Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1883-12-10
A FAILURE OF JUSTICE.

The weakness of man is never made more
apparent than in the failure of his method
to do justice, as, for instance, in the case
of the Troai- Lentini murder. Here was a
woman in Sacramento county murdered in
manner especially horrible. Two men
were charged with the crime. One of these
had no real motive so far as human inquiry
can evolve evidences of motive. But he
fed was pursued, fred upon and escaped.
After long time he was found, and con-
fessed that in drunken quarrel with the
husband of the woman he had done some.
thing for which he feared. 1t was not, as
we understand it, direct confession of
murder, but was an admission of a charac-
ter which, coupled with his flight, led to
the conclusion that he killed the woman !;
but why he had done so never has been
satisfactorily explained. At his trial, a
witness testified that the husband of the
woman was her murderer, for he saw the
husband fire the fatal shot The defend.
ant also charged, indirectly, that the hus.
band was the guilty party, although he
did not see him do the deed; but such was
the tenor of his testimony. He explained
his confession by saying it referred to an
affair that took place long time before,
and there were some physical facts to bear
out this statement. The jury had grave
doubts about the mai tier, while some of
them were so clear that the defendant was
innocent of willful murder that Lentini
was acquitted. This was in the face, be it
remembered, of the testimony of the hus.
band, Troai, who swore that Lentini
shot probably at him, Troai, and killed the
woman. But it was vigorously maintained
that the physical facts did not support that
theory. The husband, Troai, was
next placed on trial, and all the
testimony again gone over, and all
the facts examined into for over two weeks,
and the result was announced Saturday by
verde. of not guilty. Here then we
have the case of two men, one of whom
certainly killed human being. It was done
either through mistake on the part OF one,
or with malice on the part of the other.
So far as motive is concerned, there is more
reason to suppose it to have existed in the
case of the husband, than in the case of
the friend of the family who was tried for
the crime the husband had quarrelled
with his wife, the friend had only quar-.
relied with Troai himself However that
may be, the law in the hands of two
juries has declared both men innocent.
So far as the law is concerned. neither of
these men, beyond reasonable doubt,
killed the woman, yet both juries and
both Courts are morally certain that one
of the men killed the unfortunate person
who was shot to death near Gait HUI
man laws have failed to sift truth from
perjury in this case, as in many othe rs,
and they are thus exposed in their weakest
part. It is, perhaps, no reproach to the
law, nor to the methods of the Courts. 1t
but makes prominent the fact that even
the law is powerless, often, against evil /;
that human institutions, at best, are very
imperfect, and that all men can do is to
aim at the perfection OF justice, without
the hope OF ever reaching its highest stand
ard. Perjury in the Troai-Lentini case
has done more than to secure two men a
little longer lease of life and liberty; it has
branded both of them with such suspicion
of crime that both will bear the mark of
Cain, though one of them, it is positive, is
guiltless.