Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1882-01-25

Guiteau for Office" Recess.
Evening Session.
After recess Judge Porter resumed his ar
gument, and pointed out the cunning, the
duplIcity, the acting of the prisoner since
the beginning of the trial. "You are, gen.
tlemen of the Jury, no more kings in respect
of the law than is the prisoner in the dock,
who sits uncrowned but with his own con-
| ceit"
Referring TO the oft-repeated assertion that
he had sent Garfield prepared to meet his
God, and that he Guiteaul, too, was ready
to die, if God willed it, Judge Porter, with
| deliberate emphasis, said, 81 do not believe
| that In all this assemblage there is one soul
that contemplates with such abject terror
the possibility of facing his Maker as does
this brazen murderer"
Guiteau whirled around with the ferocity
of wild beast and fairly yelled out: "That
is miserable lie, and you know it, Porter;
and you are an internal scoundrel. / hope
God Almighty will send for you soon, both
you and Corkhill; such miserable, sinking
within as that is"
"The law" said Judge Porter, "as it bears
upon this case, is the Supreme Court, and
you are but simply God-ma de men, under the
obligation of a solemn oath, TO bring in your
verdict under the law and facts"
Summing up the questions presented by
the case upon which they were soon to be
called upon TO pass, Judge Porter said: "The
first of the questions for you to consider is
was the prisoner insane on the ID of July?
If he was not, the case is at an end, and your
sworn duty is ended; second, if you reach
that, If he was insane on that day, was he in
sane to that degree that on the I'd OF July he
did not know that murder was morally and
legally wrong? III he was not insane to that
degree, you are bound, under your oath, to
convict him; third, if, after utter disre-
gard OF his confessions under oath,
you shall find that he actually
and honestly believed that God had
commanded him to kill President Gar
field, and that he was under a delusion, I'M
less you find the further fact that such
such an act was morally and legally wrong,
you are bound under your oaths to convict
him; fourth, if you find such delusion did
not exist THAT God commanded him to do
the act), and that such delusion was the
solid product of insanity, then, and then
only, you can acquit him, when you find
he was unable to control his own will, and
you must remember that, under oath, he has
shown he was able to control it, for he said:
"Had Mrs. Garfield been with him at the
depot on the I'd of July / would not
have shot him." fifth, If you find
that even though he was partially
insane it resulted from his own malignity,
his own depravity, you are bound,
under the instructions of the Court, to con-
vict him; sixth, il, upon the whole case, you
have no reasonable doubt whether he was
partially or wholly insane, if you believe
that he knew his act was legally and morally
wrong, you are, under your oaths, bound TO
convict him." THE law" said Judge Por-
ter, sis founded upon reason, and it must
override law and establish principle which
will Let murder and rama and arsap ru,1
riot through the land"
Mr.. Porter then went on to discuss the
points OF law as laid down by Judge Cox in
this case. After he had disposed of that
question he took up again the question of
the responsibility of the prisoner. "What
household" he said, would be safe; what
church would protect its worshipers, if this
man were to escape on the plea of irresponsi-
bility? If it is true that any man who has
had insane cousin, insane
uncle, insane aunt, or an
insane ancestor, and who is not
himself insane, and knows perfectly well
that murder is legally and morally wrong is
to escape punishment, may he stab or shoot,
or waylay or murder in any form, by day or
by night, and then claim in his v1rdication
not that he is insane himself, but that some
body was? II so, what is human life worth?
If more of it were true, every in
sane man, no matter in what degree
no matter whether from melancholy or from
any of those casual or occasional aberrs tions
of mind, is at liberty to commit burglary, to
fire your clearinghouse, to set the city of
Washington on FIRE, when frost shall stiffen
water, and when the fire is destruction; to
ravish your daughters, what security is
there? That is the license for which this
brother-in-law OF Guiteau contends, namely,
that the law is intended only for
rational men, and that all Of
these crimes which have mentioned may be
committed by license, not from law, but
from one of twelve emperors or kings, in de-
fiance of law and of instructions from the
Court. Nay, more, the insane of this coun-
try mean the undoubted insane, who are
inmates of lunatic asylums-are to learn
from the verdict in this case, if the theory
of the -dafansA-sh 1ll-ha sasta iI2~4i,-thst
each of them is at liberty to muir
der the keeper who restraints them; that
they are all at liberty to confederate, TO open
the gates of the asylums and go out, knife
and torch in hand. and spread ruin and con-
hagration in every direction, and, although
the law forbids it, an American jury can
be found that will sanction the act.
The PrisoDer-That is very fine, but it is
all bosh.
Mr.. Porter--More than that; any man
who has insanity in any degree shall be at
liberty to murder any other insane man.
believe if jury could be impanelled in
lunatic asylum in this country they
would say of this man, not only that
they would be endangered by his
presence but that he is perfectly
sane. Was this man insaneon the ID OF
July. II he was not, you have but one duty
and that is to convict him. He was not in
sane. / aver what this proof indisputably |
establishes, that he never was insane, and |
certainly not on the % of July. On that |
point the principal claim by the prisoner |
and his counsel is the strocity of this par
ticular act. ] do not deny his claim OF |
being the most cold blOoded aud savage |
murderer of the last six thousand years, |
but he is not alone, as be will find when he |
comes TO those realms where murderers are |
consigned. Murder has existed In all ages |
Ennr thousand years ago there was inscribed |
on tablets OF stone the Commend 90 att peo- 1
pie: "Tbou shalt not kill" But Guiteau |
says that life is OF small consideration. |
He says in one OF his letters Of |
consolation TO the widow: "Life is but a |
feeting dream. His death might have hap |
pened at any time" But the LaWgiver Of /
the universe entertained different views on
the value of human lite when he said: 4
"Whoso sheddeth mans blood by man shaIl |
his blood be shed"
The Prisoner-That was three or four
thousand years ago. We have new laws
since then.
JuuBC IOIbcI--AnO that man IN the 0OCk
tells you the same God that placed that
value on human life placed no value on the
life of james 4. Garfield, and that life, it
was bat of small value; it was feeting
dream. We have had the gospel of Guiteau,
and he thinks this jury will indorse his gos
pei. Christ, speaking 10 the Scribes and
Pharisees, said "Ye who claim to be of the
seed of Abraham, prove it by doing acts O!
Abraham; but We are children of your father,
the devil, who was = murderer from the be-
ginning"
The Prisoner-Thaf takes you in, Porter.
Mr.. Porter-Thst Is the insanity which
this man has inherited. The man ia liar
az well az an assassin, and he was instigated
not by the Almighty, but by the devil.
The Prisoner (alluding to Porter's habit
Of lowering his voice at the end OF each SEN
tence)-The point il 20 fine that l cannot
hear it over here. You had better do it
again, iu &c.
Mr.. Porter went on to review the prisoner
and his life OF crime, in which be included
adultery.
The Prisoner-How many times have you
been guilty of that? Look up your record
I'D man; | guess you are about a. bad IS
Corkhill.
Mr. Porter went on to refer 10 the prison-
er's life in Washington, and asked was ;his
er,ror9rv mania an AbrahaTniss mania or a !