Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1866-04-20


cases Of an occupant aroused BY robbers IN his |
house, and shot or struck senseless when be IN
dertakes to protect his property This Is the |
way in which these burglars accomplished their /
ends II the purpose in this case Was murder,
why not stop with murderl The natural Ian
guage Of the facts is that robbery was the mans
purpose. and murder only the incident; and If
30 we must acquit Potter Of connection with II;
for il is absurd to suppose that he should send
man to steal the property, which afforded the
chef motive for getting nd Of the Old lady--
But the State tells you the robbery might have /
been committed to disguise the Transaction In
such a case all doubts are Oh the side Of the sc
cused and you will take away no mans life on .
"might be-
F0uThly. How l-any were engaged IN she /
act, On this point Ar. Roberts argued from I
the footprints; from the fact that body Of Mrs 7
GrIswold's weigh; could hardly have been car
ned by one person. and from the fast that two .
men were seen rapidly driving north just before .
day light, that more than one person was en- 4
gagged Why. he asked, having shown Us these .
men driving away, does the State drop the mat
ter without telling how far they were traced, or .
anything more about them
But the State claims that keliy's testimony |
is sufficient to warrant you N conyicting If 1
n enough that on the morning after the mur- 1
dera man covered with blood and dust IS found /
eight miles of. telling false story, you must .
act or IL But you must observe that none OF
Mrs. Grlswold's property is found on Layigue.
II l. not claimed that Potter was present az
the murder; but that he was an accOmploe, .
and all that Is relied on to prove this, i that
Potter seen with Laugne on Wednesday
and Saturday aud Sunday before the murder.
Suppose he was, does that make him a murder
er. As vii convict old Mr.. GrisWOld or any F.
body else who was seen with LSvigne.
Mr. kuterfs further aCreei that he d1s-ra-
pancies IL the description by the different Wit I
nesses, Of the man who was there on Wednesday 4
showed very imperfect Identification anu that
the preponderance Of testimony shovel that II 1
couldn't have been Lsvigue- be claimed that the /
attempt TO show any confoundiDg by the chill I
dren Of Mr.. Edwards with the man, who had .
lost finger a failure; that apparently the .
transaction about the horses was al honest and /.
natural piece OF business; that if Potter had I
had any previous concert with the man be /
would have told him to stop at Essex Junction, /
the nearest ststion, instead of going on the VII
hston station; and that his coming IN I
open daylight. free exhibition Of
himself, his staying TO dinner Potter /
carryinz him back to the train, &c, all. I
indicated innocence Is this. he asked, the way
in which men concOct murder Mr.. Roberts I
further sIftei the testimony Of Wilkins, Atkins 4
and Pratt, and claimed that there was 10 identl-
]
ter, and nothing suspicious against the latter
But the State further asks the jury to find I
that the man who comes to Tyler's hotel on the
arrival Of the Saturday evening train was the I
man Of Wednesday and Saturday. Where has 4
he been IN the meantime Where Is his bag 1
gage Mr.. Hard says he Is hid in the woods
But there being DO such evidence, what business |
have you to say 50
Mr.. Bowman describes an interview Of 8 man /
with Potter on Sunday morning Ii Mr.. Bow 1
man has in no way given play to fancy and i'm |
agination, II is remarkable II was not observed /
by others He says the back curtain Of the |
wagon was down Clark Potter says II was up |
". L. Taft recognized Mr.. GrisWoli from be-
hind, and the curtain must have been up then
Anyway, there could not have been many plans
laid in that little walk Of one hundred rods
And is Mr.. Bowman quite sure that the re-
spondent is the man ne saw, At the inquest
be said he was not quite sure. His description
too Of this Is quite different from any other
given. He thought he looked kind Of rough;''
and here Mr.. Bowmsn's fancy begins TO work.
Whist chance had he to identify him The man
only passed him yet when he sees him after
wards in jai in different dress he claims 10 iden-
tify him. We all know how very uncertain any /
such recollection Of person must be
Mr.. Roberts proceeded to illustrate by the |
one person for another. All such testimony 4
must be taken with great caution. There Is s |
great fault in all the testimony in this that
no thread Of connection runs through IT, linking
the black-hatted man with the light-hatted one, /
the vearer Of dark coat with that Of light /
one, sc. The man approached by Kelly on the /.
cars had large coat and two bags. There is |
nothing answering to this in any other descrip- /
ton.
Wba, av;da,ca xxas there that po-.e--s inf Il
macy with this man or men, whoever they were, I
was guilty one We are entitled 10 a charge /,
from your Honor to the jury that there was no /
such evidence. There is nothing that looks /
like conspiracy, even if il be admitted that La
vigne did the murder and was seen in company /
with Potter. No conviction was ever made on /
such slight grounds
What motive had Potter 10 commit this act /
1t is said, interest and revenge. Yes, such ID /
terest as would induce any man to murder his /
father. Potter's wife was the old lady's heir, |
and therefore it is said he killed her. But did |
he or could he get the property, No; for the .
old man hsd life interest in the estate. /
snd the poor $500 worth Of jewelry seems hard .
" motive enough. But they say malice was .
combined, what shows II That there we're some /
family jars is proved, but the occasion Of them
Is explained by Mr.. Griswoli. When the Pot
ters came back from Canada, just the result
most natural followed, the old woman, used n
rule the house. expresses dissatisfaction inter
ference and the = cutting Of her corners and
shows i'll temper Mr.. GrisEold testihes TO
DelIs's pushing her over, on one occasion; it
was not smiable. doubtless, but was il
enough 10 induce Potter 10 cut her throat
Mr.Willsms, AZ the inquest, forgot 10 speak about
Potter's remark st the table about the devil
that be had; why, if it was not the invention Of
fertile brain and too little scrupulous con
science, for Mr. GriswOld heard no such speech,
though be heard everything else, and the chill
dren didn't hear it, though they remember the
rest of the conversation There Is almost moth
ing else to show any malice or ill-will- The old
woman always called on Charles for help, in
case o. any trouble.
Here. then, is crime Eitbout motive real or
plausible for Charles Potter 10 be engaged
in it
About the trip to Canada there Is nothing
suspicious Potter was frequently going they
had all talked Of going for sometime, Clark
Potter wants TO 20 early Sunday morning 70
attend funeral Monday be calls up
Charlie to know if be viii take him. fami-
" consultation is probably held, they decide
to 90 at ) A NJ. and do 60; l. there any
thing suspicious in this?
What is there theD. gentlemen 10 shO~ that
Potter procured this murder! Nothing butsus-
piciolls. nothing that has ieather's weight;
and in the jury box suspicious are entirely
out Of pla,e-
This cAse all hangs upon cIrcumstantial
evidence. and Of it there Is no one point con
elusive The rule Is that such evidence
must be consistent with guilt and also in
consistent with innocence Judges have been
accustomed 10 caution juTies against allow
ing their fancy to weave facts together In ]
romances the denoUement Is purposcly de- r
laved and tie attention. OF the reader directed
I little circumstances thai are woven IN 10
have h,aring 90 it. But this l. hot To- .
nance nor should little facts be c0lored and
distorted to work up a pretty little plot; 1t
nav be done with very slight material, bat
should not be done where life i in ques-
ton.
Gentlemen, YOU viii consider the serious
ness Of this case, you will &C; without pre- !
JUDGE and without passion, and give a true
deliyeranee to the prisoner. loa have said 9