He asked them TO acqut Balm and X lily
without any question, and to find as to Nc
Dunnell that the elements of murder were not
there He had argued the case earnestly.
He could not do otherwise feeling that on
his weak eff ,rts depended in some measure,
whether his brother lived or died. Believing
that the dav OF these mems deliverance was
drawing nigh, and thanking the jury again
for their attention, he took leave OF the
case.
Mr. Chittenden spoke about two hours.
He was followed by Mr. Roberts
Mr. ROBERTS Plea.
Mr. Roberts addressed the jury rs follows
IF this was any ordinary case, should leave
It To the able manner in which my assistant
has discussed it, nut knowing the alb lily OF
the counsel for the prosecution and that he
will make as strong Il ease as possible OF
this, cannot allow the case to pass without
engaging in the argument fer the defence.
The case IS an important one in two aspects
{ crime must not 90 UNPUBLISHED. and crime
must also be carefully designated and bt
punished according to It's nature.
Most Of all is it important tn the respond
ents whose lives you mold in your hands II
is pleasant to live, and it is also II fearful
thins to die, and doubly fearful when that
delth comes at the hands of the hang man
1t Is alsn frAught with grave consequences t.
the public, and therefore all the heavier is the
duty which devolv,s upon you.
You are the Judges of the law rs well as of
the facts OF the cas-. and are even abov,
the court, and YOU are ultim tely to deter
mine the $ verIl qIe tinns which are brought
before you, with what light is thrown upon
them by tho counsel and the court And
the resp visibility rests upon you that your
hands be not stained with innocent blood
You are not allowed t, decide on prJhabI-
tiles, but if there Is doubt as to the guilt OF
innocence Of the accused, or as to the nature
of the crime, you must resolve that doubt IN
favor OF the respondents.
Now. we must admit certain things in APP
preaching this case. McKeen fell by the
han dof Mcdonnell. About this there is nc
doubt. The question you have to decide up
on is whether you find such facts in the cir
cumstances as rendered the act excusable or
iuStifable homicide. If not justifabe homi-
eide was 1t mansaughter? Now, unless YOU
|
deed, we ask you to denominate his crime
manslaughter not murder This distinction
which the books make between murder and
manslaughter is older than the books. l;
lies in the nature of things and in the heart
OF every man.
1t would break down all distinction be-
tween crimes and bring the INV into deserved
disrepute to punish murder and nanSlaugh-
ter alike.
What are the facts now which bear on the
question of malice on the part Of Mcdonnell
In this homicide. Murders are commit ted
with some object, either to obtain money or
some selfish object, or to crafty some feelings
of malice.
1t does not appear that McKeen and
Mcdonnell ever knew each other. The at
torney on the other side has produced moth
ing tending to show malice, except the az
fair on May l4th, and the little matter
which took place before the fatal conflict on
the night of the Dist. Now let us suppose,
for We shall have to rely on superstition,
since it can't be proved, that Mcdonnell
was there on the night of the 14th of May.
The States Attorney does not prove that
this Inference was directed more towards
McKeen than any of the Others who were
| lHtIc- lIltIT CoUuuCl VIC MAY say WIS IuuC
and unmannerly, but it was not more that. al
lowing even the multiplicity of oaths which
Mr.. Logan does not seem to renembe
Here WAS Il convenient step for lounging, and
no wonder in those warm nights of Spring.
that party of boys should So use it.
! I am not going to say that if these gentle
men chose to spend their Sturdy nights
until Sunday in card plying, that it WIS
any ones business, but they spent their eve
ming in that way, and the other party spent
their evening going round to the various
lager bier saloons and in playing game OF
basa ellie.
Brown met persons on the night of the
l4th one of whom he took to he Balm, and
he could not swear whether the other was
Mcdonnell or not.
lie advised them do go home which they
Immediately did He had asked them with
true Teutonic hospitality, to take IA glass OF
lager, but they (Which speaks well Tor their
perance) declined.