Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1873-11-06
Gatland 9ailn 3erald.
TnE RUTLAND HERALD
TuE STOKES TRIAL.

II is one Of the weaknesses of human
nvto he forever passing judgment upon
t9cactions of other men, who have bet
,sr facilities for arriving at correct re-
,llIts than the one who constitutes him
self the umpire to condemn or approve.
Prominent among these self-appointed
iulras. are the conductors of the public
press, and we shall probably read within
the next few days hundreds of leading
editorials upon the subject of the Stokes
trial and its results. The jury have
found, upon their oath, after listening
to the testimony, arguments and charge
of the Court, that Edward S. Stokes is
gultv Of "Blanslaughter in the third de-
gree This offense, as defined by the
statute law of New York, is said to be
the killing of another in heat of pas
sion. without the design to effect death,
with dangerous weapon, in any case
except where the killing is said to be
iustidable or excusable." The punish
ment for this offense is somewhat in the
discretion of the Court, but is limited by
the statute so that it cannot exceed four
years confinement at hard labor in the
State Prison.
This jury were said, when they were
drawn, to be more than ordinarily intel
ligcnt. They have had opportunities
that no editor or reporter of the press of
the country has enjoyed, to arrive at
correct results and if their verdict came
to us, unattended by any other record,
we should be inclined to believe that
they had come to a determination nearer
exact Justice, and more directly con-
formable to the law and facts of the
case than any irresponsible opinion of a
metropolitan journal But there is an
other part Of the record that carries with
it a very potent influence the other way.
While juries are ordinarily, average in
telligent citizens, possessing fair degree
of discernment and experience, the judge
sits and presides over the trial and
watches it with the eye of an expert.
His trained and experienced judgment
detects inconsistencies and contradictions
that would escape the apprehension of
the unframed and unjudioial mind !;
and when the judge feels called upon to
reprove a verdict, we can at least feel
that there is doubt about its propriety.
In passing sentence upon the prisoner,
Judge Davis said: ''In rendering this
verdict, the jury have exhausted, and
more than exhausted, all mercy in the
case. No appeal to this court can dim
inish the sentence beyond the highest
penalty as fixed by statute to the degree
in which the prisoder is convicted, and
that is apparently trifing as compared
with The great crime he has committed.
do not desire TO make any further re
marks upon this case, but shall impose
upon him all the law confers upon me
power to give, only regretting that that
sentance cannot be more adequate to the
awful crime that rests upon his guilty
head. This is certainly strong Ian
guage. and shows that His Honor thinks
that the jury have, at least, made mis-
take. The testimony was conflicting,
and where it might strike different
minds differently, there must naturally
bc considerable difference in its moral
effect; but in criminal cases the law re-
quires that every reasonable doubt
should be resolved in favor of the prison
er, and in capital case, the jury should
be very careful how they convict on less
than moral certainty of guilt. From
this language of Judge Davis, however,
we think this jury have been too care
full for the best interests of the public.
The sentence Of four years in States
prison, is what the law regards rs com
mensurate with this crime, and as it is
below what the public think Stokes
ought to suffer, he viii stand less chance
of an Executive pardon than though it
had been for life or longer term of
years The impression seems to prevail
in legal circles that the sentence is fully
adequate to the verdict and is better than
one more severe, to serve the purposes
of corrective justice. -Four years of re-
Election and hard labor viii reform the
young man, if anything viii, and itnay
give him such habits of industry and
steadiness of purpose that he will become
a good and valuable citizen of the great
State whose offended dignity now con-