The Indianapolis leader. (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1879-1890, 1881-12-31
INDIANA SATURDAY, DECEMBER 81 1881


the proposition oI the District Attorney. which
an invitation to all who heard Ii to shoot the pris
OEer II opportunity afforded.
PoRTERs SPEECH.
= Judge Porter, fnllowing ScovlIe said: THE as
sassin of the President viii sssassinate no more
forever, and the voice which is not silencsd now
will be as dumb that of his victim 'vhnu the
end OF the law Is reached. lApplause.l No man.
sane or insane Is permitted to say the arm of the
law in his :spresenee Is nerveless. have approved.
say 1t in view of the condemnation of the Amer
lean people as represented By their papers. be-
cause they did not understand the situation we
did, have approved and vindicated
your Honors course down TO the
the acquescenee OF his ceuns he hsd been ssns
from the hour afiec he executed this foul, disr
eolical ana infamous murder. When made this
motion / 1t the time had come when it was due
TO the majesty Of the law TO a yindication Of the
judiciary thatthe step should be taken which
now indicate. iou suspended your decision on
the hope that you might be able to extend To this
sane criminsl and homicide still further elem.
ency hut Ii 1t be extended il win be at some peril
peril to Americans jurisprudence; peril In respect
! OF an tndeiinite Continuation of the trial which
| without the interposition of the prisoner, would
| nave terminate three weeks ago. The time now
! nds Come when the law must make its appearance
| IL this Court room. and when the man. who pre-
| TENDS To es maniac, shall go longer sit at The
| counsel table aud exercise the privileges which
| Bar
The prisoner-A very nice speech, but not a
THE COURTS DECISION.
The Court then rendered his decision. 1t was
| nardiy necessary to say that the conduct of the
prisoner had been persistent violation of order
and decorum In the beginning the only methods
whlcn could be resorted TO TO suppress this disOr-
Ger were such rs must infringe the constitutional
rights of the prisoner, and that the conclusive
argument rsn against them. Until Saturday last no
other method had been proposed. Then this
| proposition (Which he had already had I'm mind
was submitted II had hitherto been the impress
sion, shared by the Court and counsel, that the
prisoners conduct and language In the Court
| would afford the best indication of his mental
ana morsl character, and contribute ,srseiy to
the e;ilis htenment of the Court and Jury the
question OF his responsibility 1t was, there
lore on the express desire OF the District AttOr-
ney that the Court allowed such latitude of CON
duct In order To furnish the experts Opportu-
ihty OF diagnosing the prisoners case. As II now
| appeared the opinions of experts have been
place on the trial, and If they had contributed TO
enable those experts to reach their conclusions
Il would be complete vindication of the view of
the District Attorney as to the proper course to
pursue. AT this stage of the trial. however. this
object seemed TO have been accomplished The
had had AMPLE m at ne
judgments and pronounce them before the Court
and Jury. 1t was incumbent the Court to inn
case admitted, and which would cOnduce to
orderly conduct of the case. and the prisoner had
a right to hear the testimony of the witnesses
WON'T HEED coRKHILL
He could not be gagged or sent out Of Court.
The proper place for the prisoner on trial for a
felony the dock. He could only come within the
bar TO be arraigned and TO receive sentence. If
the Court granted him the privilege of sitting be-
Court could withdraw summariy. While the
prisoner has undoubtedly the right to act as his
exercise both rights simultaneously. Having
accepted counsel the prisoner had waived
his right to appear as such in person..
On consideration of all the circumstances
the Court thought the motion would have to be
granted. and that the prisoner should be placed
In the dock. but he did not mean the prisoner
nave the fullest protection. i
The prisoner speaking quietly, and as though
ne n, dreaded being placed in the dock. which was
hllec at the time with spectators)-T0 settle the
after will ait quietly here win 1t not be sat
isfactory If keep quiet and stay here? If sit In
the dOck | may be worse
The Court ordered the Marshal to clear the
dock and place the prisoner there.
During the confusion and noise incident to this
movement the prisoner exclaimed in a a.ubdued
tone: Il have no objection to going to the dock
II Your Honor say So"
The Court-I say SC simply in the hope of keep
The prfsoner-I move the Court room be cleared
II am going into the dock. / want the Court
The prisoner having been placed in the dock
and quiet been restored, Judge Porter said:
IT Is to be borne in nind that the chimera
which seems to haunt the pri -oner has no founda
tion> He Is In no danger except from the hang
mans rope, and so long as an officer of the law
Ger in the discharge OF his public duty by firing
The Court directed the Marshal to place the
prisoner where he could have a full view of the |
The prisoner (from the dockl-I am doing very
well here If Your Honor pleases. 1t Is only q
confession of the prosecutions weakness. I |
wouid not be afraid to g, all over Washington |
alone, or New York. or Boston, Thunder that |
broadcast. God Almighty will curse the prosecu- |
uon. Take time on this, Corkhill. You are hay- |
ing your way for a few minutes, but God grinds |
SLOW out sure You have got no case, and you |
The District ATTORNEY. in reply To scov,,le,s I
speech, stated he had been always opposed to |
having any extra guards around the prisoner. |
he believed in allowing him to stand bis trial |
like any other man, and no violence would 10 |
him any more than aug other prisoner for q |
smaller offense. He did not wish special protec- |
necessary. 1t was an indication he was In dan |
ger He (Corkhill) never thought he was In dam |
ger.
Scoville (sneeringly)-You must think every.
body is going miss like Bill Jones'
The prisoner here broke In with an expression |
ot satsiacon aus with his present position. thank
Ing HIS Honor for removing him there.
TESTIMONY RESUMED.
The cross-examination was then resumed.
Porter's objection to Scovilles question: assum-
ing Guiteau considered himself brother of |
Jesus Christ, on the ground of its being irrele-
want and blasphemOus, was overruled by the
Court.
Porter tso,emnly)--As this case will be as his
tOrlcal as our exceptions are utterly unavailing
as we can in no case under the law appeal, In be-
half OF the American Government aud those they
represent protest against this decision passing
into precedent
The prisoner-sit down, Porter, and rest for the
afternoon.
Reed-There is evidence to sustain Scoville's
question produced by Judge Porter in letter.
which Judge Porter himself read 10 the Jury, |
written by the prisoner in 1865 aud addressed 70
the Oneida Community. The prisoner made q |
Claim he was In the employ of Jesus Christ a. Co
POrter-Neither introduced nor read by me.
The witness then replied that he should not
consider 1t an insane denIsion for a man to pro- |
fess himself as member of the firm OF Jesus |
Christ Co., unless there were other evidence
of disease
handed witness. and he was asked whether there
was any marked popularity of the head
The prisoner 1t looks like Hulapty Dumpty.
The witness replied the cast presented a more
shapely and symmetrical head than he had ex-
pected 1t would. but placed no Importance on
sanity. 80 |
On, the redirect examination the witness stated
he did not think the prisoner had been feigning
insanity In the Court room. He had merely been |
exaggeratlng his character of selfconceit impu-
dence and insolence.
The prisoner-In other words, when am a.
saulted, will talk back. Porter expects to get
$4,000 for hanging me- He sees his money slip |
ping away. because the American people don't
want me hanged, and he is mad at me.
The Court then adjourned The prisoner as he
was passing his counsel, expressed his content
nent with his position In the dock as affording
pure air,
The Great Side Show at Washington Draw.
ing to ClOse-The Assassin Not Sub
dued by Amy Means.
Special TO the Sentinel:
WASHINGTON, Dec 2o-The counsel for the de-