New Orleans Republican., 1873-05-04

| these circumstances to influence your Judg-
ment against the accused, but it would be
| an everlasting disgrace upon the admins
tration of public Justice in Louisiana.
When suspicion fastens itself upon poor
man. who, unaided and unfriended, be-
| comes an inmate Of prison, occupying a
! place in the criminals dock, and is charged
with the crime of murder, it frequently
! happens that the strongest circumstances
! against him are his poverty and his mlHfor-
tune. The good name OF those III the num-
| bier walks of life is as dear to them as In
tegrtg is tC Judge: and these poor men,
though tarnished with suspicion, are as
much wronged by an unfounded charge as
| if they were the most eminent ciuZens ln
the land. Courts of justice were ordained
| 10 acouit the innocent as we'll as punish the
guilty. and it is an erroneous idea that be-
| cause nan is charged with crime the
! Jury must necessarily convict hiDs Not
| ONLY in behalf of the prisoners, but III the
| interest of public Justice, 60 | propose to
critically examine the testimony upon which
| this fearful charge has been made; and
when ! shall have applied to It the legal
tests. the dark cloud which has hovered SO
| long over these unfortunate men VIII De
! lifted as high as the heavens, and the sus-
piciOns will disappear like the mountain
| dew before the morning sun.
The first inquiry for your minds Ia, has
| there been a murder committed And the
| second should be, did the prisoners at the
bar commit the crime, Let us review the
facts as they have been presented by the
State, that we may inteligently sit III judg-
ment upon the lives of the accused. On
Wednesday evening, August %, Robert
West and Isaac Walker, the deceased, We're
seen together by Sarah Logan. about seven
O'Clock, in the vicinity of Gravier and Boli-
yer streets Walker was intoxicated and
West was playing the fiddle to a numerous
crowd. They disappeared from that locality
upon friendly terms. At d quarter to nine
Officer Babylon found Walker in an insensi
BILE condition on st. Philip street, near Dor
genois. almost two miles from the place
where he was previously seen by the witness
Logan Whatever occurred in the interval
is wrapt in a profound and awful mystery,
which may never be revealed until the
great Judge of the quick and the dead shall
unmask the assassins.
How long the unfortunate man had been
there, wounded bleeding and inseIsiole, Is
not known; but, as Is usual III sucE cases,
VIXEN property is in danger and hives are
threatened, the police, who should have
been the first to discover the CRIME, were
the last to find the victim. Crowds o. pei"
sons had assembled and were Witnessing in
silent horror the CHASTITY spectacle. 1t is
force, the guardians of ourlives and proper
tv. that an assassinated citizen, dying of
his wounds in populOus thorOughtare, at
an early hour, on a summer evening. is not
known to the police until all of the men.
women and children in the vicinity nave
viewed and crowded around the appalling
sight There is something not only repre-
hensible, but suspicious, in the tardiness Of
the police which earnestly desire you to
y, vrx.lt cyry.~j 10
We come now to the dying declaration OF
Walker, without which the names of Jami-
son and Brown are not even connected
with this case, excepting the testimony of
the mother of Walker, while that of West
is mentioned in a manner deserving COM
mendation, rather than chains and tetters.
| will read this indiscriminate statement,
technically called dying declaration, for
your serious consideration, which not only
contradicts itself. but it is gainsaid by other
witnesses in several material parts; and It is
evidently so incoherent and rambling as to
render it dangerous as precedent and un-
worthy OF credulitv. II is as follows:
Isaac Walker, now lying i'll at No. 400. Gravier
street of this city, fIom the erect OF blows lie
ceived on the twenty-eicl lth dav OF August, 1872.
i'll this district and city. after having been duly
1orcwarned that he is about to depart this lite
makes the following statement as lis dying declat
atom
On Wednesday night, August 20, man by the
name OF beaurt 1ila sa" me ~ sofnt ,nn
SIa ~as th.rt ~ was VII, him Roterr Wrst
ca Il tel YOU all the rest abou. it, Dick Blown was
there. II was between nine and ten o'clock al
night. Dich Brown lnin!sd Oh me ana ch0ked IKE, me
Bon know who struck me s,n the head, Sesuse-
gard stuck Ine sure.
esAAr < wALhERs
ISAAC WALKEG, Ja, mark
WILL NEK'YRe
JonS B. JoSEs,
Witnesses to the MARI o, isaac "alSeI, "to was
mnaoie 10 wEiae ms nhle ie ,,is ,,,,,, d,
of S.ntan,hrr i9s5 NY
G. P. sOrGHToN,
Recorder First District Of Ne" Orleans
! intend to cast no unnecessary renee
uons upon the Nerac>ty or memory on the
deceased but on 70 s"lemn!y impress you
with the idea thai his h'lno was wandering,
Which, nnder the law OF evidence, lhVaii'
dates TINS dec'aration. Let us no;Ice the
contradictions. Ha!ker says that heaire-
gard saw nm win some money; amounting
to ~ whlch beaufegarH ,h"hght was SloV.
Sarah Logan ttstihes tiat walker ana
west came INTO her place ol business, ana
Whlle there walker coun'ed MS money AT
the END % the counter. lou VIII perceive
mat 1t was III the presence o. west ana
coot III ihe presence " beau,eSatu odulisoh,
II whlch walker counted MS money out
as ne was intoxicated az the uiihe, MS ihlnd
oeing muadiSd before ne was wounded ne
had an inalstihct 1dea o. counting ms
money somewhere before some one IL
would De prfjudIcial 10 Sood sfdef 10 rely
upon the uhcorToporateu testimony Oh
crnnken man, though ne alter"afd came
INTO court ID sooer conditioh TO state iacts
as distinctly as he could reco.lect them;
but how much greater would be the peril
when the unfortunate lneoriate passes mo
state OF iEsehsioiiity from teffiDie oloWs
IRON "hieh ne never recoVers. Inc mind
that was confused ny intoxlcatlon becomes
darkened ny cohcussloh' when VIII ac-
count Tor the ramehng ana contradictory