The Northern Pacific farmer. [volume] (Wadena, Minn.) 1878-1885, 1884-07-24

fIsdnsid, My, MdRarKey; COZ U1tns and ny.
| self were about him. II there were others
they were Of the same party; There lYene mo
weapons there that 7 saw. Saw 9 shotgun in
front Of the shack sitter all WIS over ;Leaheld
nos i s and Is should s1Gaf III Il alone: M "A
| Witness was confronted with the different
statements made in his affidavit before the COR
oner, ana said he was not correctly reported
was the complaint Of others who had made
Pat McQueeny, another defendant, said: Fl
Am twenty three; was behind Bell at Wards
| shack when Bell called.
:, Bell said;; eeHello, Ward" 49, '''i aH't
He soon opened the door and asked: 'eWhat
| do you want?,'r 4. ? ~ /, Iis.s4~ ,y7t.:;ii:
I Bell told him he cames prepared to move tho
| shack When Ward came out with his hands
on his hips and said: "You s-n Of b., I'll
down you first!" Bell and he then scutf1ed, and
Charley Ward came in the door and shot Eve
times. He hit me in my arm. .,;...'
Witness took off his coat and showed the
mark Of the wound on his right arm, showing
also the position in which he was standing when
struck. -:.,.y
did not speak at once till I felt the pain
when told the boys was shot I went about
sixty yards from the shack to Uline. He gave
! me handkerchief to bandage up my arm. To
the time Of this shooting not one evil word was
| said by US. -.
Cross examined, witness said a., ,
None Of our party had guns. I heard the
command to scatter and fire into tie shack I
do not know who gave it, 8 There was haf a
minute between Charley's shots, The fifth
shot struck me-: After I'was shot it wsz half
shot; heard Elliott say NY hands afe ups
of, = the shack, when. be gave me
handkerchief to bind my arm; Uline walked to
the party; Twas sixty yards away; did not see
a man run south; think it was Elliott ! saw run
ming east; did not see any run to Bdlrs shack,
or fall; on the way going up heard some one
say II think some of the boys were killed" first
was sure some of the boys were shot the next
morning.
The peaceable reputation of the defendant
was admitted Rebuttal' testimony before the
coroner was admitted under an exceptional
An offer to prove the declaration of Fred Ward
to United States Receiver Anderson shortly be-
fore his death Of his purpose of going on Bells
claim, was ruled out by the court The jury
men admonished very strictly in the duty to re-
ceive neither spoken nor written communi-
cation and to promptly report any attempt to
communicate with them. ~
The greatest legal efforts ever witnessed in
North Dakota are those seen and heard in the
braced the usual ones in regard to the law Of
self defense, weight of testimony, credibility Of
witnesses and reasonable doubt. The special
position predicated on the theory Of the de-
Tense, that they went to the Ward shack only
with tho intent of removing trespassers will
appear in the second request as follows:
If Charles Ward fred his pistol into the
crowd with intent to wound or kill any of it's
members and before any act of violence BY any
Of said crowd, without previously ;comlmuni i
sae f sqc WAS as
could be lawfully resisted by the party to pc
injured to an extent sufficient to prevent the
offense, or 10y any other person Tin defense OF
the person to be injured to the same extent,
provided that the force of violence used in SO
vent such offense; and if by means of such re-
sistance Charles Ward was killed, it was. done
In seH-defense and was justifable.i ,,' -
|. On the point Of threats they ask the follow
ing, in, order to determine who made the first
assault: Isu ;.,,
/ The jury may consider the testimony Of the
threats testified to have been made by Charles
Ward before the fatal collision, even if such
threats were not communicated to the defend
ant or heard by him.
In regard to non participation directly in the
killing, they ask the following:
If it is not proved beyond a reasonable doubt
that the defendant fired the fatal shot, and it
is reasonable hypothesis raised by the testi-
mony that the fatal shot was fired by some 9TH
er person than tho defendant, then you must
acquit him
In reply to this Wallin, for the dictrict at
torney, maintained that the principles of self
defense were inapphcable to this case and the
defendant was not entitled to Instructions up
Oh that law Mr.. Van Amman further replied,
|. reviewing the facts as proven, and admitted by
the defense themselves He held shat what
took place before Charlie Ward gave up ran
out and was flying, for his life was immaterial.
He denied in toto tho position taken by the coun-
sol for the defense, and said he Was sure his
"a, - &Sos-oo %1s ~
the attempt to give the jury an excuse to shield
the most dastardly and unprovoked murder on
a principal of self-defense which could not be
invoked by this armed band Of twelve against
two persons. Gov. Davis briefly replied, say
ing that the learned counsel in effect asked the
court to do what it had no power
to do under the constitution-take away
the question of fact from the jury;
| whether the facts and circumstances in this
case did not entitle them to inquire into the ap
Instruct them substantially that they must find
the defendant guilty Of murder: The argu-
ment to the Jury was opened for the prQsecu-
ton by Deputy District Attorney Pratt the bar
being density packed with ladies, almost to the
exclusion of lawyers. He was responded to
I full two hours speech, in the course Of which
he alternately held Dick Turpin up as d model
of courage and Of tcowardice, and'as teller of
truth and a blackened, perjqrer and assassin,
as it best suited the explanation of that
nights transactions. The defendant: broke
few susceptible ones We're moved to tears
The efforts of Van Amman and Davis were
the theme of general admiration, the formers
for It's familiarity with every legal principle,
clothed the weakest points of the defense and
made them appear towers of strength. Balls
/ effort was also a strong one, and as usual
had great weight with the jury:
In repelling the argument on the assumption
that the settlement Of the Northwest had been
attained by many bloody ARRAYS, he said that in
a practice of sixteen years he had not heard Of
but one case beside this in which homicide
| was committed in land dispute in the North
west
Judge Hudson charged the Jury at great
length, defining homicide and its different de-
grees He affirmed some Of the points of the
defense, but on the land controversy and self
l. defense principle involved, wholly overruled
them. His instruction was - folloMs:ee:
The controversy between MI. Bell and the
this trial. You have nothing to do with, that.
You.oould not adjust it if You should attempt
it. .Whateverthe merits Of that controversy
may have been cannot now affect the guilt or
limo ,ence of this defendant and cannot in any
event furnish justification or excuse for thi,
homicide. Such controversies should. be set
tied in the proper form snd not on this trial.
He stated this proposition in relation to tho
principal of self defense !;
III you find from the evidence that after tho
deceased, Charles Ward, had ceased firing
from the door, he cried out that he gave up or
surrendered, which 'wass heard by those OH the
outside, aud he was told to come out and did
come out and run from. the shack in an attempt
to escape, and you find that when some dis
lance from the shack he was shot and killed,
this was murder, and nothing that had occurred
previously furnished any justification for the
killing, either by way of self defense or other
wise-if this fact be true, the time for self-de-
tense to be necessary had passed
He instructed them that they might inquire
whether any one else of the party fired the ia
tai shot, and whether the. defendant was there
with them for an unlawful purpose; charging
them that if death resulted from this common
unlawful design, whoever didit, all are equally
guilty Of murder The defense have raised
their exceptions to the charge. Under the law
Of Dakota the jury in murder cases must fix
the penalty, either death or imprisonment for
life in case of conviction. The jury was charged
also in the manner of finding in case it is man
slaughter.
The two Aztec children who for sew
eral years inspired visitors to "the only
greatest show on earth" with awe and