Dodgeville chronicle. [volume] (Dodgeville, Wis.) 1862-current, 1874-01-16
Jury Trials.

WE have had some remarkable verdicts
by juries in this country, and have had oc-
casion to notice number of them. The
one in the Puffenberger case, for instance,
where the prisoner was tried for criminal
carelessness resulting in the Alton Rail
way disaster, was as queer verdict III It's
way as one often hears. The jury decld-
ed that Puffenberger was not guilty OF
criminal carelessness, and then censured
the railway for employing so reckless,
incompetent. and careless an engineer! !
This was equal to the Welsh jury, who
found prisoner not guilty but requested
the Judge to warn him not to yield to
temptation again.
Though we have had some strange YER
diets in this country, we are still far in
advance of most other nations, and
especially Italy, which, just now, Is hav-
ing some queer experience. Three cases,
lately reported there, seem at first blush
Incredible; but when we think of what an
average jury will do in this land of in
telligence, we feel inclined to credit these
cases, and should do so even if they were
not we'll authenticated-which they are.
The Duchess of Vastogirordi, residing
in Naples, was robbed short time ago
of some very valuable diamonds. Sus-
picion fell upon her maid, who was ar
rested. The evidence was positive: but
the jury acquitted the girl, on the ground
that the jewels exercised such terrible
fascination on her that she was "driven
to commit the theft by an irresistible
force!" The Duchess was reprimanded
for placing such temptations before the
girl. Another was still more absurd. A
gentleman was at church engaged in
prayer A man fired gun into the
church, severely wOunding the devotee in
the leg. The firing party was tried, and
the jury acquitted him, deciding that if
the gentleman had been less superstitious,
and had not been praying his time away
at church, his leg would not have been in
the way of the bullet, and he would not
have been hurt! Another case, and one
that will be most heartily commended by
defaulting public servants, is that of tax
collector of Naples, who ran away with a
million francs. He was arrested and
tried, and the jury acquitted him, on
the ground that the money stolen
belonged to the people, and as he was
one of the people he was part owner
of the money, and it would be monstrOus
to convict man for stealing his own
property! This is rather pleasant rule
for the defaulters, surely, and has the
merit of being not only novel but ingeni-
Gus. 1t is great pity that the shrewd
attorneys who defended Tweed and Genet
did not think of such plea in time to
save the former from prison and the lat
ter from the disagreeable necessity of
running away.
1t is not at all wonderful, however, in
the light or rather obscurity of such YER
diets as these, that the Italian Govern
ment has about concluded that jury trials
are an unmitigated humbug, and propose
doing away with them entirely. The fact
is, that juries need to be selected for their
intelligence, instead of their ignorance,
as is too frequently the case; and this is
difficult thing to do in country
like Italy, where education is the
exception, instead of the rule. Here,
however, there is NO excuse for packing
the box with dozen ignorant men, and
a little care on the part of the court will
avoid verdicts remarkable for nothing
save their absurdity. - Chicago Inter-
ocean,