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

II fact Of the conspiracy existing prior to Il
; making of the declarations must be first estal
: lished
: V. That the declarations OF IaYicre (sur
5 posing him to have been the person. made /
Henry Charles and John Redmond cannot b
considered By the jury a. evidence again-
: Potter in any event, there being no ry,dcnc
in the case OF any conspiracy between Lavign
and Potter before or At the time Of the maxim
Of such declarations.
1t is not competent TO prove the conspirac
by the declarations Of one of the couspirlior
in the absence Of the other. and make suel
declarations evidence ON the ground OF a con
spiraey.
VI. That the testimony Of Aunson. the she
I'M has no tendency TO prove POtier's giIiiI
and should by the jury lie laid Oat u, the
case.
Potter was apprehensive that he would net
have fair trial on account of prejudice. exist
! Ing against him in the county lie only asked
Nun on to call on such jurors as had no pre-
Juliee against him. Munson told Potter he.
would do what be could TO secure him a f.lI
fair trial. Potter replied that ibis was all that
be- wanted. and offered Muas p money in the
same conversation. All thi, Potter bad right
to do and it was no evidence "r bis guilt \
person in Potter's circ mstancr, would natu
rally seek aid from the Sheriff.
VII That as to the alleged motive on the
part Oi Potter 20 commit this crime: inas.nuch.
ir. and Mrs. Griswcld had chi, drcn born,
awe, Mr. Gri>wOld would be- tenant hy cOur
tesy a'd have = life estate in ali he real pro
perty OF hi- wife
ih" death Of Mrs. Gr.swold liI not pa
Potter and hi- vile ilto possession Of the pro
perty inasmasa Is Mr. Griswo!d had life
interest in the real estate as tenant by cOurtc
sy. This does away with the claim on th,.
part o the prosecution that Potter had an
interest IN the death OF Mrs Griswold. and
therefore an object to murder her.
VIII That the jury mnst be- satisfied beyond
: reasonable doubt that the respondents are
guilty. or their yerdic; must be not gllilfy. And
that - 10 the requisite amount OF evidence %
warrant a conviction. 1t Is not sufficient 10 e.
tAbliSh probability. though = strong one.
hat the fac; is more likely 10 be true than the
contrary. but the evidence must establish the
truth OF the fact 10 a reasonable and moral
certainty certainty that cOnt inces and di
reefs the understanding and 81 isfies the rea
son and judgment OF those who are bound to
act conseicnii1Gsly Upon i'll Am. Lac
Eases. 500. } Greealsqf M EU %.
The 'ounsel read at length from Chief Jus
lice ShsS's charge in the case Of Common
'oealh y John ". Webster. i,h Gushing.
lX. That his being a case which il suppor-
ted. If supported at all, wholly by crcumStan-
iial evid nee. the jury must be satisfied not
only that all the circumstances are consistent
with the guilt Of the respondents. but they
must be also satisfied that ali the facts are
such as 10 be Inconsistent with any other IA
.lOnai conclusion than that the prisoners are
the guilty persons 2 Russ. Oh Er 1Z6.
The Counsel read the opinion OF baron Al
iersen. qaoted in Russell on Crime aI
bearing on this point
Y. That reasonable doubt in the minds OF
h jury Of he existence Of any one Of the
;hain OF circumstances relied upon bv the
prosecution to convict the prisoners. justifes
he jury in laying aside that particular cir
IN making up their verdict. They
re 10 consider such circumstance as not
lrOved. and therefore il ought not to influence
heir opinion--l AR,. Led C,fSsS 500.
The Counsel read from the leading cases of
S,1aler ". state 5th BlackfoTd, and Con,moa-
realA vs.. Webster, 5th Cushing.
XL That every caution observed in the re
option Of evidence in capital cases ought TO
'e By the jury more especially applied in the
ecepti0n and estimation Of the opinions OF
7itnesses as 10 the identity o' persons since
uch opinions must. from the nature Of the
ase. be to great extent unreliable aud un-
atisiactOry.- UEiiS OE tircum. Er. 3.
The counsel requested specific instructions
b the jury on this point. and read several
ases from :. Willis on C,rcumstanial Evi
euce." in relation to the identifcat on of per
ons.-
MI. That the respondents are to be pre-
'uHed innocent until they are proven guilty
.y0nd a reasonable do'.b
SATUEDAY, April II.
The Court opened at s o'clock the room
7as filed at an early hour. The respondent
otter, who has heretofore been seated with
4 the bar, now took his seat IN the priso-
er's dock.
The States Attorney offered the follow
lg affidavit Of Sheriff Munson, as a basis
or an application for permission to introduce
ONE additional testimony
AFFIDAVIT or SHERIFF NUSsOS.
I, Vim. D. Munson, being duly sworn, on
,th say that | am Sheriff Of Chittenden Conn
: and keeper Of the County Jail; that on the
9TH day Of March. 1866, the witness who tes-
fed on the stand on Thursday last under the
ame Of Patrick Hayes, to the fact Of bis hav-
ig loaned money to the respondent, Lavigne,
n the Goth day OF August, 1865, and taken
is Lsvigne 81 note therefor, at that time in
lew York city, was committed 10 the jail in
lis County on the complaint Of citizens. by the
sme given by him, Of John Williams; that be
las confined in the same room with Jerome La
igne, respondent, under such circumstances
nat they could communicate through a grated
oor with openings Of four inches across. He
Ias confined about o'clock in the evening, and
ischsrged about 9 o'clock the next morning
Il the time Of his arrest. he appeared very
runk, and had . crowd around hin in front of
be Jail Henry Ballard, attorney for respondent
ard, came to me Wednesday noon, about one
clock, and requested me to keep secret, which
e proposed to tell me, which | promised to do.
Ie then told me that he proposed in the alter
DON TO put on the stand a man whom he was
fraid | would recognize as having seen before.
He then asked if | remembered committing
ian for intoIication short time ago; told him
did not remember any particular man, had
ommitted 50 many for that offence; he then asked
lie if l remembered committing man who was
Iuak in front Of the jail, and letting him 90
he next morning, as he had no money to pay
is fine; told him | remembered the circum-
lance, he told me he was one Of Layigne's
-iends from New York, and that he came up in
-ont Of Jail and played drunk for the purpose
beIn ng put in jail; he asked me if did not think
e played drunk pretty well. He was very
oorly dressed and looked like q drunken Irish
len. He told me thar he was from Rutland
Ding to Montreal for work
VIM ID. MUSsoS, Sheriff
Burlington, VT, April lS, 1866.
Subscribed and sworn to before me this 18th
ay Of April, A. D. 1866.
L. B. ESGLEsBr, J. p.
The Court permitted the introduction Of
he testimony:
WILLIAM D. MUSsoS, recalled BY the State
lad seen the witness Hayes before; saw him
n the stand Thursday morning. First saw
i'm on the night Of the 9th Of March last;