Omaha daily bee., 1884-08-16

l unless one of those surprises should hap
, pen, which, at times, suddenly occur IL
T courts of law, and make matters more q
less favorable for the prisoner. All tn,
evidence that the jury had to work upor
had been laid before them; and, to my
thinking the whole case turned on tn,
+ question: "Did they believe Woodlockl'
If they did then let doom be pronounced
on the prisoner. If they did not let him
go forth a free man.
A gentleman without q beard or Wits,
kers, with a rather heavy expression OF
countenance, and wearing wig and gown,
now stood facing the jury, about to reply
for the crown. In his appearance there
was nothing to indicate the possession Of
great intellectual power. From where ]
stood he seemed to me to have a some.
what dull look about his eyes. This look
was subsequently, explained, when he
bent down so close to his papers as almost
to touch them witch his lace. His sight
was very short. This was the solicitor
general, now Mr.. Justice Lawson. With.
out delay he commenced. He had not
gone tar when 1t was clear that this was a
man terribly in earnest, with a mind OF
rare vigor. He did not waste any time
throwing palaver into the jury-box. He
grasped the whole case, the weakness
and the strength of every point of it, and
to it, and it only, he addressed himself.
He spoke to the reasoning faculty of the
jury, and struggled long and hard to
coerce them to the conclusion that there
was only one logical deduction from the
evidence, and that was that the prisoner
at the bar was the man wha shed the
Frenchman's blood. He boldly took up
Woodlock 'sevidence, and proclaimed it the
backbone of the case against the prisoner.
There it stood, and let rational men ex-
anime it, and see if in the main 1t did
not fulfill every requirement which, as
business men, would satisfy them in the
ordinary concerns of life. Did any one
deny that Woodlock was driving on that
road at the time and under the circum-
stances he stated. Did any one deny
that Thiebault was murdered in the man
ner described2 The whole place was
friendly to the prisoner. Did he bring
on the table a single individual able to
satisfy the jury that he was elsewhere on
the day and hour of the murderR Not
one. And they were asked, under such
circumstances, to say that the man in
The dock was not guilty, because forsooth
on some points the witness Woodlock
was at variance with a newspaper report.
And not only that, but they were asked
to shut their eyes to the complete cor
roboration which every word spoken by
the chief witness had received. And
this confederation came from witnesses
of unimpeachable character. Was it de-
MED that a man dressed exactly as it was
shown the prisoner was dressed on that
day crowded over the fence imme.
diretcly after committing the deed2
That denial was not attempted.
Where was the prisoner when this
peed was being done? 1t was a matter
of life or death to him. If he was else
where. he could make some Ineligible
effort to show it; but he had not done
so. And yet, in the face of the positive
swearing of Woodlock, against whose
character there was never until the pres
eet trial, a bad word uttered, and in the
face of the complete corroboration
which his testimony had received, they
were asked to say that this man was in
nocent. Granting for argument sake,
that he had at first hesitated to name
the murderer, what did that convey to
men who knew the state of affairs work
ing in agrarian questions in this country2
1t simply showed that he was afraid to
speak until he felt the all-powerful arm
of the law was around him, and then he
boldly turned, and, as they saw him rise
from that chair, and in the face of all
men proclaim, pointing at the prisoner,
that you, Tom Halloran, did the deed.
The speech was what might be called a
terrible burst. There was mo cessation
from start to finish; no hesitation, no
stop. 1t was all plain, solid talk,
directed with striking precision to the
on the evidence, there wa no escaping
the conclusion that the murderer stood
in the dock. 1t insisted on the Crown
case; it ridiculed the defence, and when,
amid breathless silence, the learned gem
tleman suddenly sat down, l felt that
certainly he had gone straight for his
man, and that, as he left the matter,
there were ten chances to one he had
him.
We are now approaching the end, get
ting into the calm, judicial time, when
all contention is at al end, and the whole
of the case is to be dealt with by the
Judge and the jury. Each one settled
down as comfortably as he could, and
awaited the closing scenes in painful
anxiety. l shall never forget my position
at that moment; | was leaning against
the left hand corner of the dock from the
outside. Halloran, the prisoner, was
leaning against the same corner from the
inside; two inches of space did not sepa-
rate us, and L could not help realizing
the awful position in which this other
human being now stood. On the bench
there was a rustling and settling of books
and papers, and presently was to come
the Geld intimation of opinion, so power
full with the jury, of such vital impor-
lance to the prisoner.
If ever a prisoner was in luck, it was
this man Halloran. He was fortunate
in his youth and in the gentle and ami
able appearance which told 80 much in
his favor, He vas fortunate in his ad-
~vocste, alive with energy and intellect,
and now intoxicated with a strife in
which he measured his strength, single
handed against all the giants of the bar.
He was fortunate in theriotous sympathy
for him, which could not be repressed,
and which manifested it's existance every
where among the multitude; and now the
crown lawyers when the case has closed,
placed trump card in the hand of his
advocate. With the permission of the
hapch thau callad the cOrnner IN con.