Daily Republican., 1881-11-23
wmHHsDAY. sovsHsEs ~. ~.
Disagrssiug Jsrlss.

DAsaGReslag JaF1es.
The CaEberry murder case has taken
On unexpected turn which threatens to
prolong the trial to IN indefinite length.
George H. Bates, Bsq., one OF the coun-
sel for the defense, has asked for dis
missal Of the case. and the discharge Of
, the prisoner on tho ground that he has
once been tried for the same offence and
Il 10 unconstitutional to jeopardise the
life Of . prisoner . second time for the
ssme offaDcs. 1t will be rec0llocted
that Carberry WAS tried for tbs crime
Of murdsring Samuel H. Adsms, 1t the
September term, but the jury disagree
ing WAS discharged and Carbe-ry was
remanded for new trial. lyon this
Nr. Bates takes issue and quotes large
ly from standard law authorities and
old time precedents, to show the lille
gality and uuconstitutionslity of Sec
ond trial for Carberry. 1t seems that
the custom for discharging disagreeing
jurias, is modern construction Of the
law in the case. Mr.. Bates quoted pre-
cedens ~ far back AZ the time OF Lord
Coke, Of England, when it WAS the rule
that jury once sworn and charged in
. capital case cannot be discharged un.
I'll . verdict has been rendered, this
rule yielding only to the death or in
ability Of Juror to perform ty.
II would be novel sight in these day
TO see jury carted sronnd from town
TO town where Courts were held, until
they agreed upon verdict, as was the
practice in the early days Of Eng
Jurisprudence. 30 averse were the
early English Courts to. granting = Sec
ond trial, that even where persons have
been convicted oninsufficient evidence, o |
new trial has been denied and the con.
vict forced to rely for redress upon the
psrdoning power Of the crown.
! MI. Bates has certainly raised .
strong point in favor of Carberry. The
serious thought Of intelligent men must
be repugnant to the principle creeping
gradually into our courts, that man
charged with crime must be tried and
retired court after court, until by sheer
good luck jury may be stumbled
upon that will agree upon verdict. 1t
requires no second thought to convince
IN intelligent people that such prac-
tice Is unfair to the prisoner. The disa-
greement Of juries has become 40 fire.
Quent Of late in our Delaware Courts,
that we regret to say that trials which
may appeal to the political opinions
Of jury, have become farce upon
justice. All shrewd lawyer has to
do to battle justice when man Is
charged with q political offence, is to
contrive to get one or two men on the
jury whose political opinions are pre-
dominant. Snch men can az effectu-
ally block the wheels of justice az i'll
there were larger number. The law
and the evidence are thrown aside and |
poin. blank refusal is made to agree
on verdict. Such leniency has been
exercised by the courts that it is we'll
known a jury will not be locked up
more than couple Of nights snd days
ut the farthest, and ofteuer much less
time answers before the order will come
for the discharge. We do not like the
Idea ofpenning up a jury for week af.
ter week until it agrees, but there Is
certainly too much leniency shown to
disagreeing juries. Whatever may be
the result Of Mr.. Bates point raised in
the Carberrv case, it must be admitted
that there is much merit in it. Some
may ask, would you let Carberry go
without any punishment whatever ?
Certainly, if he has been legally tried
before jury that was sworn, to do
what? ito render verdict in accord
ance with the evidence" The jury be.
fore which Carberry was tried, was
swora to render verdict, but it failed
to do so. Whose fault was this? Sure
ly not Car lberry's. He submitted his
ease to the jury chosen. His very lite
was put in jeopardy. 1t was not his
fault that he was not either convicted
or cleared by that jury. The question
is, must he keep on placing his life in
jeopardy, before jury after jury, until
one can be found that will agree? Jus.
tice hardly demands such risks. We
are inclined to believe that sensible
public opinion will sustain Mr.. Bates.
The Confederate Bond Collapse
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