Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1881-09-29
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A LAWYERS STORY.
phiIadelphia Times.

Philadelphia Times.
II never would convict man on cir
cumstantial evidence if were Juror
never neverp'
The speaker was distinguished
criminal lawyer of nearly forty years
active practice and whose fame extend
ed far beyond the limits of his own
State.
We had been discussing recent
cause celebre in which, upon purely cir
cumstantial evidence, a man had been
convicted of an atrocious murder, al
though many of those most familiar
with the circumstances of the case
entertained the gravest doubts about
the Justice of his conviction, and had
been swung off into eternity, protesting
his absolute innocence with his latest
breath and calling upon God to send his
soul straightway to hell if he was not
telling the truth.
AS most of our party were lawyers,
the conversation, naturally enough,
drifted into discussion of the dangers
arising 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 culprits had been clearly
demonstrated. Most of the laymen
present agreed with the distinguished
lawyer whose very positive expression
of opinion had been quoted, while the
majority of the lawyers contended,
with that earnestness for VIII ca lawyers
are noted when advocating their own
side of any question, that justice could
never miscarry when careful judges
guard against the possibility of unsafe
verdicts by refusing to permit a convic-
ton except when every link ia the
chain of circumstantial 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 tried"
said one of them, "was stronger than
fiction, as you will admit, and is quite
rs remarkable as any Of the cases you
have referred to where innocent men
have been wrongfully convicted upon
circumstantial evidence. 1t ought to
have been reported as an example of
unreliablty of the direct and positive
testimony of eve witnesses, who
tell what they believe to be the
truth"
He then related the main points of
what was certainly a most remarkable
and dramatic trial and which consti-
tutes fair offset 10 some of the me-
morable cases to be found in every
work on circumstantial evidence. The
narrative produced so strong an i'm
preston upon my own mind, that sub
sequently, with his consent, put it in
to 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 abso-
lutely correct, with the exception that
| have used fictitious names, for rea-
sons which will readily be appreciated
when it is known that most of the
actors in the drama are still living.
One wintv- evening about o'clock,
in the early days of the war, in the
quiet little town of -, while patrol
ing the streets to pick up stragglers
from the camp on 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
soldiers The men were arrested, com
mitted to prison and brought to trial 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 / shall call
Short, though bearing an unenviable
reputation, was regarded as one I'M
likely to Stay q fellow-man, except I'M
der compulsion of circumstances. On
account of the character of the men
and the trouble they had already
brought upon quiet, law-abiding citi-
zens, the sentiment of the whole COM
munity was strongly against them.
In order TO clearly understand the
force of the testimony given upon the
trial and the subsequent result, it is
important TO bear in mind the phvsi-
cal peculiarities, dress and general ap-
pearance Of each of the three pris-
oners.
Short was small man of not more
than five feet six inches in height. slen-
der, weighing scarcely 1870 pounds. with
bright, fery-red hair and side, ..iskers.
and, at the time of the murder, wore
White felt hat and an old light-blue
army overcoat.
Ryan was fully six feet in height, of
'obust frame, with black hair and mus
ache, dressed in dark clothes and wore
black Derby hat.
Grey was heavy, ad-shoulde
man of medium height. weighing fully
200 pounds, with full, black beard
reaching nearly to lis waist. But as
the evidence subsequently showed that
he had not fired the shot, it is unneces-
sary to describe his appearance more
minutely.
Certainly il is difficult to imagine two
men more unlike than Short and Ryan,
or less liable 70 be mistaken for each
other, even by strangers, much less by
acquaintance. There was no possibil-
lty here for case of mistaken identity.