The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1881-06-15
A LAWYERS STORY.
WHICH, BEING ALTOGETHER TRUE, Is
MUCH STRANGER TIM FICTION
COULD BE.

lltNtI NOulu CUlNlCt IL llldil Oll
circumstantial evidence if | were a
iuror-never never l'
The speaker was distinguished
criminal lawyer of nearly forty
years active practice and whose
fame extended far beyond the limits
of his own State.
We had been discussing 4 recent
cause celebre in which, upon purely
circumstantial evidence, man had
been convicted of an atrocious mur-
der, although many of those most
familiar with the circumstances OF
the case entertained the gravest
doubts about the justice of his con-
viction, and had been swung off in
to eternity, protesting his innocence
with his latest breath and calling
upon God to send his soul straight
way to hell if he was not telling the
truth.
As most of our party were law
yers the conversation naturally
enough, drifted into a discussion of
the dangers arising from convicting
accused persons, whose own mouths
were closed, upon purely circum-
stantial evidence, in the absence of
any direct and positive proof of
guilt, and case after case was cited,
in which, after conviction and exc
cution, the entire innocence of the
supposed culprits had been clearly
demonstrated. Most of the laymen
present agreed with the distinguish
ed lawyer whose very positive ex-
preston of opinion has been quot
ed, while the majority of lawyers
contended, with that earnestness for
which lawyers are noted when ad-
vocating their own side of any ques-
ton, that justice could never mis-
carry when careful Judges guard
against the possibility of unsafe
verdicts by refusing to permit con-
viction except when every link in
the chain ofcircumstantial evidence
has been established beyond doubt
and the whole chain been made so
perfect and complete as to leave no
room for any consistent hypothesis
of innocence.
''The first murder case | ever tri-
ed" said one of them, "was stranger
than fiction, as you will admit, and
is quite as remarkable as any case
you have referred to where innocent
men have been wrongfully convicted
upon circumstantial evidence. 1t
ought to have been reported as an
example of the unreliability of the
direct and positive testimony of eye
witnesses who tell what they believe
to be the truth"
He then related the main points
of what was certainly a most re-
markable and dramatic trial and
which constitutes a fair offset to
some Of the memorable cases to be
found in every work on circumstan-
tial evidence. The narrative pro-
duced so:strong an impression upon
my own mind that subsequently,
with his consent, put it into the
following shape, having first careful
ly compared it with his notes of
testimony taken upon the trial of
the case. 1t can be relied upon as
absolutely correct. with the except
ton that / have used fcticious
names, for reasons which will readi-
ly be appreciated when it is known
that most of the actors in the drama
are still living.
One winter evening about eight
O'Clock, in the early days of the
war. in the quiet little town of -,
while patroling the streets to pick
up stragglers from the camp on the
the outskirts of the town, Corporal
Julius Fry was shot and killed by
one of three men of bad character,
who were in company and upon
terms of open enmity with the sol
diers. The men were arrested, COM
mitted to prison and brought to tn
al at the next term of the court.
Two of them were gamblers and
desperadoes and supposed to have
more than once had their hands
stained with human blood. The
third. whom l shall call Short,
though bearing an unenviable repu-
tation, was regarded as one unlikely
10 slay a fellow man except under
compulsion of circumstances. On
account of the character of the men
and the trouble they had already
brought upon quiet, law-abiding
citizens the sentiment Of the whole
community was strongly against
them. -,
In order to clearly understand the
force of the testimony given upon
the trial and the subsequent result
il is important to bear in mind the
physical peculiarities, dress and gen.
erai q appearance of each of the three
Short was small man Of not
more than five feet six inches in