The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1883-03-21
An Ignorant Man Tells What he Knows Of the
Secret Deliberations the Jury That Cleared
the Aurdersr-A Poor Plea for the Com.
mlssratlou OF the IndIgbaat PablIe.

WIFE, aEo tuel BILL ~ W -
"The feeling is very strong; there is talk
that some OF the jurors are 10 be arrested
for perjury, and II you know anything 1t
would be as well for you to tell the whole
truthW
Evidently scared and anxious to clear his
own skirts, the juror, almost with tears in
his eyes, told as best he could in his
weak way the story Of the manner in
which the twelve men reached their won
derfui verdict. He protested that he did
the best he knew how, and was innocent
before God OF aay wrong intention.
THEY PRAYED!
"What was the first thing you did after
retiring to the jury room?"
"Well zir, we prayed"
"Who suggested the idea Of praying'"
asked the reporter
"Amalong." Considering Amalong's
character this is simply monstroua)
"Did Amalong pray2"
"No zir; not out loud anyhow. He said
we had better pray; they had done 1t in
that Low trial and he thought We ought 10
do It, too. Clawson was one of the four
church members on the jury and he prayed
out loud"
"Did you pray?"
"No zir; that's something never could
do; but I've often wished l was good
Christian"
"How long did Clawson pray?'
n don't know, zir, but we was down on
our knees good while"
HVhat WAS the next thinp?"
"Then, zir, we appointed foreman.
They wanted to appoint me, but l told
them never was on jury before and !
did not want to begin on such big cases. |
wanted to try small cases first So We
picked on Mcintyre. Then we talked the
case over. The letter was read several
times. Cagey done the reading out loud.
Amalong tried to read them, but he got all
mixed up"
"Wbat did you think Of Dukes letters ?"
ave thought man should not write
such letters to father, but we concluded
they did not bear directly on the murder,
and we passed over them"
"Did you not think man deserved
death for writing such letters to father
about daughter whom be loved so well?"
"They say he did love her powerful"
was the imbecie answer. ave decided
Nuts letter contained bad threat" he
continued, "and after talking the evidence
over awhile we voted. We.had no paper
to write on, and so we just held up our
hands. On the first ballot three were for
manslaughter and the rest for acquittal, ex.
cept myself. l sat back in the corner and
did not vote first time. Amalong voted
for manelaughter on the trst ballot and
after that he voted for acquittal. He had a
good deal to say. Also Cramer, who was
babbling for acquittal."
HOW THE VERDICT WAS REACHED.
Here the reporter became fully convinced
that the public surmise is correct, that Am.
along and Cramer, two Of Dukes personal
friends, had laid well the scheme to carry
out the purpose for which they were put
on. Cramer struck out for acquittal from
the start. Amalong affected to be relig-
ious, and at first went for manslaughter.
Then Immediately joined Cramer, and in
this way carried the weak-minded ones
| like Breakiron, Bemberry and Balsley with
him, Continuing, he said: ave thought
Breckenridge's testimony corroborated it.
self (contradicted was what the poor crea.
ture meant, and 80 we hardly thought we
could take 1t. The testimony Of the several
witnesses was mixed, and We just weighed
each mans each way, and did the best we
could"
"What did you decide as to the shoot.
ipg?"
self.deiense." ,.,
"Did YOU find that Mutt had pistol ?"
"From the testimony at the ccroner's in.
quest he had, but 1t did not seem at the
trial that he had"
"What testimony did you take in such
cases?'
awe took parts Of both aud did the best
We could. | could hardly tell whether
Mutt had pistol or not"
"How then was Dukes in danger OF be-
sThe cane" he replied, "was heavy
enough to kill man. We decided to &C.
cept the testimony Of Henry Jennings that
Dukes had the cane when he shot"
"If Dukes had the cane and Mutt had no
pistol In his hand how did you find Dukes
to be in danger"
"Well, sir, we thought Mutt had hit
Dukes with the cane when he entered the
room and Dukes got II away from him
after the attack. 1dont remember Just
how We did fix up that point. | have been
thinking over It since and l can't recall It
all as 1t Is big thing to get in q mans
head"
"You did not vote at first, but when you
saw how the rest were going, what did you
do then 2"
"Then voted to acquit him."
"Iithe others had oil voted for first
degree verdict, what would you have
done?"
DIDN'T KNOW THERE WAS ANY TRICKS.
"Well, sir, then would have done that
too. We took about seven ballots and
then made 1t unanimous for Dukes, all
holding up our hands. thought the YER
dict was all right and did not know OF any
tricks or bribery or perjury. The first I
expected OF there being anything wrong
was when the judge scolded us. lam sor.
ry, but ] am innocent before God. We
thought the judges charge was fair. We
decided Breckenridge and the colored
man were all in the room when the shoot
ing occurred, but their evidence was 90
| mixed up II bothered u.s."
Juror Breakiron has seven children. four
OF whom are daughters, all married but
one. On this point the interview was pain
fully interesting. The reporter knew moth:
ina about the jurors family, but yentured
on a point upon which the frightened peer
at fnt WINGED and then marched S. PEray;sly Ea +,
position, Mr.. Breakiron, to sympathiEe
with father who has been gronged q
uot your oldest daughter unfortunateV
"Well sir, she was in one way, and then
In another way she was not shegot him
"Got Whom2"
- III sail In 1fia