The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1878-08-22
rrc.en MURDER TRIAL.


nRApHrc PICTURE OF 4 PARTISAN eo,s. $500.
FRENCH IDEA or JUSTICE ss0 hE,s Sls''s'
i rxANrSATIoS FROM THE BE nee.
/ rrha author u the !" kounu, e q Doa..
france . series OF articles An ttie LoassVh
Daifg Nesns writes -, !, law,
m NAV interest Engtlsh IsA.lsts ~ ,sai y.
~ - : THAT OF Barte, Lebax, ans the
.sxnsssn g.epin. which has Just taken place
s,asorn the !, ssize Court OF the Seine. mas
Srs.,,o,,f out In strong relief some ef the
shsI,rdities OF Freach crimsua proceaure,
while che crime or which the two mate prs
nntT.s stand convicted merits attention Dy
stseIf-not less from its atroctty tnan 1rotn
me social position OF the perpsteatoS..
sTbev were not persons OF low statfon, put
vnnnc men OF respectable family, VINO
.SaG i reee;yefi an excellent education at
ahe Lycee OF Angers. They were re
yardei as brilliant pupils. BarIe, tne
eIdere az the two. went, after ieav naa' c0t-
aene. TO study law, and could easily hsse got
an, opening to practice as 8oilcltor III n.s
native town. Lcblez became ameatsaista-
dent. and he, too. bad comfortable pros
meets contingent on his obtaining mis- nfpia-,
mas. But at the age when yeung uisa SET
Ale their tlestinies for better or worse; these
Two youths preferred idle dissipation TO
work: and the result was that they soon,
exhausted the patience Of their relatives,
md were cast of TO shift fer themselves.
sFhcn they quickly slipped doVH the stages
which lead from impecuaioals sioth 70 MS
doing. Barre set up swindmg tcoIlnis.
sion ppency, and despoiled servant gifis OIL
their savings under Dretenee OF 1nSsst-
sinr the same; Leblez developed into Pc
litical adyenturer, who gave lectures on
ssDarwipism.o contributed to obscure :ln-
cendsary Journals, /. and Went PROVING
about for capital to start paper OF ms
own. At the time OF his arrest ne
had Just registered tue title OF .tue
Pere Duchene, OF infamous memory:
which he intended to revive; ana mere ~ y
is worth Observing that II be had sescapeu
ish;np now. and conservative poanclans
would certainly have affected to.tr Its
rontin on ne the sentiments OF the whole Re-
nnblcan party, AS it was, Barre ana
ieblez, who had ylllainy enough to commit
n crime, were luckily not endowed VIII
nerve enough to take proper precnlHlons
for concealment. Having resolved 10 muir
der milkwoman named Gillet, who was o
customer of Bar1e's, in order to rob be1 OF
about e60G, which she was kaoWn 10 nave
in cupboard, they decoyed the pooTtcea-
cure to Barrels Office, feiled her Iltn itshs-
,mers and then proceeded TO cut her Doay 20
pieces with razor. 1t was Their .ntehtlon
To mack the limbs in trunk, Whleb Woutd
no forwarded to distant railway station,
x.to be left It'll called for"; bull the box
banpened TO be too small, SO they made up
the arms and part Of the legs in paEcG
and carried it to a hotel, where they
abandoned it in a cupboard, beIieVlnS
they had left no clue to detection. Aeautef-
lied mnrk on one of the arms, however. en-
=abled the police. after dlligeDt lnyestlsa-
tion. in which they were much aided Us
usual, by the publicity OF the press. 10
establish the murdered woman's ldently !,
anil then witnesses came forward to say that
they had heard Nine. Gillet talk OF Barre as
her. % hopame d'affaires," or broker. BARRE.
on being appsehended, at once loss DIS
head and betrayed Leblez. The lattef,
when taken, declared he was only an acces-
sorry after the fact, but presently the con-
frontation with the murdered woman re-
mains had such an effect on him that ne
made full confession.
Here ye come npsn some OF the absurdl-
ties in the French system OF dealing with
criminals. II there be any merit in that
system it is this: thsd guilty persons are
generally broughtgery quickly by the moral
torture Of the Judge daastruction's inquisi-
ton to make such complete avOwals as ought
considerably to tighten the labors OF jury.
in England Barry IN i Leblez would not nave
been called upon to make any confession.
Their crime would have been brought
home to them by tie eciacumstantlal eVi
deuce, which was preHYstFong in this case,
and they would have been sentenced te
death after q trial which, might have lasted
a couple of days at most; but had they
chosen to confess and plead guilty, the pro-
ceedings against them would OF course have
been much more summary. In France tie
confession OF the two miserable men saved
them not moment's torment not for
maity, and it saved the puhicnot centime
OF expense. The Judge d'instrnction ex-
amined the pair no less than tbirty-seven
times, each examination lasting two or three
hours, aud covering multitude OF irrele-
want topics, for it is not enough in France
that man should be convicted Of an Of
fence out OF has own mouth; it Is essential
that the authorities should know all about
him from his youth up, and all about his
family. In the upshot, Barrels mistress,
leontine Lepin, was implicated in the
charge as an accessory, and finally the three
prisoners were committed 10 take their trial
for premeditated murder. The French have
no grand jury, bat a cldnabTe deS misses en-
accusations, composed OF judges, discharges
the functions of this body, and in the pre-
sent instance it at once returned true bill.
Then the prisoners were formally arraigned
before the Assize Court, composed Of three
Judges and q Jury OF twelve men drawn
from panel Of forty. The trial commenced
on Monday, and it lasted three whole days.
Why, seeing that the two principal accused
virtually pleaded guilty, while the female
Drisoner was only charged on the minor
counts Of receiving property stolen from
the murdered woman? Well, French pro-
cedure, which seems altogether directed to-
wards eliciting confessions from prisoner,
does not formally attach any weight to
them when once obtained There is no
pleading guilty or not guilty. The pri-
soner stands in the dock to be ques-
toned, and the president who interro-
gates him, taking his guilt for granted
all the while, abuses him, breaches at him,
DULLES him; then the public prosecutor
has his ding, then the witnesses are
heard, and finally, after the speeches
for the defence, the president makes his ac-
cusing voice heard again In u summing-up
which is nothing else than an echo OF the
prosecutors indictment. Nevertheless, the
Jury must deliver their verdict, for, after
all has been said and done, it rests with
them to determine whether there are any
<sextenuating circumstances = to reduce
the crime to murder in the second degree,
which does not involve the death penalty.
Now, this is obviously n question which
ought to be left to the judges, as it is in
Belgium. for when relinquished TO the jury
1t is continually giving rise to gross miscar-
riages of justice. A sentimental jury re-
Gently found !" extenuating circumstances y
- IL Il 49,. a