New Orleans Republican., 1873-06-21
COURT ITEMS.

COURT ITEMS.
The libel case before the Fourth District
Court drew, as usual. large crowd yes.er-
day.
MIR. Ogden opened for the defense in 4
very fine argument He presented the law.
as he viewed it from the standpoint of JUS
tifcation. in lucid manner. He referred
to the question Of the juror on what would
be done with an editorial arriving at the
Office at eleven o'clock. and the answer
given by Colonel Hill. as illustrating the
real point in the case. He referred to the
sacred liberties of the press. which pro-
tected our rights. He referred to cases
where great and good men had been at
tackled by the press and had retrained from
prosecuting the press f,r fear of injuring
these liberties. He called the attention of
the jury to the fact that the plaintiff had
not come upon the stand to stand an exam.
ination by his own attorney. The plaintiff
had stood upon technicllities.
The Senate committee. Republicans, had
stood six to one in making repor: on
which this article was founded. Senator
Carpenter said the same thing. He ana
lyzed the question OF damages. 1t had been
admitted that there was no malice proved.
He closed with an eloquent appeal to the
jury to rise superior to every consideration
but their oaths and the. sense Of justice.
Mr.. Randolph closed for the defense. He
reviewed the testimony. called particular
70, in, ,;al, Ia Il
fense had been restricted in their evidence.
and argued at length on the question Of
responsibility. In referring to the efforts g.,
the plaintiff to secure 4 verdict. he spoke
of the strictness of ruin. which the plain.
titi's counsel had forced On them. The
plaintiff has engaged the best talent the
bar affords. He is not satisfied with couL.
sci eminent in one department, but has
secured those supreme III all.
Here. said Mr. Randolph. is my splendid
young friend tMr. Ricei. whcm hope shall
be more intimate with in the future, who
made an Ingenious and splendid opening
before you. chaste and classic. lie read all
the law. but he did not tell you anything
about the case. He assumed that this was
a man OF spotless character and reputation,
and that the Picoy""c was the false Sian.
derer. Under this hypothesis. his argument
would be applicable. You can judge how
true the hypothesis was. Next to him came
the learned counse, Judge Dibble. who was
employed here. believe. to do the pathetic
part OF the case. He works upon your feel
ings to the tune Of hundred thousand dol
lars to compensate the vanity Of Judge
Hawkins. How successfully he did i: do
not know.
The last two counse! OF the plaintiff are
especially admirable. My friend. Judge
Cotton, for pathetic speaking and eloquent
defamation, stands in the foremost rank
of our profession: man that I am more
afraid of than almost any other man. AS to
the last gentleman. why. gentlemen of the
jury. he is the most extraordinary wit
Of the age. He will como before you
and following upon Judge Cotton's
pathos. just where the pathos breaks
down, he will come iu with the ridicCle
Why. he will be like one OF Shakspeare'>
plays :. there is no telling with him what
will happen next.
Mr.. Randolph was equally happy in his
other references. and closed with an eio.
quent appeal on behalf o: his clients.
The court took 4 recess.
Judge Cotton then opened the closing
argument Of the plaintiff. lie ridiculed the
defendants pleadings. and said he was
afraid to come to an issue on the carefully
drawn petition of the plaintiff. An issue
had been rendered. and they did not dare
20 NEE, it. They could have met i. fairly
in three lines. They Ill have plead the
truth. and all the truth. He directed the
attention Of the jury to the ruling Of the
learned judge. The jury must stand by the
record as it was made up. You cannot try
a man by rumor. The defense had insid.
iously tried to attack the character OF
the plaintiff. Judge Hawkins. by offer
ing to prove that a single person
had made an affidavit in the Criminal
Court. 1t was a part Of the conspiracy to
blachen his character. Judge Cotton re-
lated the history of the original suit. in
which he was counsel. for a note of $4,000.
in which Judge Hawkins showed tina: he
became the possessor Of the note for
valuable consideration before maturity.
He called attention to the fact that not one
of the forty five members of the bar that
had been summoned were called. Every
man had enemies. He wouldn't give
curse for any man who hadn't some. The
offeuse Of Judge Hawkins was that he had
stood by the flag of hi, country. Judge
Hawkins had occupied the same honorable
position as Mr.. Ogden's father. He
had been in receipt Of . salary Of $4,000
- reporter for the Supreme Court. At