The New York herald., 1872-07-16

that Fisk could not have drawn a pistol and his
view Of the matter once settled, the question Of
premeditation was the only thing
and we ave, who believed there was no premedita-
ton to Kill on the part OF Stokes, believed 80 con-
scientiously and acted accordingly"
THE SOLE GROUND FOR ACQUITTAL
Mr.. Henry @. Whittle was next called upon.
chow did you vote, Mr.. whittleS" was the first
question put to him.
~ voted at first for acquittal."
"On what grounds might ask"
drawn pistol on Stokes, as the latter averred;
and, in the second place, / did not believe that
Stokes when he fred intended to Kill Fisk"
What made You change your opinion, or rather
recede from your position In favor Of acquittal to
manslaughter In the third degree ~
"When Ftsk's clothes were examined and the
cloak was put on one of the Iurymen so that we
could get better idea OF the deceaseds position If
he did draw pistol when he saw Stokes, we one
drawn pistol was not sustained"
"And what did you do then ~
with Messrs. Hogan and Flamme for manslaughter
In the third degree, being convinced that Stokes
words when he fred he did not mean to kill Fisk."
THE FOREMAN'S STORY.
the foreman Meyer Hom6erger, % VERY intelligent gent
out Of the Court room proposed ballot right
away to determine how we stood. The ballot was
guilty, one; justinabe homicide, two; mansaugh-
ter In the third degree, two; murder In the first M
degree, seven. After the ballot Hogan was the
STOKES S was ss as asted Killing ss them
saw on a. Jury. '' He ''DSid Sid not not seem to
know what justitabe homicide meant He finally
change Of views Mr.. Tucker consented to vote for
manslaughter in the third degree. The second
Mr.. Bonds statementI The subsequent % f'tsii ballots
showed the same result. Famme and Whitte
IN s nre haa y Of
Thompson, Tucker and Hogan doing so. From the
conversation l think Hogan would have voted for
dered it according to the law"
''rhen the final ballot stood as you have given it
der :" Nv ''' '''''''s A''' "A' ''''A ''' 'AD'
.Precisely. We found 1t useless to ballot. Some
II Thompson had not held out. At one time on Sun
day we proposed to send for Judge lngraham and
ask II we could not record verdict OF murder in
less, that we could not agree"
"But were
ALL IN FAVOR OF PUNISHMENT FINALLYpn
eyes all; only differed as to the severity OF It,
Some were very settled in their convictions that
the shooting was not premeditated until the men
accidentally met on the stairs"
Mr. Tucker was found at his residence in East
Forty-hrst street
OF the gentlemen on the Stokes Jury who was origL
naly In favor Of acquittal can you tell me why you
Certainly, sir. had grave doubts about the
justification for the shooting and wanted the
Judges charge reviewed. On the first ballot l
voted 'justinaDlc homicide on the ground that
believe Fisk had pistol on his person. on the next
ballot, after more careful consideration went for
manslaughter in the third degree"
was that after Fisk'S clothes were examined by
the juryY"
II do not recollect now. The twelve jurors came
to the conclusion that as far they could see by
the evidence up to the moment Of the shooting It
was not premeditated, and the question in their
mind was & where to draw the ne-how long the
der. When 1t came to that very fine point
thought 1t impossible for the human mind to draw
parallel and decide whether the shooting was or
was not premeditated That was one OF the rea-
sons asked the Judge during the trial about the
length OF time for which man should be held re-
spOnsible recollectcd that the Judge and cOun-
sci asked us to give the prisoner
THE BENEFIT OF THE DOUBT,
and did so. thought If the law permitted 1t we
might agree on verdict OF murder in the second
degree. 1t was too much OF Jump from man.
slaughter In the third degree for some OF the jurors
Mr.. Roderick Hogan was visited and stated in
substance that after the second ballot the three for
acquittal consented to manslaughter. Each one
expressed his views freely in speeches, about
minutes, with the exception OF one, who talked
very long,. After that there was the change that
resulted In those for manslaughter and acquttal
uniting. The subject finally settled down and the
discussion ceased. We gave
THE MEDICAL TESTIMONY
no 3s2 consideration at all
tors"
"No; but such is the fact; nor did we consider
the question OF premeditation previous to the en-
accidental The whole question hinged on whether
there was generalization on the instant OF the
wise-that the shooting was done by Stokes on
the spur OF the moment, when he had suddenly
met man he had looked upon as great enemy,
who, he supposed, was dangerous man; for If he
had not then pistol the evidence shows he was
In the habit OF carrying one. Some Of the jury
thought Fisk had a pistol on the day In question,
others that he had not. From the testimony OF
Stokes, DR.. Trppler, Henry the parlor man, and
the coachman, Moore. some of the jurors thought
'Did the examination Of the clothes AFFECT the
change in the minds of those who were for acqut-
'Some did examine Fisk's clothes and 1t may
have Influenced some. think 1t did Thompson
My view was that the shooting was done on
THE SPUR OF THE MOMENT"
"Do You think the jury could have united on
verdict OF murder in the second degree The FORE
man thinks you were inclined that way"
mo, no; would have gone for mansaughter in
the third degree; not murder. Some one Of the
could be rendered, but the idea was abandoned" ''
"Do you think any OF those In favor of a verdict
OF murder would have compromised on manslaugh-
eyes, as far as can Judge, two would have done
so to get conviction. Some were AFRAID the case
not agree, and it would be worse for the prisoner
Two or three OF those for murder stated
they had not settled convictions until the Judge
said premeditaton could be formed on the instant.
This seemed to be the turning point with them"
ALL OF A KIND.
Mr.. Bennett Williams and Mr. LefYertS, who were
among the seven in favor OF murder In the first
degree, tell the same story as Mr. Bond, who voted
as they did about the sayings and doings behind
the scenes and Mr.. Thompson, who was one of the
five In favor OF manslaughter in the third degree
makes the same statement as Mr.. Flamme and the
three who voted as they did Several OF the Jurors
could not be found and 30 their statements could
not be obtained.
THE COMFORTS OF THE JURY LOOKUP.
1t Is only necessary to add that the jurymen say
they all had about much sleep from Saturday |
night to Monday morning as most men enjoy on |
hard benches, and who are not accustomed to |
roughing 1t.
"Did you have all you wanted to eat2n asked the |
reporter OF one OF them.
"Oh yes; the Astor House furnished us all we |
wanted.n
"Plenty to drink alsoYv
"Well i don't know about that,n said the Jury
man; II don't know what kind of drinkers we had
on the jury, all told; but for Joke yesterday we
ordered bottle Of wine, and were rather
astOnished on finding the order filled few minutes
"Of course the bottle was not opened ?,