Maryland independent. [volume] (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1874-current, 1881-12-09
FRIDAY, Dcc................ .''" 1851
TWr LAW ASH THE ASSASSIN

-, o., Lrina, rho sdfniniTfrn''"" ~
~. into great disrcPute' en-"
y;ousIy upon tho reputation anu '""'
,nr of Judge Cox. who has heretofore
t.ion held in the highest esteem by his
f.llor citizens. The disgusting con
duet Of the prisoner, his buiiooncry 4
-ib,ldry aud open defiance Of de'cncy'
and the court can deceive no one into
tho belief tina, they are the antics Of
crazy and irresponsible man
That Crrie,su's niuG is not well bal
,nccd !. not 70 t.r denied The same
nav he said Of al who are vicious, cs-
pocially Of those who, either under the
impulse Of their bad passions, or cause
lcs,lv, without malice, take human life .
That the action Of tho assassin in ere I
moving" Gen. Garfield, as he is pleased
totcrm it, as we'll as his present antics
in Court arc tic result Of an unsettled
or cranky mind may bc safely conceded,
ns will be doubtlessly by all men ofc'lm
Judgment. But they are very TAR from
showing insanity, or AZ arast that kinh
81 INSANITY which you'd ruioase the "c-
tor from responsibility. We imagine
chat notwithstanding all the mass Of
testimony as to the mental unsoundncss
If prisoner and which he seems to a
certain extent to have inherited, and the
plausible arguments Of 4 man apparent
" 80 well skilled in artlessness' os
Mr.. Scovillc seems to be, assisted a. he
probably will be before the close of the
case By others Of emincncc, TO say moth
ing about the testimony Of experts, will
hardly have sufficient weight with ju
~ Of sensible men as to conyincc them
Of the insanity of the prisoner.
Though every case must differ in
some features from others, and legal de-
ci.ions to certain extent have differed
on this subject Of insanity, we imagine
enough is settled as law to enable men
Of ordinary capacity TO arrive at sensi-
bic conclusion
A man may be "a crank" may be
unsettled in his mind, his judgment un-
sa-y..,,-sSsa t..s I.s - =. - .'.s.'S >
=acsi aSsAsowisS % season as make
the party unable to distinguish between
right and wrong; and at the time he did
The act, the jury must be satisfied. h,
did not know he was d,ing a wrongful
act or one for which he would be pun
ishcd. Thus it will be plainly seen
that medical insanity and legal insanity
are not uncomfortable terms. Courts
have distinctly held to tins doctrine and
none of the fine spun theories of somc
Of tbs modern judges in sections of the
country much given TO isms and sen
timcntaliics have been able to shake
the solid sense of the long line Of dccis-
ions above spoken of Law is the pur-
ny of reason and the sound reasoning
which sustains these decisions will strike
any man of ordinary capacity, or who
is not a crank" himself
But We do not propose to give our
readers a disquisition, at present, on in
sanity, and we have no fear that the ju-
~ will acquit the prisoner on that
,round There is, however, another
lpint in the case likely to be presented
at the proper time and which may be one
that the prosecution will find very hard
10 get over, if it be not fatal. We alIudc
to what is generally, but not very cor
rcctly, called the question ofjurisdiction'
which arises out of the fact that Gen. /
Garfield, after being wounded in the
District of Columbia died in the State
of New Jersey.
TO the mind of the lsyman. it would
.oem to be simply absurd that there
could be any difficulty arising from
this state of facts, or that it could in
any way affect the question of murder
that the death occurred in another juris-
dIctinn from that in which the mortal
stroke was given Indeed the absurdi-
" of the proposition does not alone
strike layman, but many lawyers not IA
miliar with the subject secuted the idea
that there could be any thing in it. 4
careful examination of the authorities
shows this is an erroneous view. that
there is much in the point and grave
doubts may be entertained, whether or
not It will not be fatal to the entire pros
ecution of Guiteau. turning him loose
upon the community, unwhipped of or
s~-'Hoa aud iexi,imate ius,ics -, -. :.
i '"S pistol OF some avengcr or -. /
nearest tree or lamp-post Mt IN.
hands of mob.
Inc space allotted to an editorial ar
hcle does not permit OF full discussion
"fsuch question. But it may be briefly
''ld that from an examination of the old
writer's, 1t will be found that at Commcn
law min could not be tried for muir.
der, If the death ensued outside of tho
Jurisdiction trying him. There can be
no doubt this was well settled. az stated
ny such eminent writer's as Sir Matthew
Hale A little reflection will show the
reason of this rule, absurd as it may
seem to be. Murder is a complex trans,
seton, having several elements to con.