The comet. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1877-1882, 1879-07-26
THE COMET.
Saturday, July 20. 1870.
The Unfortunate Witness,
Cairo (Ill,) Bulletin.


The manner in which attorneys ques
ton witnesses is exasperating to the intel
hgent listener beyond expression. Inc
great purpose of the average criminal law
yer, for instance, is to draw from the WIZ
ness all the facts in his possession, except
the facts touching the cause OF the case
under consideration.
A countryman, chopping down a tree,
stops his work and burles MS ak up TO the
ave in the brain of his brother-in-law. The
witness who saw the whole bloody transact
ton is brought into court, and his examina-
ton runs thus
"You say that the prisoner was chopping
q tree down. Now, will you please tell the
court and Jury where he bought the ax?'
''Now, sir, look at the jury-dont stare
in that helpless manner at me-now, sir,
do you say upon your oath that you don't
know that the defendant stole the AK be-
fore he left Paduoha!"
'EYou don't say 80, oh? Well, now, mark
me, sir, how many feet was it from the
tree to the nearest grist mill! You can t
say"
Twas it ten feet?"
Certainly, good deal more"
"Well, then, was it thousand miles!
sob, certainly not y
1.-The court and the jury will please OBJ
serve the stubbor1ness of this witness, 1t
is manifestly his purpose to keep from the
Jury the facts they ought to know
''Now, sir, who owned that mill?''
The witness innocently inquiries, "What
nlill?' but soon repents it.
THE jury will please observe the exas-
perating contumaciousness of this witness,
his evasion and his manifest purpose to
confuse your minds as to the facts involved
in this terrible MURDER
''Now, sir, look me in the face. You
have solemnly sworn that the man was
chopping near a mill. VIII you now dare
say-look at the jury, sir-that there was
no mill within 1000 miles of the tres the
defendant was felling?h
II don't say anything Of the kind
''The jury will please note that answer.
''Now, see here, my friend-we've had
about enough of This. You first declared
that there was no mill, and now you
brazenly ayow there was mill near the
woodchopper-"
81 said there was no mill within ten
fee"
''Neyer do you mind what you said-I
know what you said, and the iury knows
and now, sir, listen to me. -
''Who made your DO ots;'
II don't know"
''You don't know. Is there anything I'M
der Gods heaven that you do know? There,
there Look at the iury-not at me And
now, perhaps, you can tell the jury what
your name is?'
The witness tells his name.
''Now, sir, look at the jury!-how long
did You live therepn
The witness ti1aidiy asks, ''Livod whereE"
when the attorney springs to his feet;
INLAY it please the court and jury l find
this witness utterly incorrigible, stubborn,
mulish ana bent upon keeping back the
very facts the jury must have. He has
clearly been tempered with and comes here
with the manifest Intention of browbeatiug |
and worrying both the jury and the bar l |
have temporized with him, | have led him |
from point to point i'll the hope Of beguiling |
him into a true recital of the facts con-
neeted with this dreadfal murder, and what |
is my reward for this considerate kindness
and forhearance: Speaking under the sane
tity of an oath, he tells this court and jury |
that he does not know where he lives, and |
has asked me to tell him! Great Cod can
such things he, and not overcome US like
--llkc-and not overcome us? | ask, your
honor, that this witness be sent to jail for
contumacy, to romain there until he ex-
presses a willingness to tell what he knows
about this dreadful murder
The court then almonishas the witness
that further trihing will not he permitted
that he must answer the geutlemans ques
tons, or he'll certainly feel called upon to
commit him to prison,
The witness by this time is bewildered,
scared, dazed, and INDUCES in contradic>
lions and absuldities as fast and as often as
the attorney requires him to; and finally,
leaving the stand it is quarter of an hour
before he can recall his own name or fix his
own identity. The attorney then gets upon
his feet tears the wretched witness contra
iictory and foolish rigmarole all to tatters,
and asks the court that it be excluded from
Inc jury as false and nonsensical.