The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1870-05-07
THE MCFARLAND TRIAL.

HlthSe lHTOU1 tD llc 'OuIl RUM tiiF
morning 1t transpircd at an early
hour that for reasons unknown to the
public, Judge Davis would not sum NJ
for The prosecution, and that his con
nection with the case was thus virtually
ended. This rumor caused much sen
Sation among the friends Of Richard
sou. Ii was unhcsitatingly asserted
that outside influence had been brought
to bear to preclude Judge Davis from
/ summing up, as was his intention.
When the Recorder had taken his
seat, the learned counsel for the de,
Tense commenced his closing speech
amid breathless silence. Mr. Graham
said that for wears the prisoner had
bourne the pitilcss pelting Of misfortune
and wrong and now he had at last found
refuge in a court of justice He had
loved not wisely but too well. The
story OF his woes must have gone to the
dep:h of their souls Could not the
prisoner ask with confidence, Gould |
have done less, and ought not to have
done more?
The allegation of the prosecution
was that the individual who had passed
to his fate had not merited his doom,
but that however righteous had been
that doom he received it at the hands
of an unauthorized agent. The ques-
ton then for the jury was the mental
condition of the accused when the deed
was committed There were incidents
in the trial well worthy of observation
One was the appearance Of private
counsel in the case the other was the
rejection of three jurors who happened
to he countrvmen OF the prisoner.
Those men were good and respectable
citizens, eligible as jurors, and their
exclusion by the District Attorney was
utterly indefensihle.
The jury wouldremember the question
put 10y private counsel to one of the wit
nesses Was il at a Fourierite establish
memt that Mcfarland was living? Who
inspired the question? Were they 10
conclude that that wicked woman had be
travcd the secrets entrusted to her IL
his wife? Other questions 10y the coun-
sci proved that private malice was at
the back of the prosecution Captlous
objections to the course of the defense
were raised at every point where it twas
sought to prove that Mrs Mcfarland
had received the proceeds Of the insur-
ancc on Richardson's life. An ohjec-
ton was raised that the prisoner was
prevented fNm showing the motives of
thi. wicked woman III descrting her
husband.
1t was charged that the defense had
tried to make the trial sensational, but
the complaint that the trial was monoto-
nous which was made in all the papers
sufficiently disproved this absurd charge.
He wished to impress upon the jury
that this was Il case OF murder or moth
ing. ANY such compromise ~ sending
the prisoner to the State prison would
be violation OF their oaths. If upon
the whole case the jury entertained Il
doubt Of the sanity of the prisoner they
were bound to acquit him.
Mr.. Graham's plea for the prisoner
is almost entirely devoted thus far TO
legal and technical questions involved
in the case, chief Importance being gwen
to the insanity theory of the defense.
Many authentic precedcmts and official
reports of previous cases were cited by
which Mr.. Grahsm maintained that
principles which would justify the ac-
auittai of the prisoner had been fully
established.
The counsel enteredinto discussion on
the different varieties OF insanity, claim
ing that if the prisoner was found III
sane at the instant of the shooting only,
he was not morally responsible and
must be acquitted.
Mr.. Graham cited the Colc-liiscock
case as an exact counterpart OF this and
the Sickles- keyes case, paying high
compliment to Edwin VI. Stanton, one
of the cousel, and the Rogers case, from
Massachusetts. in which Chief Justice
Shaw charged the jury that the prlS-
oner must possess and be in full exercise
of memory intelligence, reason and will
to he morally accountable for his acts.
Mr.. Graham said that if Mcfarland
meant to kill Richardson and was sane
he could not have chosen more IN
auspicious place than the Tribune
office. where the odds were all against
him.
The counsel thus far in the argument
have not commented on the relations
between Richardson and Mcfarland,
the alleged conspiracy to separate Nc
Farland and his wife. and other promi-
nent points of Mr.. Spencers opening
speech.
The case will he resumed Monday.