New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1870-05-20
THE MCFARLAND CASE.
~rgE PRESS on THE TRIAL AND VERDICT
From The Cbcsgo Tribune MAY - 1910
-r1. l. ILL another Jury 10 whom the case

and WHO, uilnHutnttu ny thc
lou, and untrammelled by the partial rulings and
IicS though il cannot punish the murderer VIII, ~
least to the memory Of the pcc de2a d hmse
Who sat in Judgment the case, it is TO be noticed tn'
he showed ne has OF that Juagneht, nV nsting in
charge 10 the Grand Jury, that Messrs Bcechfr anu
ent for oifciang at the dcath-bed marriage between
Mr. Richardson and Mrs Mcfarland; that ne US III
1ermt Judge Davis who had for the most part 50 any
nodUcted the prosecution as assistant counsel 10 INC
- StrioAtOrney TO sum up the evidence ~ IN
be Instructed by Mr. Graham, and accepted 90 Of the ~
points which the counsel had lana d9" - " through
TINS long trial of nearly four weeks, when the rrcst
rdesl and when his accuscrs certainly wonld IL 1nrS
could have proved that he was @ and cbeckercd
career unrestrained by home ties I9Sns rs thera
correspondent IN CAMPS anT 9 not one title of
evidence has been produced 10 any ,h reigbt ~
n simply Just assume, In tns ease sue" at ,h S
belongs 10 previous good character ana 70 Sege pr c eno
fact the light of all the evidence mas ' T man Of more
be- brought 20 bear upon ~ th ne 's ro thn dofnUse
f,n ordinary purity of character Nor WaS he aeensS
H. The iactriai notwithstanding all the yuPeranon ana
scr puous and frantic appeals of counsel to popular
picUdice able to prove tat IN rceaIu 10 Ill s
y n m ala man of stainless reputation whom the
r1. unscrupuous and most energetic counsel could find
Ter the scrutiny, guilty OF other crime than
iapu slyc and mprudeni conduct. is deliberately muir
rcG the murderer IS acquitted and turned loose upon
word AGAIN on tHe plea Of b bedan ost an s
ofurr would gain! From laws and courts ana rli .
and charges and Judges and counsel we appeal 70 ,ne
sense of mankind, If life is TO have any rrotee
ton the law whatever there must he change IN the
a. or e can ever arise in which the need of change
b. made more glazing than in this.
THE CONDUCT OF COUNSEL FOR DEFESsE.
FIOm the Cincinnati Gazette May u, 1870 ,...
Ist Ind been possible 10 procure hanging Ser h
r. y 1m II his acqttal had not been forcgone YER
u before the trial began the conduct of his defense
lis in the public estimation, from the beginning
{, p end of the socalied trial They abandoned the
us1fz m pi
. urn che case into an opportunity to indulge her own
acd the u T and n directed he to FOHg from
the vicious classes of Now York city Ihelr stye was
tA,t Of legal defense, but Of The Police Gazette which
curups everything it touches, and builds upon II an
eN3nod fabrication OF pruriency to grali1y the Vicious
To- counsel for the defense succeeded IN making lhen
se.res a4d Mcfarland Infamous IN public opinion ahd
Tht of Netherlands counsel in every stage OF
Tie triathe challenging Of jurors the examination OF
aud the summing up-was vile and rufiany. They made
their challenges Of jurors vehicle of wholesale cal
who had no connection with the case Their opening
> idres, was lcentious Outpouring of slanderous
S5apeliei to disown this, and to admit that
toy paid, no regard to truth; r,o orr,os,or Of
t,ir whole magazine of stinkpos and by dem96sTa ira
- meicss b. the backing of the dregs Of New-YOrk
society Then their case grew steadily weaker. Graham
G-tw furious at this and when Davis, after long
,rbcarance, criticised moderate terms his brutal
treatment of witnesses Graham exploded IN an exhi,
lJn OF the manners of the grogshop brawler, winch
F5vod that his nature is the vicious audience
b whom he pitched the KEY OF MS ueitnst' II
manners OF this trial TO be established in adj
sui,tation Justice ii would he better that all courts
