The Sentinel. [volume] (Trenton, N.J.) 1880-1882, 1882-01-28
TRIAL OF GUITEAu

the 49, soiie, inherent IN every respect from
'ne one which he uses when ne makes his ,,a,, i
morning speech: " hope YOUR honor wiII Usual
ne 10 address the jury after Mr.. ScovilIe cots
through. Judge Cox replied that he Womb
Soois!uer the request of the prisoner after M
nhcoVllie had finished his speech. Mr.. ScoviIIe
slien began the third day of his address IN the
Jury Nearly the whole of his address for the
10y consisted OF discussion of the influence
Vi Inc political situation upon the nrisona,,s
mind before the assassination. He avarra5
enae Out 1or certain reasons back of this nrose-
outlon Gulteau would never have been ar
Iaiened IN court of law, but would have been
taken TO an insane asylum after the assassins-
1,on OF GARFIELD and kept there until be died
Ho,htlhulng, he said vehemently "Back of
=. .iiis prosecution is something which have had
70 contend against and which YOU NAV now or
will feel the pressure of before Won oct bro, Jh
with this case. 1t is not merely the efforts ~
1nis man pointing to the district attorney.
oacK OF hlm Is the United States government.
ana arralgn before you, gentlemen. as those
VINO are croWding the prisoner to the gallows,
persons nigh In authority. l say. and T sav Il
WltnouD lear, that the movers of this prosecu-
tlon are those politicians who seek to hide their
own lntamy by casting the blame on this insane
man. say that such men as Conklinp and
urant ana Arthur-those who made war with
out 1ustlflcatlon on that dead President whom
they nave since Landed to the skies-institnted
That state OF things and manufactured that de-
Free oI pupAc excitement and political feeling
, Sna' pleyea upon TINS insane man, until reason
leit It's throne, and he did that which he con-
sldered to be perfectly in accordance with their
counsel and their conduct" Mr.. Scoyille went
INTO THIS subject at considerable length. re-
marking that he did not intend to saw all this
when ne opened the case, because he then ex
pected fair and impartial trial, but now he
nao concluded not to spare the men who To-
mehteo TINS strife or permit them to make a
scapeSoat OF Gulteau. He said this without
any feeling, unless of regret that men so high
In power should descend to the ipnominions
scramble for Office which was exhibited against
Garfield. He said that the men, who since his
death had been SO profuse in their admiration
OF hlm, were ready before the second of july
last 10 trample him in the dust, to zee him 90
uo"h ~ opscnrlty and disgrace to the grave if
IL could be done without the aid of an assassin's
hand. Referring to the statement that the de-
tense had injured their case by placing the
prisoner upon the witness stand. MIR. ScoyiIle
called attention to the fact that frequently
Inc faculties of insane persons were
as sharp and shrewd as those of
zane persons. That had been shown
by the testimony of the experts He pictured
the gro%oa OF the delusion on the prisoners
mind. 1t was just as impossible to get rid of
the idea that he must kill the President as it
was for Paul when he cried: "How shall |
denver me from the body of this death % He
believed that the prisoner had tried to shake
Oft the idea but had failed, because he was
sick and weak. Mr.. Scoville further reviewed
the evidence, and particularly commented ad-
versely upon that OF DR.. Gray. The prisoner
made comparatively few Interruptions He
twice called ont that the New York court of
appeals on the preceding Tuesday had rendered
a decision that favored the theory of the de-
tense III his case as to insanity.
The proceedings at the opening of court on
the forty day of the trial and fourth day
OF Mr.. Scoville's address were opened by the
prisoner, who, in a declamatory tone, said
The decision of the New York court of ap-
peals comes with so much force at the present
moment that desire to call attention to it. II
comes with great grace from the Empire State,
from that grand old State Of the republic the
State that sends forth the brains, the money
and the commerce of the nation. 1t is a great
step forward in the law of insanity. Hitherto
the law has been that the burden of proof was
on the defendant, but the court Of appeals, with
grand magnanimity, says that the burden Of
proof is on this prosecution, to prove that the
man not only committed the act, but also that
he was sane at the time he committed it. In
the name of justice, and in the name Of the
American people, and in the name of the
American Judiciary, l desire to thank those
gentlemen of the court of appeals of the State
of New York" Mr.. Scoville then resumed his
position opposite the jury box, and in his GUS
tomary conversational tone, and without any
apparent WEAKNESS from his efforts of the past
three days. again addressed the jury. He
quoted from the testimony of Policeman Kear-
ney. who arrested the prisoner. to show the
incidents which followed the shooting of the
President-the arrest, the removal to police
headquarters and the search of the prisoners
person for papers. These incidents, Mr..
nvtlI al a., CHI hat hn
perfectly composed at the time of
the arrest, and entirely free from ex-
citenent-a state of mind which was in
consistent with the idea OF sanity tie
denounced Colonel Corkhin with great Bit
terness several times, declared that if Guiteau
had been of a revengeful spirit he would have
done to John H. Noyes, of the Oneida Commu-
nifty, many years ago, for wrecking his life
what he did last July to James A. Garfield, and
insisted that neither revenge nor love of noto-
riety would account for the crime, because
there was no proof OF the one and the other
was inconceivable. He dwelt also ON the fact
that Guiteau had made no attempt when Wis
tied by the experts at the jail to feign insanity
Mr.. Scoville said that he was not speaking so
much to save Guiteau's life, to do his duty to
his wife, Guiteau's sister, or to save the credit
of the Guiteau family, as to prevent an injus-
tice being done that would be lasting dis
grace to America. If it were possible for the
jury by their verdict to stay the tide of revenge
and of mob law, let them do so. He argued
that the prisoner had no possible nl-will
toward the President, and no motive for shoot
ing him, and all the circumstances showed he
was insane. He defed the prosecution to show
a case in history in which man had committed
such crime merely to gain notorety. During
the day several wordy encounters took place
between Mr.. Scoville and Colonel Corkhill and
the prisoner also kept up a running fire of
comments.
Mr.. Scoville concluded his address, which
occupied five days in it's delivery, on the fit
tieth day of the trial. He exhibited diagrams
to show that one of the doctors who testified
for the prosecution lied when he told the jury
that a diagram representing Guiteau's head as
symmetrical was correct. He averred that the
list of homicides committed by lunatics which
was introduced by DR.. Gray bad been pre-
pared for this case, and he read from the Off
cial tables of the Utica asylum to show that
four cases. which had direct bearing on the
case. had been omitted from Dr.
Gray's tables. In conclusion he argued
that the crime of lunatic must not be pun
ished in the same way as that of sane man
He asserted that capital punishment had de.
moralizing influence, and, in his opinion,
crimes would be diminished by it's abolition.
AS on the previous day there were several al
tercations between Soovile and Corkhill. There
was some applause in the court roof when
Mr.. ScoviIe concluded his speech. dulteau
tr;od IN strike one of the officers in charge