The New York herald., 1872-07-12
NEW YORK HERALD FRIDAY JULY r. g72-wTH


of the preliminary examinations In THIS oase. and
printed report Of the proceedings ct the coroners
Inquest had rendered himself liable to punishment:
precedents, nearly all Of which were drawn nom
English sources. He felt that all he had 70 rear II
s case was tine ana en-
might hare Intended to se fair and impartial had
| produced some impression upon the mind OF the
| terly any such influences.
THE DUTY OF TIE JURY
was to pass Ipon every question OF acs inyoed " In
rect any error they might make in their Judgment
In civil. cases the Judge mad the power to
ent In criminal causes, though Governor Hnd.
man had recommended certain notifications OF
Gently @ gone up to % the Court Of Appeals Where
man had been wrongfully convicted OF murder In
the second degree, and where, although the Court
had clearly stated that the verdict was UNJUST they
was now serving term in the State Prison. Thus
this case
THE LAW MERCIPUL.
All the bearings Of the law were In favor Of the
was merely az intellectual entity desti,
law always leaned to the side Of the prisoner and
many improvements In this respect had been made
by Star Chamber tribunal In her absence, but we
had now progressed beyond that, and had even
sS
right, he thought, that prisoner could have when
t was combined with the privilege Of re-
any Inference being drawn against him on
that account To guilty man the ordeal Of exam
terrible that ne could sustain for the jury would
soon detect the truth from his manner, whereas an
innocent man enjoyed the advantage OF telling his
story.
DOWNFALL OF THE RrNo
Mr.. Tremain concluded his preliminary remarks
had been recently effected IN our public affairs.
which inspired him with the hope OF fair hearing.
said he You ind the Erie Ring that power WITH
which the deceased was so intimately identified,
OF which he was the right arm holding pos
by, the aid Of that Ring and Of its
then in power, whether they had stolen power or
not, were perpetuated In their places and all efforts
to strike them down made useless. law had also
been passed by this same power cOnferring upon
four men In this city imperial authority. All
powers that belonged to the people had been given
ana foot at the feet of this caba and its supporters
The chief Of this cabal was authorized by law to
designate ee nine daily and nine weekly papers for
revenue-and the press with a few honorable ex-
ceptions, were thus subsidized.
But the time came when the people demanded re-
form. The cry OF reform was heard. Honest and
honorable men Of all political parties came out and
exist. One man connected with the legal profess
sion, who had led q lie Of legal usefulness, illus
forward, sacrificing all associations and political
aspirations, and, placing himself In the front ranks
country with ali its faults, and come what may. 1
stand by this great reform movement; for, in the
sS q q 1na can 90 less 90 help
who has done more to honor himself and his c0un.
try than il he had been elevated to the ONCE Of
President. This reform swept on. Fisk fell by
circumstances which 1t is unnecessary to indicate.
The dissolution OF the Erie Ring followed. The
ow rhs act also e and
appear before you, enjoying tho freedom OF speech
secured by the constitution and with my constitu-
Within the limited range Of facts allowed
by the the aw. can ,gd gather sufficient cGa proof
the defendant was tho natural result Of gigantic
conspiracy setting at defiance all laws human and
divne IT, in truth, or In the crazed belief OF the
prisoner he was compelled by an Irresistible law
Of his being to fire his pisto II he was the victim
| Of an insolent annoyance that knew no law except
| its own will and brute fOrce--n can do this and
fail to denounce the consplrators IN that unhoy
enterprise, may my right hand perish and my
now at time and under circumstances when
have no fears of this cabal, although see the ndi
cations Of Its existence all around me. | rejoice
can calmly survey the field, and judge Stokes by
the light reflected by history and by truth.
At the request of Mr.. Tremain Mr. McKeOn read
the Indictment
| MURDER OR wHATY
Mr.. Tremain then proceeded with his argument
by reading the definitions OF murder In the first
and second degree OF justi1able homicide, and OF
the four degrees OF manslaughter, making running
explanatory comments. He claimed that it was
not u case Of murder In the second degree but
must either be murder in the first degree, usti.
| fable homicide or manslaughter In the third de-
gree The crime Of murder, he said, must CON-
! bine the following features First that the killing
should be the result of o mortal wound second,
that the wound had been inflicted with the pre-.
medltated design to effect death; third, that the
cause or excuse, and, fourth, that the wound must
he inflicted by person OF sound mind and memory
responsible for his acts; free voluntary agent
conscious OF what he Is about and knowing tina,
| what he Is about to do is wrong.
| WAS THE WOUND MORTAL 2
Mr.. Tremain said he would discuss, first, whether
the wound inflicted by the prisoner was the one O
which Fisk died on the 7th Of January. The prOo
| left reasonable doubt that he did not die from
that wound. 1t was not enough for the prosecution
| wound but they must show that 1T was a MOI tai
wound and that it was the direct cause Of DEATH Il
1t turned out that death might have been caused by
malpractice or by the joint action of malpractice
for the homicide. He might adduce innumerable
authorities in support Of this proposition, but I;
such was aa'sS the aW H. rre%a S
instanced several cases In point, and went on tC
say that Fisk, in spite of his wealth and position
| fell a victim to gross malpractice. The two per
| sons Immediately in charge OF him. Drs Fisher and
Tripler, exercised their probing powers with dill
gence, which was indicative OF the grossest igno
| rance and that they had also administered exces
sive doses OF deadly poison TO their patient.
AT this point, on the suggestion OF the Court that
the counsel could stop whenever he wished, the
| summing up was broken or, and the Court ad
journed until this morning, at half-past ten o'clock