Knoxville daily chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1882, 1882-09-16
STAR a REUTERS.
Verdict of the Jury Set Aside
and New Trial Granted.
Investigating the Question of
Bribing the Jury.

their affidavlts III support OF the
motion for new trial. ....
MIR Merrick, OF the counsel for the
government, said: Il have had no
opportunity of personal communl-
cation with the Attorney General,
but in any emergency arising IN the
case, counsel must perform his
duty for himself, and take the res
ponsibility. Neither have l had
much opportunity Of communicating
with Attorney Bliss. find some
motions ON file for new trial IN TIE
case OF the convicted defendents,
accompan ed by statements Of varl-
ETY. of reasons, and by some
affidaEits. Among the reasons is
one, namely: That the verdict is in
itself unreasonable. As counsel for
the government OF the United States
l am not disposed to put on file my
consent to the granting Of this mo-
ton, but as counsel for the United
States feel it my duty not to ops
pose it,. The government of the
United States itself is not entirely
satisfied by any means with this YER
dict. 1t Is a verdict winch subjects
masters to retfial and convicts SER
wants and mlnions The jury pre-
sumably found evidence of conspir-
acy to defraud the United
States and of an overt act
so as to create completed
crime under the Statutes of the
United S ates that having been
found by the jury prior to their de
termination OF the conviction of the
guilty against herdeil ana Miner,
There was left for them the sole in
curry asto who wzs IN the conspiracy.
1t was apparent to all men tnat the
deeply guilty, In point of morals and
law, was Rerdell and Miner. The
crime they perpetrated was the
scheme aud device Of others. Now,
sir, the government of the
United States cannot consist
emily with It's dignity objclt by
practical resistance TO the motion
made to set aside such verdict and
bring TO trial again both masters
and servants, III order that full
iusGice may be done. The governs
ment OF the United States seeks no
victim. 1t seeks SIMPLY justice, and
when a verdict apparently trItit S
with justice, it can't meet the ap>
proyaI of tho government Of the
United States. With these briet re-
marks the government counsel leave
the subject of this motion to the
direction Of the Court, not coDsent-
ing but not resisting; hoping tor
purity of It's records, resolved on the
prosecution OF the criminals to the
fullest extent, and trusting that
whatever your honor may decide,
or whatever may hereafter come, full
justice viii, in the end, be done
In the course of the further pro-
ceedlDgs, Mr.. Merrick stated that he
had looked over the atfidavits and
had seen none which alleged the fact
that Dickson had related to the 9th
er jurors the circumstances attending
the alleged attempt to bribe hun,
notwithstanding his honor's direc-
ton to the contrary
Mr.. Henkle proceeded to argue
that the verdict should be set aside
on the ground that the jury had
been tanIpered with, and III conclu-
sion SAID the COURTROOM door
was dotted over with spoilers
whose business 1t Was to shadow the
jurors, counsel and Witnesses, and
sOme OF the Vlleet men Ill this COM
munlty were lighI here all through
this trial, doing thai very thing, IN
the service Of the gUverumt
Mr. MerIick-''In the service of
the government
MIR. heuOle-'Yes, sir"
Mir. Mernck-''Is there any aft
davlt Of this sort ON file 2
MIR. Henkle-''I lave not any
proof OF this now, but [ will furnish
1t when We get to investigating the
matter
Mr. Merrick-"When we come to
investigate the matter We Will reach
the conclusion that this approach OF
Dickson was a ''got up tnlug on the
detendents side.
TobrmeT, one of the jurors, haps
pen1ng to be In the courJ-roOm, was
called to the witness stand, and tess
thed to the reading OF tie
statement by Foreman Dickson,
after the retirement of the jury. He
SAID that the jury voted in the affirm
awe upon the question as to wheth>
er the paper should be read
The Court-What it wanted to
know was whether the jury had vio-
lated the Instructions of the Court.
That verdict of guilty then as to
Rerdell and Miner is set aside,
not only on account of the
misconduct of the jury, but on
account of its general unreasonable
ness. Not that the Court would have
made this decisOn on the latter
ground alone, because the unreason-
aoleness OF the verdict Is for the
JtA5a rather the Court, unless the
unreasonabIeness shocks the Court
Ihese two men seem to be at two
ends OF the line. 1t did not seem TO my
mind that they could have gone into
conspiracy without having had any
of the others along with them. But
the jury thought that they could
and I would not have disturbed the
verdict On that ground. But wher
I see that the verdict was made III
by the jury that were discussing
other matters that were not in tn,
evidence, of course my duty is plain
to setthe verdict aside. arg~x1s.7
AS to the acquittal of Peck, wh'
is dead, [ hope he is acquitted every
where We were not trying him
& As to Turner, of course the yer
dict stands. The Court grants
nQw tFiol tboroFora