The Worthington advance., 1882-01-19
THE ASSASSIN'S TRIAL
The Tsatihl"hy ali ln--IAe law IN lhS Cas>,4
Arguments Of Connsei,
MoNtAY, JAN. V.

! hioNtAY, JAN. s.
Guitoau arrived at the court hoNse al,n,jt
$50 and was taken u tho waiting room. Hu
appeared rather nervous and his conntenaGre
! indicated anxiety. When he Lsd taken seat il,
| tho DOCK he glanced around steaithIly over lhs
! and.or.ce anu immediately began = harangue
evidently intended TOR tue jury. He sad:
lroceive! some 800 letters, great TIA io.
lily nf them from ladies. Whom get time !
shall attond la them. ] want Ia ne,ld 1ay preet-
ings !" tho ladies' OF America and thank
then. for thair sympathy. They don't Want me-
10 be hanged. fub'ic op.nion il fast changing.
1 reteive,t, Saturday, check for e 900 trom
stalwatts 9! Brooklyn and another for $500
from s;a!warts OF Ne"; York. want thiu iury
10 under stand how public opinion Ia On this
| oAsa.
a Dailir tried to SILENCE him. who turnei
upon him in 4 most vicions manner and sna rlet]
ont. ''Y0N keep quiet and mind your b,,s,neas
Don't interfere with me when ! aM talking. II
you had any aehae you would understand Your
place
.Mr. bcovil. then proceeded sitl, hs .r.o
ments on the points presented On Saturday.
HlS remarks were listened to With marked at
tenti0n. He laid afresA upon the lrop,;sit .on
that iusano men II they know tho ilitteronca be-
tween right and wrong, for that ruapon conceal
their plans; but the benefit OF doubt shonld
attach 10 the plea Of insanity when raised with
tho same Force as when urged in connections
with the commission Of crime
EAf. Ds::!ge for the prosecution followed III
disnnssion of the points of .ae dofonct,. point
ihs out their sophistries sud inconsistancea
lie said
The object OF tho prosecution is to obtain
from your honor olain. clear and direc.
ruling upon four distinct propositions lno
apparent object OF the defense il to be1og all
that may be clear in this case In tue vain hopc
that they may got to the jury with some
uncertainty in some way to The case upon
which to build up plea for acquitta} Why
your honor, in the course OF thirty years prsc-
'ice have never seen such q prayer AZ this ono
offered by the defense. It has no Justification.
1t has no excuse. Ne don't want obseurit7 in
this matter. We want light: We don't mean
to lot this prisoner escape in cloud, but We want
from your honor clear ard perspicuous ruling,
30 that tho twelve average mon sitting upon tbs
July cannot possibly 50 1stray
DaVidge severely handled the eleventh and
twelfth prayers Of the defense, and character
lied them AZ mean attempts to cast asperSions
upon the experts who had testified for the
prosecution aud upon counsel for the prosecn-
tloa themselves. The prisoner followed the
argument with the closest attention, and in.
Obliged 10 frequent and noisy comments.
TUESDAY. JAN 10
Judge Porter addressed the conu on tho law
points, but it was evident that it was also in
tended for the jury. Al Judge Porter reviewed
the conduct OF the prisoner and tue conduct on
the part OF his counsel OF his cause in this
court. the crime in all its hideous ugliness was
held up to the dotestation OF his heare.s The
silence became oppressive and the presence OF
avenging justice in tho near future Was sug-
! Eested with force OF conviction that swep.
| from tue court room ey6ry vssiga uf that lsvity
which has 20 long danced attendance upon
! every uttersnce Of the prisoner. and like veil
Obscured from the cGnecionsnees Of the speuta.
tora the horrors Of the crime and what sLoultI
| hal no 1rln nrSfw = In ;:,1s ,soo
For once, the insufterab!e inlpudence OF The
prisoner was completely ovorawed Neitl,er
! tbs hois8 nor his abuse could interrupt or 81
lence the avalanche OF condelnnstioil that swept
from the lips OF the eloquent counsel Tie
Erissoner Ea.s is mistaken your honor. said Judge
ptaWllng lie eau prevent toy voice being heard
By the jury. The puppet cannot ia moved Ia
such good time as when he sat with his counsel.
and by his outbursts now he ia fast tightening
the hangman's moose about his neck. With a
nervous twitching OF the mouth G,1iieau nut.
aldacious and wholly unabashed prisoner
seemed i'll at eass and at loes to understand
Why his would -he:sallies OF wit or impudencc
wholly failed with the audience. while the more
ssvere 'became the .aenunciation OF
the counsel. tho more frequent and marl.1
were the demonstrations OF approval Finally,
like Wild beast brought to bay. Guitean
yelled out: II stsked my life On the issue, and
I'm willing 70 go to the gallows to-morrow il
ifs the Lords will. I'm sick ot this bo.b.
