The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1879-07-17
pRLMrNG OuT THEFACTs.


Uuder an Able s.nwyer.
-as4s 8 TCairo Buiisrin.lq 90 ~ 81
TINS manner il which attorneys quess
ton witnesses IL exsspersting 70 the intel
igent listener, beyond expression The
greS. purpose of the average criminal
LAWYER. for instance, is to draw from the
witness all the facts IN his possession, ex-
cepting the facts touching the case under
coasiderstien. a countryman chopping
Gowns tree. stopshis work. and buries
his xx up to the eye in the brain of his
brotnsr-in-law. The witness who saw
TIE whole bloody transaction is brought
inc SQUIRT, and his examination runs
sbout thus: g You say that the prisoner
wes chopping a tree down. Now will
'. clease tell the court and jury where
be aght the az p You don't know /;
" we'll, sir, we'll see about that"
\ sir, look st the jury-don't stare
IL at helpless manner at me-now, sir,
dc ~ say, upon your oath, that the de-
Tenant stole the az before he left Pa
ducGhl 2. You do say 50, Sh ~, Well,
now mark me, sir How many feet was
it from the tree the defendant was chop
ping to the nearest gristmill? You can't
ssy7 Was it ten feet q Certainly,
good deal more Well then, was it
8 thousand miles ~ D, certainly moi"
d" The court and the jury will please
observe the stubbornness of this witness
Il i manifestly bis purpose to keep
IRON zoe jury the isets that they ought
e Enow.
Now, sir, who owned that mill ?"
The witness very innecently inquiries,
70 WHAT mill 2" but soon Tepents it,
"Tnei Jury viii please observe the exo
ascs-sting contumaciousness of this wit.
De.. is evasion, and his manifest pur~
pos- D confuse your minds as to the
5sc7d avolved in this terrible murder"
-sesgw, sir, lock me in the face. You
hsv Siemniy sworn that the man was
chc1g nesr mill. Will you now
Gsrq say-look at the jury, sir--that
there was no mill within one thousand
miles of the tree the defendant was fell
ingi"
II don't say. anything of the kind"
"The Jury win please note that an.
swer." VEr- gladss-
Now, see here, my friend, we've had
shout enough of this. You first de-
clsred that there was no mill, and now
YOU brszenly avow that there was mill
near the Woodchopper-" ia az
"Issid there was no mill within ten
fee" .--....
Never do you mind what you said ;
/ know what. you said, and the jury
knows and now, sir, listen to me. Who
made your boots You don't know!
Is there anything under Gods heavens
thxtssyou do know. There, there Look
st the jury. not at me. And now per-
hsps you can tell the. Jury what your
name isl" ....r
The witness tells his name.
Now, sir, look at the jury l-how
long did you live there 2"
The witness -timidly asks, Lived
where y, when the attorney sp tings to
his 1eet. vr~t, -rr~
MAY it please the court and fury,
find this witness utterly incorrigible-
stubborn, mulish and bent upon keeping
back the very facts the jury must have.
He mas clearly been tempered with, and
comes here with the manifest intention
Of browbesting and worrying both the
jory snd the bar / have temporized
With him, have led him gently from
point to point, in the hope of beguiling
him into true recital of the facts cons
nected with this dreadful murder: and
Whist is my reward for this considerate
Kindness and forbesrance7 Speaking
under the sanctity of an oath, he tells
this court and jury he doesn't know
where he lives, and has asked me to tell
him Great God can such things be,
Snd not overcome us like s-like-and
not overcome US ask, your honor,
that this witness be Fent TO Jail for cons
tumscy, to remain there until he ex-
presses a willingness to tell what he
knows about this dreadful murder"
The court then admonishes the wit
ness that further trifing will not be
permitted; that he must answer the
gsntleman's questions, or he'll certainly
feel called upon to commit him to
prison.
The witness by this time is bewil-
dsred, scared, dazed, and INDUCES in
contradictions and absurdities as fast
and as often as the attorney requires
him to and, finally, lesying the stand,
II Is quarter of an hour at least before
ne csn recall his own name or fix his
own identity. The attorney then gets
upon ais feet, tears the wretched witness
contradictory and foolish rigraroie all
to .stters, and asks the court that it be
excluded from the jury as false and non
ssnsical. --..... .-.,,,.,,-
And that is one of the ways many Of
our average criminal lawyers adopt
to draw out the fsctsp in great murder
cases.