Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1863-11-27
a!iTs iSsSlt.iaEs!;h. .

Fila johnston. q ryp.;aa, .camc mp in Gudg
Lyons Court Yesterday.
The shooting took place ut lie bawdy bnus,
u: Ella Johnston in Exchange Alley, about
msnihor six weeks ago. The bail entere;
the left thigh, and Inflicted surh u wound q,
10 prevent her from appearing before the eA
ntninirc Court.
The prisoner is short, thick set man. anG
belongs - tho corps Of detective policemen
unh"r the supervision Of Maj. Griswold.
Ella Johnston. 'hc !Sdman who was wounded
appeared in Court rorthe first time yc.toriay
She is 4 nyniIh Of ahCut IS or 40 years. Whose
hacgarl, dissipa:ed appearance gave unmis
taxable Signs 6f the miserable life she has
dnu lllcss led for Tie pat twenty years
Being called to the stand, she testified thnt on
the night OF the occurrence. when she came
ho;nr aF:"r q shcIt absence, she found Simcoe
in the hense. who exclaimed, upon her en-
trance, wei. | must 20 now" She rerlich
- cS, Yna mus; want no such rowdv in nv
house. She then walked towards him iol
pfc purpose ofputting l!i'a cut: when he de-
'liboratcl7 drew his pistol and fired, the bal
taking cect ia her left leg.
She waa cr1ss>cxamined at some length by
The c"nnsel for the accused, Messrs. Hun
,hrey Marshall and Daniel Ratclffe, but no.
thing new was elected
The testimony of The other females, threc
in numbcr-"a.net. respectively, Josephine
kcsslcr. Emma Marsh, and Jose phinc Morris
ell Of whom arc politcl termed "Joaracys oil
Miss Ella'a'-was substantially the same as
that reported in the enquirer as having
been given before the examining courts.
\ number o. other witnesses were intro
duccd 10 prove The good character of the ac
cused.
The case was then opened on the part of the
Commonwealth by the Prosecuting Attorney
Mr.. Tazewell, who alluded to the fact thu.
the prisoner was a married man, and detect.
i've po!ceman-1 which alone should hav,
prevented him from associating with such
women. lie commended that Simcoe had No
business i'll that house, and that being there,
and maiiclorsly shooting one Of those unfor.
inmate females, who had no other protection
than that guaranteed by the Law of the land
ho had committed q felony, punishable By
imTH isoEment in the pcnitcntary.
Mr.. Daniel Ratclifle followed Mr.. TaZewcll.
lie contcnded that the womnn-among whom
the greatest intimacy at all times existed
had not told but half of the story: much re-
maiEed behind which they, for some unae-
c7uatablc reason, refused to disclose. The
''who!e truth, and nothing hut the truth" had
not been given by them He believed, from
the desert rtion of the wound and the fact
that the ball entered the thigh, That it WAS an
accidental shot. He was of opinion that il
had here been cOnclusively proven that the
shooting was purely accidental, and would not
have occurred had not the woman, Ella John
ston, drawn Il knife BIZ which to enforce hrr
demand that Simcoc sh1 leave her hon 20.
Twas then that the scuffic cnsued, durin-
which Ella Johnston was shot. Heccnten.lcI
tha'-Simcac had Il perfect right to enter tha.
hCn5o-that his visit w"s perfectly legitimate
Ic was III search Of dcsertor from the Can
Tolerate army, and It was jtst rs likely that
ne should finl him there az anywhere else
lie could not belicrc that any intelligent jury
would send IL respectable man TO the Penrcn-
tiary upon the testimony Of these disreput,-
Bile witnesses, raked up from the purieus and
sinks of iniqu'ty with which this goodly city
uu!, r:unately ahounds His client bad ut
tered no falschood when he remarked that lie
had mot shot Ella Johnson. He did not I've.
lieve thai hc had. If he shot her. it was
purely accidental. lie, thercf re, hoped the
jury would MT do the accused the injustice
to c'n"ict him nron such fimsy testimony na
that offered On the part Of the Common
wealth.
ten. Marshall then took the stand. He
dwoit ut some length upon the bearings Of the
law upon the case. lie knew the gallant
bearing Of the Attorney for the Common
wealth. lie willingly conceded tho fact that
these women were entitled to all the protection
which tho law allowed and guaranteed them
But his experience rs lawyer told him that
they would not tell the truth if they could
keep from it. Ella Johnston may he the ten
derest of her sex-she may he very sylph ;
but Ella Johnston in passion, with an open
knife in her hand and vengeance in her heart.
is 4 very dangerous piece of humanity. Their.
arc few mem Of experience who cannot tell
what ono Of these women are when they have
oil their bascr and meaner passions reused to
their fullest extent tits TO use, gentlemen
to say "she is only 4 woman" An armed
woman is dangerous thing. Admit thief fact
that Ella Johnston was shot, and that Simcoe
shot her, and, yet, he commended that The
shooting was not unlawful. Some say he had
no right to have u pistol about his person.
lie contcndc1 that he had 4 perfect right
He was in search of n man who was reputel
to he n spy, named Tighe. and his client had Il
perfect right to be in that house, with pistol
on his person. Ella Johnston had made an
attack upon him Will, there, and he believed
that he drew his pistol TO scare her, and thar
il accidentally exploded while tho accused
was standing with his back against the vail.
lie thought the attempt OF the woman
Marsh to make it appear that there was an oil
grudgc between Johnston and his client the
lamest lie had ever seen. and he would pass
it over without comment. The only cause Of
the quarrel between the parties was simply
owing to the fact that Simcoc was detective
policeman. and Ella Johnston had rather have
the Devil, Or anybody else in her house, in
preference to policeman. He contenicd
that his client had outraged no law IF Miss
ready to ;cdemnify her by the payment Of
my sum OF money which might DO designated.
Simcne had been proven 70 be respectl-
BILE man. with an interesting wife and several
small children depending upon him for their
daily bread, and he trusted the jury would
that fact when the case was sub
mitted to them.
The argument in the case was closed by
MIR. Tazcwell, on the part of the Common
wealth. lie said so far as the character of
the accused was concerned. he was sure that
there was not man in this Commonwealth
Who could mt, by searching among his friends,
find plenty Of men WIG w0nld come into Court
and swear that he was''a good man and true"
lie never asked a jury to convict any man
whom he thought guiltlcss: on the contrary,
ne bad frequently told the jury that it was no
use to retire, the prisoner was innocent. and
should lie discharged. But when did his
friends, Gen. Marshall or Mr.. Radcliffe, admit
that their clients were guilty, and give up the
case? No, no, gentlemen, that is against
their profession. But that's oil perfectly legi-
Innate, gentlemen of the jury. / have done
The same thing when l was on the other side
Of the bar.
lie denied that the shooting wa, acct
lnnial lie II Eas Incidental ,chv ,yas thn