Judge Porter. I wish you would ge: your
Guided hls mastery argument At 1l:40 Ly
reading the now famous letter OF Presiden!
Garfield 70 Judge Payne, in which he comp]i
msnted and thanked him for brushing away
the net work Of sophistries with which !! has
Of late years besn customary to envelope the
plea Ct insanity when act up in excuee rol
| crimes.
TIE argument Of Judge Porter waf
characterized b1 his usual depth q!
thought, breadth OF learning an, Srace Of
style. He reviewed the main facts in the story
Of the assastnation in very telling manuor,
aud his rebukes of seovtlls and Guitean wero
simply withering. Ho spoke 81 rsnal from
his :plaee behind the counsel table. aud thai
terribles fOretinger was used in emphasis Whiie
bic fxed.:gaze through his gilt trimmed specta-
cles at the insolant wretch in tile dock
threw Mrs.. scoville into bit OF passion which
threateHed to bring about q scene. Fortnnhte
Iy scoville was enabled to restrain her. 'tHs
isglaring right into my eyes." was her passion
ate exclamation al Judge Porter calmly snr
Voyed the miserable wretch exa.perated BY his
emitting sentences, who sat behind her, Ind
forc.bly il she lad not besn pre.
vented there seems to Us but little donbt
Judge Cox delivered an exhaustive sbe AMI
volnminons decision on tbs legal qnestiors iii
v0lved, wherein everything in the text books,
in the deciEions and in the statutes bearing on
pects OF the defensa OF insanity. was reviewed
He decided. basing his decision On tho genera
| principles Of the common law, that the Grimm
al court Of the district had Jurisdiction o7el
tho present case; basing his decision On thu
deeision Of the Eng!ish and the best American
man was bic ability to distinguish batwcel
right and wrong. He added certain quslifica,
tions in granting substantially the prayers ol
the prosecution deemed favorable 10 the do
fense. One was that the ability
right or wrong involved in the act tor whose
commission he was indicted; another, that il
OH the whole body Of facts presented mot simp
| ly On these In regard to the insanity OF the a:
cnsed, the jury should have well founded,
reasonable doubt Of the prlsoner's guilt, they
must acquit.
A Judge Cox finished speaking Guitea,
! called out, II ara perfectly satisfied with that
| exposition Of law" After consultation between
counsel the court adjourned until Thursday
morning, when DaYidge will make the opening
argument to the jury for the prosecution.
THURSDAY, JAN. IL.
Counsellor Davdge for the prosecution be-
gan his argument against Guitcau DaVidge's
speech was a masoerly presentation OF the
principal facts in regard to The crime. Tho
victim and the assassin, together with par
tial review of the testimony. All that he said
was said forcibly and we'll and WAS listened t.
With marked attention.
He brought out al the salient points in The
case, tending to show that 0uiteau was q re-
sponsible being His argument On this point
which was based on the instructions granted BY
tho court respecting tho test Of responsibility,
was logical and conclusive. His burniDg sen
tences were so many tortures to the ''devl il
the box, and he fairly writlled under them.
Az Davidge traced the process Of reasoning
by which the prisoner gradu ally reached th'
conviction that but one lifo interposed between
himself and possible great benefits. Guitea,
became restless, and for tho first time since
the opening Of the court indicated by hie
nervous twisting about the usual pre2iminariee
to interruptions, which in this instance quickl,
followed. mot often." said Davidge, ''in th'
record OF heinous crime do We have such PLAIN
pointed evidence at to the first conception O.
the crime. In this case the suggestion came I.
the wretch in the night 40 he vas lying In hi'
bed" "It came to me when the Lord got read,
TO have it, "snsrled the prisoner. Davidge con
tinued: "This thought or suggestion came t
him on the 18th Of Nay. Still thinking that b.
might obtain Office he sought to keep his hand
clean He made another effort on the 2Sth O
May to induce the president
Guiteau called ont from the dock: II woul'
mt hava taken foreign mission after the f3ra