The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1874-01-15

votes decide the matter. Upon this poin,
at any rate, the jury were unanimous, an,
the foreman proceeded to put the que.
ton. One said he did not care Nhirj
way 1t went-hanging the doctor woGl,
neither harm him nor do him any GOOD
another, that the doctor had iAteIA saNe,
the lives Of two OF his children MORTAL,
bad with the smallpox, while he ha;;
| only killed an old woman, who could no
nave lived much longer ANYHOW; it wa
two lives against one, and he wcu!dhs
hang the man, not he. Others were fo
conviction on grounds equally ridicu
lous. Fortunately for the poor doctor, al
at length agreed to a verdict of not guilty
Many verdict is, we may be sure, onf,
that of majority, acquiesced in by dis
sentients anxious to be spared trouble
some discussion, and sensible enough t.
prevent their foreman announcing, AZ thu
foreman of Limerick iury did, that they
| were ''unaniMoHs- to three" in
finding the prisoner not guilty. o.
! course the Unanimous" party had to re
| tire again, and, of course. returned the
same verdict, and the accused was dis
charged. heins grateful for his escape
he promised, as he was leaving the court
that it would be his last as well as his
first offense, oblivious to the fact that the
jury had decided he had done nothing al
all. Physical arguments have been used
by majority when more legitimate ones
failed. A iuryman once asked Judge
whether his differing in judgment from
his eleven brethren justified his being
knocked down with chair. In the case
of another jury, one, at dispersal, was
heard n " tn Nnrl,, I
ened to kick him he'd never agreed" In
America they would appear to have a
gcntler mode Of securing unanimity.
When Abraham Lincoln had to defend a
fellow charged with stealing halfa.doxen
prime hogs, the case against his client
was SO clearly proved that he told
him as much. Not at all discounted,
the accused said: Never mind about
that; just abuse the witnesses, and spread
yourself on general principles, and it will
be all right" Sure enough, 1t was so /;
to Lincoln's establishment, the iury
brought in a verdict of not guilty. Con
graduating his client on the result, ne
could not help saying the affair was past
his understanding. The rogue's explana-
ton set his wonder at rest. "Well,
squire,' said he, you see, every one of
them ere fellows had piece of them
hogs" Indeed, according to the latest
advices from the States verdict cannot
be upset by reason of its being obtained
by bribery. In libel case tried in Lou
isiana, the losing counsel demanded q
new trial, offering to prove, by the evil
dence Of the foreman OF the jury, that one
ofthe jurors had received letter offering
a bride; by the evidence of one of the
court officers that he had delivered such
letter; and by other evidence, that one of
the jurors had owned to accepting bride,
and that the foreman had been in constant
communication with outside parties. The
was dismissed, the judge
ruling: THAT no juror must disclose
what happened in the jury room; that
the confessing of juror could not be
used to impeach his verdicts; and that
the person to whom the incrimirating
note was addressed could not testify to re-
ceiving it," The verdict had been rem
dered and registered, and could not be
disturbed.
A counsel trying to make the best of a
bad case insisted that there was some evil
dence in favor of the view he wished the
jury to take. When he had done, Mr..
Justice Maule said to the jury: THE
learned counsel is perfectly right in his
law; there is some evidence upon that
point; but he's lawyer, and you're no
lawyers, and don't know what he means
by some 'evidence;' so I'll tell you. Sup
pose there was an action on bill of eX-
change, and six people swore they saw
the defendant accept it, and six others
knew him intimately, and swore to his
handwriting; and, suppose on the other
side, they called a poor old man who had
been at school with the defendant forty
years before, and had not seen him since,
and who said he rather thought the &C
ceptance was not in his handwriting;
why, there would be some evidence that
it was not-and that's what the learned
means in this case" The apt il
ustration was too much for the jurymen
hey had seen their way clearly enough
before, but found it necessary to retire
md solve the judges abstruse con-
lndrum ere they could agree upon the
verdict. Another bothered jury, we sus-
,ect, was that American one which was
for, 1--WE find the prisoners
lot guilty, but believe they hooked the
pork" verdict matched by a Carlisle
Jury, when they found wa!ch.stealer
guilty, but recommended him to mercy,
because it was really very hard to say
he had taken the watch or not.
An Irish jury recommended a man to
mercy on the grounds that he had no re-
collection of the transaction; but of all
odd names for lenity, commend us ~ that
Of the Devonshire foreman, who, upon
being asked why convicted person was
to mercy, replied: "Be-
cause it is an aggravated case, my lord"
We suppose that it was because it was an
aggravated case that Swiss jury found
circumstances in couple of
ruffians numbering poor shoemaker
who objected to their stealing the boots
off his feet. A Welsh jury were not con-
ent with performing their own functions,
out usurped the Judges prerogative.
Having to decide as to the guilt or inno-
,ence of man charged with uttering a
orged note, the sapient men of Cardigan
'aid: I'VE find the prisoner guilty
If telling stories about the note, and think
le ought to pay back the money and
lave three months for it." death by
smallpox, accelerated by neglect of vac
nation" was not bad for q coroner's jury;
,ut much better was the rider to verdict
n a case of accidental poisoning with
,arbolic acid. "The jury is Of opinion
hat the public should be warned of the
dangerous nature of this diabolical acid"
When the jury in famous Irish muir.
Ter case were locked up for the night, it
vas discovered that there were thirteen of
hem, the odd man being sociable fel-
ow who had volunteered his assistance
ust to have the pleasure of dining with
he real jurymen. At ano! her trial, just
IS the case was drawing to its end, some
,ody called attention to the fact that one
# the jurors had vanished; he was found
lifting unconcernedly in the body of the
court, having walked out of the jury-box
without any idea he was doing wrong,
quite unaware of the responsibility attach
ID to the part for which he was cast
Ihdmber's Journal.
A Tough Old Couple.
The toughest man in America lives
wo miles below this place. His name is