Arizona weekly citizen., 1883-06-16
Want of Backbone In Jurors.

! NdHt ol DdChVOnC
 4 curious and sad case of insanity has
 just come tO light in Washington tbst
 has excited not httle comment, anS
 contains food for considerable retisetior,
 or a general character, and aside from
 lts own peculiar surroundings. The ir-
 formation of the particular case men.
 uoned Is contained in the fOllowin.
 special of very recent date from WasT'
 IDgton; "Ihe Guiteau case will uevs- down for good lt has come iato mo
 minence again, owing to the fact tbs, ! F. J. Sheahy, one of the jurors has gon. crazy and been sent to the St. Elizabs1S
 hospital for the insane. The case is | peculiarly pathetic In some points. [,
 k reported that Shsahy believed tbst ! Gui:eau was insane and that the in~, | should nave so found, but he had nn, | the courage h face Of the unRnimitv o, | the rest to stand out and say SO H.,
 was also afraid, 1t seems, of wba. L, knew WAS the public clamOr on the snb | feet. Since Guiteau's execution ir < said he has been continually haun,s3 ' by reflection upon the case, and the eor- vIcuOn that he had voted to hang ' lunatic, until his mind has given vag under 1t. His insanity took A tie-cs turn, so that bis family were afraid t,- | theU lives, and he has been placed m a | cell at the asylum" If only the jpro- | in this particular instance was sutra- ing from the want of courage and backbO to maintain stJutly hls houa.1 convictions, the case would not ba s, bad. If no one but himself and Guitss,,
 even were the victims, there would bs but little to say ln the premises. But ,,. this one instance aside from these tu.-
 victims, are many others who cornDriss
 the family of the insane juror all sufFsr. ing from the most slngularly producsj
 cause. Detached cases, however. in tbs
 great whirl of events and multitudas of
 humanity, where every individual bas
 his or her own private and special skel.
 etOn in the closet, are not worthy n,
 extended notice unless they be reprss.
 entative in their charter. It IS not oit.-
 that jurors go insane from having sufFsr.
 ed tlaeir convictions to be Outweigbed by
 numbers of stronger wills, but 1t Is m.
 denIably true that jurors are numerou,
 whose wills have not been strong euougb
 to sustain their convictions Tn thousanI.
 of the most important cases. The verdict
 of a jury in theory Is the honest, sincsrs
 and unanimous agreement of the twelve
 disinterested men who compose the iury
 The verdict derIves its force and com.
 mands public approval or disapproysl
 just as it IS or IS not such sincere srJ
 unanimous agreement. To say that one
 man or any two or three men on
 jury prevailed upon any of
 their followers to join with them in
 their views of a case, and agree 10 A
 partic Ilar verdict against honest conyi,.
 tions, but simply in obedience to strong or wills or any other influence but ths
 dictates of their own minds and coD- sciences,,,ss enlightened by theeyidence.
 IS tO at once throw verdict into tbs
 just contempt of the public But that such Is frequently the case, that jurors entertaining an honest opinion and con victions iu case are constantly pre. vailed upon to vote with the maiorlty and in opposition to their own views. ,s a fact abundantly established. There IS scarcely e man, and certainly not hn at. tOrney, who cannot call half-dozeu instances in which life itself was luvolv-
 ed, where weak viiled jurors were H. duced to perjure themselves and do justice and the public gross and ire parable wrong by agreeing to verdict against their best judgment and honest conviction. The evil iu fact Is a com mOn one. l. isn't often that public .t- tentlon IS called to it hy such u sensa- tiOnRl and marked occurrence as the one mentioned above, but general stten- tiOn Is rarely ever attracted to abuses and common evils but by unusual and startling occurrences. If there Is one place above all others Tn the admlstra- ton of justice, where backbone is wanted, where honest unanimity alone should prevail, 1t IS in the jury box Upon the agreement of so many conflicting lntelligences, the unanimous and un. biased and unintiuenced determination of so many conflicting and supposed c. be honest wills the very safety and well being of society rest Life and liberty and the rights of property are too sacred to be taken away by mOckery, and the jury system IS certainly the most dan gerOus and solemn of mockeriss if ii Is not Tn practice what 1t is in theory. There IS but one way tO remedy or pre- vent the evil complained of, however. that We cal see at present. and that rem eiy lies with the court. If the courts. ln their instructions to iuries, vIll cal attention tO, and dwell particularly upon this subject, and ID receiving verdicts exercise special care to discover whether the verdicts are really the honest e1- pression of the convictions of all the twelve composing the jury, or whether they are merely the opinion of some with the wills of the remainder lndIiferently quiet the evil will be easily prevented in case after case. There IS too little curiosity and interest mani tested by the courts as to the manner Of or making up verdicts, and the and individuals must suffer n consequence. Cases such as the above ought to attract general and special st .ention from the judges and the at.0r leys of the lsnd.-Dallas, (Texas,) Her lld.