Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1883-06-14
STAR ROUTE DISGRACES.
A JURORS SPREE ENDS IN A
FIT IN OPEN COURT.


A JURORS SPREE ENDS IN A
FIT IN OPEN COURT.
Judge Wylie Overwhelmed by the
shameful Scene-Velnon Rallies and
Resumes His PIace-Two Drinks Pc,
Day Allowed Him-Passing Around
the Bottle Prohibited.
WASHINGTON, June I3.-In obediance
to the direction of Judge WyIie the star
route jury came into court to receive in.
structions on points oflaw. Before reach.
ing their seats Juror Vernon, who had
been sick during the night, fell on the
hoor in hit, creating great excitement
HE was placed under the care of a phvsi.
clan, and the other jurors went to their
room.
In about fifteen minutes Deputy Mar.
shal Fassett reported Juror Vernon sit.
ting up and would soon be all right.
Judge Wylie said: 81 have a good deal
Oh doubt in my mind in regard to the con.
sequence of this occurrence. This mar
mas been drinking good deal. He is q
hard drinker. During the progress of this
trlal on one occasion had to take him
ASIDE and give him pretty
AOiuOuAllOus anu he promised fC
abstain, but l have observed that he has
resumed his hard drinking, and / suppose
that his confinement i'm the Jury room and
the cutting off of the supplies of that kind
resulted in this attack. | don't know
whether 1t is delirium tremens or mania a
p0tu, but he is not fit to be on the Jury
now. suppose that the doctor will give
him prescription, and it will probably
be brandy or whisky.v
The (triar- GsTTo hoe o.;,,o,, -
Mr.. Merrick-''I suppose that whatever
the doctor prescribes for a Juror can be
taken by him?"
Inc undoubtedly but facts OF
this kind are apt to leave the mind in Sc
shattered a condition as to create diff.
Guilty."
Deputy Marshal Fassett-''He is all
right now"
Judge Wyllie-"Then the jury can come
back"
At los O'Clock the jury came in.
Foreman Crane said: ''Your Honor, one
Oh the jury desires to ask question ofthe
court. To most of us it seems to be ques-
ton of fact, but we prefer to let Mr.. Hor-
rigan speak for himself"
Judge Wylie-'"The court will hear his
question, and If it be a question of fact,
will not undertake to pass upon it,"
Juror HOrrigan then rose and in a con-
FUSED manner put question to the court,
OF an almost unintelligible character,
which seemed to relate to the dates of
certain orders made by Gen. Brady and
to the nature of the stumbling block
which Gen. Brady said that he found in
his way.
Judge Wylie-"ThOse are questions of
fact and not of law, and it is not for the
court to instruct you in that connection.
Now, gentlemen, you have had a sick men,
Der of the jury with you, and disagree
able accident happened this morning. He
seems to be in measure restored and l
hope he will be able now to perform his
duties. don't propose to discharge this
jury very easily. This is the second time
that this case has been tried. l don't
wish to put any undue stress on your
minds, but the court thinks that YOU
ought to agree on a verdict of some kind.
You can retire again.
The FOreman-"YOur Honor. we have
not agreed on the question of conspiracy
in the case. If we should agree upon the
guilt of any one of the parties, wish to
know if we can report to the cOurt?"
Judge Wylie-'NO; you must report
the verdict as a WHOLE"
The FOreman-"SOme of the jury
think"
The COurt-''YOu have no right to say
what they think"
The FOreman-"My mind is in some doubt
on the question of conspiracy"
The COurt-"Crime is a conspiracy fol-
lowed by an overt act"
The FOreman-''Suppose we don't agree
as to conspiracy, can we vote upon the
question of the guilt or innocence of any
party?"
Judge Wylie-"The court will not inter-
tere with the order of your proceedings.
1t Will not attempt to direct you in your
discussiOn.''
Mr.. Davidge-''I understand that this is
a charge of conspiracy"
Mr.. Merrick-'1And l understand that
the jury have a right to vote as they
please"
Judge Wylie-"Ac to my in
structiOns, you can decide upon any point
in this Indictment in any order or time,
but the verdict, when reported, must be a
complete verdict, not based upon a part
of the Indictment, but upon the whole.
There is a great deal of surplusage, as
you have been told. There are substan-
TALLY but two questions in the indictment.
First, as to conspiracy. On that you have
a right to say whether the defendants or
any of them were concerned with Mr..
Rerdell in that conspiracy. or whether
there was"
conspiracy" interpOsed Col. IngersOll.
The COurt-TEIf you decide that there
was conspiracy with him you must say
who was engaged in it. But that is not
all. You must find at least one overt act
following. If you find conspiracy and one
overt act, It's your duty to render verdict
as to the parties so found, and that covers
that ground. You cannot say that you
find conspiracy and no overt act, or an
overt act and no conspiracy. A verdict
of guilty must be a general verdict in that
way. A verdict of not guilty, of course
covers the whole ground, and that is the
rule as to the whole or any number of
defendants"
The foreman complained of the high
temperature of the jury room and asked
to be permitted to walk in the City Hall
Park. to which request the court acceded,
saving that he would treat the jury well
at present, but intimated that resort
might be had to the common law rule
the deprivation of light and fOod-if
verdict were not soon forthcoming.
The Deputy Marshal was instructed to
allow Juror Vernon two drinks per day,
but to prevent the circulation of the
whisky bottle among the jurors.
The court took a recess. until 10 O'Clock
a, m. tomorrow, with the understanding
that il would meet to receive the verdict,
if the jury should agree upon one before
that hour.
There has been some speculation here
to-day as to whether the mental condition
o Juror Vernon will afford ground for
successfully contesting the validity ofany
verdict which the jury may render. The
counsel for the government do not think
it will. They hold that the rule govern
ing cases of misconduct on the part of ju-
ries to be that, unless the misconduct is of
such a character as to be prejudicial to
the defendant or complaining party, it
can't be held to be sufficient cause for set
ting aside verdict, and that the drinkingof
intoxicating liquors by a juror when it is
not improperly obtained and is not taken
to excess is also insufficient to vitiate the
verdict.
Mr.. Merrick, the leading counsel for
the government, said to an Associated
Press reporter tonight: "The illness OF
Juror Vernon will not affect whatever
verdict the jury may render"
~COI. lngersoll, of the counsel for the de-
fense, said that Juror Yernon's illness
would not affect the legality of the YER
dict. should there be one. He said that
he thought that the jurors illness was of
an epileptic character, and was not
caused by excessive indulgence in strong
drink.
Southern Soldiery in the North.