a. abolished, and mankind referred back 10 the
primitive barbarian method of rightng their wrongs |
tcy are manners that make trial only cause for re-
D. NcFarand counsel in this case there at least two
O. them whom husbands have the right to shoot for slam
Prom Pu,nam's Magazine June la7OEiitorial Notes
We should like TO ask how much nsolence and black
guard sm il takes make tstrate criminal lawyer
Judging by recent examples that we have had III
I'm, city. should say that man must have had
considerable intercourse with It's most BRUTAL
es 20 be qualified To defend the accused in the spir-
ir,st oW not only how TO browbeat and insult wit
I,,ses. how to deude jures by thousand suggested
I'm Inc dock for the serious Oenses but also how TO
indulge 1sticufs on occasions and even take the
iut ,rfcre in behalf of decorum and decency
ners Of the bar to raise the standard Of professional
honor and etquette and We suggest TO it that one Of the
Wa'her man, because ne Is acting Tor another, Is
s respect which gentlemen habitualy prescribe to
themselves in their private intercourse. court
~5lc study of those who are officially connected with it
SHOULD to elicit truth and establish the right II Is
arsm G Of ali sorts The lawyers no less than
judges are bound to give examples OF fairness npar
rot bues though their positions sometimes force them
s,nt do they cease to be Investigators of truth. tt
whole object of trial at law IS TO determine the real
. schools and calumny Formerly courts were terrors
eyidOers they are getting to be terrors To people OF
From The Phialelyhia Inquirer, May II, 1870.
The Mcfarland trial mas ended with the prisoners
m instance for the eodbooded, ruianly and cowardy
assassination OF tchardson by McFarland ana IN It's
l1 oOwardy attack OF the counsel for the defense upon
TN private character OF individuals VINO Were not upon
Through weak craving for revenge and the hired coun
e" VINO destroys character through wicked craving or
h- for cheap popularity the difference is all i'll
1IyOr OF the taker of life.
THE VERDICT AN OUTRAGE.
Prom The Charleston Daily Republican Nav ii, 1870.
It {. as everybody expccted-Daniei Mcfarland has
acquitted OF the murder of Albert d. Richardson
MS of that Jury is an outrage We neS Albert d.
j. harrison, and believe that when his life went cut
lads. We never heard of unworthy deed of his
L. one Tugs in all the scandal bound up with his muir
der, and not bound TO believe scandal
From The St. PaulP Press, May II, 1870.
Justice is again Knocked in the courts of NewYOrk by
tbe acquittal of Mcfarland Meanwhile another
J upon the and their verdict eonsigns to
nfmy blacker rhan that OF the murderer himself the
vile band of criminal lawyers who undertook, With
license of criminal defense, 10 hunt 10 ueath WIN
WHO sSo t fTe If o SeeSdns MD
IN wrechedness and poverty and OF trying TO save
her IRON the ruin to which her drunken brute of hus-
band dragging her down. and from the murder with
which he constantly threatening her.
From The Cleveland Daily Leader, May b.
Frsnd for the murder Richardson has closed in
H. acqutta of the prisoner We nave no heSa ad
decs a. any unjust verdict rendered In any case IN
any Court The facts proven demonstrate that MIS- NC
Iaand so far from being seduced from the allegiance
20 her husband by Richardson, left him before she was
ever intimate with that gentleman driven from him by
drnkenness shiftlessness and degradation of the man
supported and cared for her and by his
The record shows that Mcfarland was himself
the sole cause of his matrimonial unhappiness -, .,o
This absurd unjust verdict caps the climax OF the
series OF acquttals in murder cases where husband
TO ayenge some real or alleged interference Win
logical principle Of these verdcts carried out TO redacho