The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1881-06-02
A LAWYERS STORY

81 never would convict a man on cir
cumstantial evidence if were juror
never never p
The speaker was a distinguished Grim
inal lawyer Of nearly forty years active
practice, and whose fame extended far
beyond the limits of his own State.
We had been discussing recent cause
celebre III which, upon purely circum-
stantial evidence, a.mau had been con-
victed of an atrocio1Is murder, although
many OF those most familiar with the IL
cumstinces of the case entertained the
gravest Doubts about the justice of his
conviclion; and he had been swung Oft
into eternity protesting his absolute in
nocence with his latest breath, and call
ing upon God to send his soul straight
way to perdition if he were not telling
the truth.
AS most of our party were lawyers
the conversation naturally enough drift
ed into a discussion of the dangers aris-
ing from convicting accused persons,
whose own mouths were closed, upon
purely circumstantial evidence, in the
absence of any direct and positive proof
of guilt, and case after case was cited in
which, after conviction and execution,
the entire innocence of the supposed cul
prits had been clearly demonstrated.
Most of the laymen present agreed with
the distinguished lawyer, whose very
positive expression of opinion has been
quoted, while the majority of the law
yers contended, with that earnestness for
which lawyers are noted when advocat-
ing their own side of any question, that
i,,atinn a,,-71l x,l,n,,
full judges guard against the possibility
of unsafe verdicts by refusing to permit
a conviction except when every link in
the chain of circumstantial evidence has
been established beyond doubt, and the
whole chain been so perfect and COM
plete as to leave no room for any con-
sistent hypothesis of innocence.
"The first murder case 1 ever tried"
said one of them, "was stranger than
fiction, as YOU will admit, and is quite
as remarkable as any of the cases you
have referred to where innocent men
have been wrongfully convicted on cir
cumstantial evidence. 1t ought to
have been reported as an example of
the upreliability of the direct and pos
tive testimony of witnesses who
tell what they believe to be the truth"
He then related the main points of
what was certainly most remarkable
and dramatic trial, and which consti-
tutes a fair offset to some of the mem
orable cases to be found in every work
on circumstantial evidence. The mar
rative produced so strong an impression
upon my mind hat subsequently, with
his consent, put it into the following
shape, having first carefully compared
it with his notes of testimony taken
upon the trial of the case. 1t can be
relied upon as absolutely correct, with
the exception that have used fictitious
names, for reasons which will readily
be appreciated when it is known that
most of the actors in the drama are still
living.
One winter evening, about
o'clock, in the early days of the war
in the quiet little town of -, while
patroling the streets to pick up strag
glers from the camp on the outskirts o.
the town, Corporal Julius Fry was sho
and killed by one of three men of baC
character, who were in company ant
upon terms of open enmity with the
soldiers. The men were arrested, com
mitted to prison and brought to trial a
the next term of the court. Two o
them were gamblers and desperadoes
and supposed to have more than once
had their hands stained with human
blood. The third, whom 1 shall cal
Short, though bealing an unenviabl'
reputation, was regarded as one unlikel,
to slay fellow-man, except under com
pulsion of circumstances. On accoun
Of the character of the men and til,
trouble they had already brought upol
quiet, law.abiding citizens, the senti
ment of the whole community wa
strongly against them.
In order to clearly understand tn
force of the testimony given upon tn
trial and the subsequent result it is in