The Placer herald., 1869-12-25
THE SHED BURNERS.


aod the officers Of ibs Railroad company oil
live in Sacramento. yet i. seems to Be i'm
possible tor the papers Of that city TO reach
the truth Of the matter. I. may be that
these parties dssguedIy mislsd the city pa.
pers and are the real guilty persons. and
primarily responsible for the fslssho DDS that
have been put in circulation.
That the city papers may know the truth
and they and the public be undeosivsd, We
refer 10 the matter again. 10 September
last some ten white men were arrested cbarg,
cd vi!h setting fire TO suow sheds, near
Cisco. The regular Grand Jury having
just adjourned. special jury was convened
and all indicted. The cases we're set for
trial on Tuesday, Sept. 2ssh, but on appli-
cation Of District Attorney Craig, post
poued 10 October 18th. On tha. day the
case Of one Of the men, Frank Todd, sup
posed 10 be the mos. guilty, WAS called, a
jury empannsled, attachments issued for de-
faul.ing witnesses 10 Sacramento. and the
case tried and given to the jury on .the
evening OF October 18th. Abou. 10 O'Clock
that nigh. tho jury returned into Court un'
able to agree, having. it is said, at one time
stood ten for acquit.al and two for con'io-
tion, and we're discharged. It is proper to say
here !ba. the prosecution bal fought for
postpoDement at every step OF the proceed
Jugs, while the defense were urgent for trial.
At the close Of this trial, application was
again made for a continuance for the term.
which was granted by Judge Spear and the
men remauded to Jail, whore they have layed
for two months. On Monday, the 18Th inst.
the case Of Todd was again called, jury
empanneled and the case tried, which lasted
from Moodsy ill Thursday, whom ii was
given 10 the jury. After being out some
twenty one hours the jury returned unable
to agree and were discharged. We are in
formed by one Of the jurymen that when
they bad been out less than halt an hour the
ballot stood eleven for acquittal and one for
conviction, and that it remained 80 for
twenty hours, and was 10 fact so when they
came 10, but that just before coming in, one
Of tho eleven stubborn jury men proposed to
take last ballot, and that two Of the eIev-
en- voted with the ono for conviction to
make it look better for him, and believing
tba. it would aid them in getting dschsrg-
ed. We have been thus particular because
the Sacramento Reporter of Saturday last
stated, in speaking Of this trial Of Todd.
"The evidence against him is very strong,
but The jury Who were out from noon OF
Thursdsy until yesterday afternoon, failed 10
agr 90, being nine in favor Of conviction and
three for acqui.tal."
The truth 10 il WAS eleven for acqui.ta
and one for conviction, One of the jury.
men told Us that there was no evidence
against Todd, the prosecution not even
pr owing that the sheds we're set on fire,
The Union Of Monday makes, substantially,
the same erroneous statements as The Re
porter, with this addition:
"Tbs feeling in Placer county is 30 strong
against the railroad that anything short Of
point blank testimony would fail to win a
case there for that corporation"
This is also erroneous and does both the
company and people Of Placer county great
injustice. We are cor or6dent, aud SO is every
intelligent man in The county, that the com
pany can and will get full justice at all
times and under all crcumst ances 10 our
courts, and that il did in the three separate
trials OF Todd.
THIRD TRIAL OF TODD.
A jury was empansiied again on Friday,
the l7,h ult., for the third trial Of Todd.
The trial was again went through with and
the case given to the jury abou. halfpast
0 o'clock Saturday evening. This jury
oame in in ten or fifteen minutes with YER.
die. Of not gully. These are the facts as
we gather them from the best sources a!
and we have stated them a.
briefly as possible, and do hope this state
ment will induce tho Reporter and Union to
correct the erroneous and false impression
they have sent abroad. We know of no
feeling in the community on the subject,
except one of disgust by Taxpayers that
hey should be saddled with a probable ex.
penss Of fifteen or twenty thousand dollars
for the prosecution If not persscasion} Of in.
uocent men. The weight Of talen. and purse
in every trial was with the prosecution, the
defendant being poor man and unable 10
employ expensive counsel.
The Union of Tuesday contains an edi-
lorial headed "Ths Placer County Trials"
which might be proper enough if there was
. single item Of truth to base it upon. This
article repeats the falsehood that the tes,i'
mony was very strong against the accused,