The New Orleans daily Democrat., 1878-02-19
THE BELL0CQ-NOBL0M CASE. .
HANTyiNDICATIONO OF MEssRs
PEYCHAUD AND SHANNON. mM
FnIi Text Of Judge Billings Charge TO
the .Jury-Thc VerdiCf-COn-
gratuIatiOns.

character of his client tShannon) in his Ncouh-
sel's) absence, on the ground that no evidence
had been introduced to show that 1t was gooo
declared that twas Il most unfaic cproceealhR'
disregard Of professional courtesy an outrage
upon his client, and violation Oh the hlRh
duties privileges and rights OF pubic prose-
cutor md that rs such itshould nave peeh OK
euded by the court ut thR time.
Major Austin hold that the argument was .aIl IN.
fair and not legally admissible, ana Askeu !h.it
the court direct the jury not to consider l. ~
resolving upon their verdict, citing IN support
OF his position Roscoe on Criminal EVloehce'p
"Omission to offer testimony Is to prison
ers good character does not authorize inc IN
fsrencs.that it Is not good. nor an argument W
that effect. w., ,o v,o oe, d
III d pe,s on trial for IN alleged u1tense
offer no evidence Of his good character. no legal
inference can arise from such o1nisslon tnih ne
il guilty of the of1ense charged. nor WI such
omission authorize any argument to the jury
against his general good character"
fin iy /. criminal prosecution where the accUsed
offers no evidence. the presumption Is thtst ne
is innocent. and tina. his general character is
Ths court ruled thut the point was well taken,
and instructed the jury In 9ccordance with IN, the
motion Of counsel. OF VII il,, appear nhppear from the
The Charge to ithe Jury.
United States Circuit Court-District Of Louisi-
Henry fpo9SS syehsad ss'S nosert % k T. shannon ct
Billings Judge: o
Gentlemen OF the Jury-The Indictment
chnrges that the defendants. Henry Pe3ychaud
other and with the several other persons named
in tho indictment, and with divers other, per,
S@ 70 h9 saea % Of the
s2q6 900, the property and the moneys Of the said
United States; that the firm OF Belloca. NobSm
u 90 had preferred u false claim against The
governments of the United States in the Court
Of Claims for the proceeds of 1851 bales, OF cot
p nn we With hy hsy fEsd9 d nsy 5 to ""s
seSsd d2s by p''11e'T he Federal military forces
that said cotton was situated on the plantations
OF various parties. planters IN the parisho,s OF
Avoyeles. s. Landry and t., st Ma Martdn within u,
Henry Peychnud. snb4eauently. became the syn;
die qf % Of BSofq f qMNrah Nosom sa
omenaG on th9 pson in 'a{ the do
Of t5f BeIloca. Noblom & GO: were the owners OF
chased and paid for, or taken for advances on
the same during the ssl and hs sea gon on
Personally appeared before, me Henry Pey-
chaud. syndic aforesaid, resident OF the city
deposeth and saith that he is the, claimant
above described in the above petition: TINT
no assignment or traasfer OF said in,srani claim
thereof, has been made except as in said peti,, ;,
tion stated: that the clai imants are still entitled
States. after allowing a Just credits and 'frsetts,
and that he believes the facts as stated in the
said petition are true
The Indictment then proceeds to alleGS that by
the presentation Of false and nntruthful tssti-
mony and depo3itops Of witness es. and OF false
and untrue exhibts and proofs presented to the
Judges Of the said Court Of Claims. Il Judgment
was .frauduently obtained by. the defendants
for the said sum Of s2as,o 600 against the govern
Peychaud subsequently received the payment
Of the said money.
The Indictment then proceeds to allege vari,
GUS overt acts Of the several! persons charge,d!
with this conspiracy, who. 1t s alleged. well
knew that the whole claim was fraud upon
h3 saa ys h Of
to his own use That in fuYherance Of the
said conspiracy the said Henry Peychaud did
Vallade. one of the defendantA to give sal q
yallade a valuable consideration.to the Grand
jury unknown: that he, the said defend 'ntVa
lade, should appear rs q witness In said case,
and give testimony VIII ich should be used in said
Court OF Claims. in order to procure the said
Judgment: that the testimony OF the said
untrue and was frauduently obtained and
used by the said defendant, Henry Peychaud.
Other overt acts are charged In the indict-
ment to have been committed by the otheH
alleged consprators which it is not necessary
Tor f me here to enum5,erate .,u
the part Of the defendants was formed within
the district of Louisiana. and carried out
and in part within various Other districts of the
So far as relates to the time at which the Of
Tense Is alleged to have been committed. /
charge you. rs matter Of law. that a conspiracy
is continuous thing: and, II you find that a
conspiracy has been established in the manner
and form as alleged, and thnt the conspiracy con-
tnued down to and after the tenth day Of June.
A. j. 1874. the date charged in the indictment.
and that the overt acts charged were committed
subsequently and during the continuance Of the
conspiracy, that in that asethe offense charged
has been committed As to the place Of the
under the constitution Of the United States. Is.
that party can be tried for an offense only
within the district in which 1t was committed.
The exception, IS that where an otfense has
been commenced in one district and consum-
mated In another, the venue venue may be lad and
find as fact that the conspiracy to do the un.
lawful act alleged In the indictment was formed
within h the dlstrict ~ q louisiana ana In part ex
mated inethe United States, but in some other
district than the district of Louisiana but that
conspiracy here formed: then, SO far as relates
to venue. the otfense s cognizabe by the United
States courts within this district;
This Indictment is framed under section 544O
OF the Revised Statutes Of the United States.
which provides that IF any two or more. per-
against the United States, or to defraud the
United States In any manner. or for any our
pose. and one or more Of such persons do any
"
parties to such conspiracy shall be liable to a
penalty Of not less than $1,000 and not more
than SO 600. andso Imprisonment for not more
than two years. O
1t was incumbent upon the prosecution. in
order to es,ablish the case against these defen-
dants.. to prove to the satisfaction Of the jury
that there. was conspiracy on the part
of these two defendants. or. one Of them
with some one or more of the persons
named In the Indictment. to defraud the gov
ernment of the United States. by means of the
collection of this claim. through and by means
of the Judgment obtained in the Court Of
Claims: and further. that some one or more Of
the overt acts charged in the Indictment were
committed by one or more OF the persons al
legged and proved to have been conspirators.
L. AS to the existence Of the conspiracy.
will give you the definition of the nature Of u
criminal conspiracy, and an exposition OF the
evidence which hmay De adduced in support Of it.
in the language of one of the ablest Of English
writer's upon the subject of criminal law:
The evidence in support OF an indictment
for conspiracy is generally circumstantial. and
1t is not necessary to prove any direct concert.
or everoany meeting of the conspirators.eas eas the
actual fact Of conspiracy may bs collected fr m
fhn an1l lot OH stoy,o S>ft tla A