, 1879-04-27
rbpv Pronounce It Manslaughter, but
Fail to Concur in the
Penalty.
:.nt PaYor imprisonment for Life aud Others
for Periods Of Sir to fwcnty-
lEe Tears.
ctete,s-Attorney Mills Closes the
Case with an Eloquent
Speech,
In Which He Skaters the Specious Plea
Of Emotional and Momentary
Insanity.
va,v Elaborate Instructions Given On Both
Sides,

Ve1y Elaborate Instructions Given On Both
Sides.
STATES ATTORNEY MILLS.
IN. eighteenth and last day OF the trial Of Peter
s,e.ens begins with an attendance characterized
hx vtkoectabIlity, which cannot be satd
n any day previous to Fr1day,-and all through
hoto sessions not word escapes the lips OF the
.1oouent States Attorney, "ho makes closing
,rcnmept which does him honor, but is listened
N rrifh almost painful attention by fully ], 900
,.on1t. The accused cannot look at him, 30
..,,chrus and complete IL the analysis OF Stevens
motives ard conduct, but sits sideways In bis
rh,lr md wipes his eyes with his handkerchief
when bis poor dead wife is brohght to hisview with
.yfyidnees which ct'mpels recognition.
S,ys III. Mills: -
MI II PLEASE THE Counr, GEs71KxEs or TIE
Jrnr: After days and weeks OF thought and toll
toyethe, We now stand at the threshold Of the ter
,n;nstion OF this great trial. and in behalf Of the
nubfc Of the men, the women. and tho
children, the husbands, the wires, and the daugh-
ters in whose behalf, in my humble way, now
n}ead and also in behalf Of myself, personally,
returu to you thanks and appreciation for the
,ueotton and conscientious consideration you have
exhibited from the beginning until now. It Is. IN
deed. no slight hardship that a citizen shou}d be
.,ken from his home aud his customary life, from
The societyof wife and chila1en, and be compelled
to serse the public cause for great1ength OF time
But indeed gentlemen, the hardship is cured By
the sense ne hare of the performance OF duty
duty oTed to the great public, to law, TO justice,
md the protection Of human life.
1spoke Of this as CREST criminal trial, and SO It
H. for it involves the great feet that is on
t!al charged with the highest crime known to our
.ws the crime OF Sillfully and malicious1y de-
s.roying the life Of a fellow -beinp,-a
charge 1nagnifed in this proceeding by the afro
eious and stnprndeus fact that the man on trial is
s1arged not simply with having taken the life of
fellow being, but with having deliberately and In
cold blood destroyed the wife OF his bosom, whom,
not long before. in the presence Of his Maker. he
had swoIn to love, cherish. and protect forever.
forever
Again, the case is great because there are en-
poyed as defenders Of the accused two Of perhaps
the abest men in the Northwest; and great because
Of one peculiarity In the defense, namely, The
killing Of the victim being admitted. For almost
tse ass time in ,h the hStsg Of criminal 4ana
is advanced for the consideration OF the
Judgment OF Intelligent jurors the novel
theory the outsrowth Of " weak ana ID &c 9,ey sen.i
OF crime, insane when he commits It and the
very next moment is zane u before No wonder
The case attracts attention. No wonder that tue
people all over this country are watching these
ecrutlnizing the evidence, having
their eyes constantly on the law as lad down by
tha Court watching intent1y and with anxiety 70
see II in this Criminal Court tho nonsensfcal and
absurd plea Of Irresistible impulse will avail to
save whose hand is scarlet all over with the
red blood Of his poor dead wife. ,.
AZ to the methods OF the prosecution In this
case, it charged on the States Attorney that.
from the beginning OF the trial until the end. he
Ind laborcd in TN effort to suppress truth That
chcrge Is not true. 1t is indeed true that, when
this defendant acting all the wn.le as his own law
yer tried to aunt before you the written words Of
his poor dead wife and tear open the sweet privacy
nation 1t The btuie who, while pretending that he
losed the woman, coolly sat here with the private
letters written by hcr loving hand. and had the
xudActy and the brutality to ASK this Court TO have
the secrsls exposed 10 Jou and this wide world l
did ob)cct, and that had right to do.
BRUTALITY OF THE DEFENSE.
But have something to say about methods and
charge to nakc involving not both counsel for
the defendant but one, and therefore involving
the entire defense / here charge, al the begin
ming Of this argument that the defense in this case
has been characterized by utter brutality-las been
surrounded by an atmosphere Of heartlcssness
which could only have come from man who
would murder woman and e1ay his chtld-wife.
When the junior counsel for the defendant opened
this case, he made you ce7taln promises
he had no right to make if. as
lawyer aud man, he knew he could not
fulfil. First without any necessity under
the sky, without gaining single advantage for his
client, he went ont Of his way to attack an un~
fo1tunate womnn, the sister OF dead Mamie Ste
vens. and told you that he would prove that before
her marriage she WAS Il mother OH was that not
cruel. The poor woman is not here Since the
f1st day she has been absent I do not wonder,
for fhara haa hanr fnfn her EDU1 TTStT
blAde, and her heart is bleeding to-day, and not
hera alone, but her husband's and when tho little
children grow up their hearts will bleed for not
yon alone, not this grand gathering alone, but
this entire community. have been informed that
before her marriage she committed the
greatest wrong woman can COM
mi1. It was also stated ~ tEat
sane counsel that he would show that Mrs; Young
had third husband. That was not proved Ihat
was felse and the counsel had no right to say 60
And all through this trial that solitary woman in
her mourning, has been the target for the yilest
ntutal attack. Here in your presence, and before
this great people she has been branded as nnrlGt'
and, even while she looked while from the black"
q relentins from the e. counsel or the client.
Moreover, even the poor dead wife has not
escaped She, whom Stevens loved and md
up to Il she present -: moment saw i
dream picture one night. saw tall map with
thln lace and cold gray eye [Trude1 ut mldnlEht
etr.ding ont OF town. He went etealthiy in the
oarS toa sweet country place where was grave
gard. lie climbed the fence thief climbs TO a
WINDOW; entered that burial place OF the lovca,
vent to grave where there was no stone to marx
II; with his long, bony fingers tore the spring Grass
aHay. tore the earth away, dug down deep until nc
!eaeheo coflin-lid. ana that he tore aside, nno
mere laY in faded white dress the skeleton Of a
e1a; and that he clutched and strobe again
n;to to"n; and one morning, at the opening
great court, he caule in tne
ooor with the ratsng skeleton upon his lack. told
us ofuta cenf TO leave his chair, put therein the
e,enm. sn and ssid "Gentlcmcu Of the Jury. she
onEnt 10 have died" And ret oil these methods.
~ These characteristics Of The drfcnse come from
S.art ~ n their fonntan-eource where: IN re
u feter +. Stevens who here raising his
t1ma o4ao 70 hesTcn. sEoze that in all his life.
ina M ne never had any other emotion than that OF
hrne.,,.a, oa ais wife. Absurdity OF absurd1tles,
ta,. ,4e u o!ualities, that man claiming tnat
itt. !oe oeRlnnlng until the enl he worslliped the
r1.c Toman ne called his wife should inspire MS
.. 70 conduct his defense on the theory that
49, nle "ss nShtiy killed, and suffered the ueaIn
"aaso unoer the Law he himself must have.
DO NOT BE DELUDED.
Lou have listened with close attention, and l
nave no doubt with great delight, to the rare elo-
qoenee ot tue senior counsel for the defense His
presentation Of the case was Ingenious was skill
.a'' was characterized By magnify1nC Of small
1ac's into demonstrations Of significance. dc was