The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1884-12-12
The Prisoner Satisfied with the Verdict.

The case of the State VS.. James Mackin, charg-
ed with the murder of Michael Bacsiszta, a Hun.
last May, by shooting him through the heart with
pistol, was argued at length on Monday, by
he aenr snS w%
Young and VIM L. Cooley for the prisoner. The
closing speech, by Mr.. Maynadier, was ended at
nine O'Clock at night and the case was given to
the jury. AS there seemed to be a reasonable
prospect of agreement Judge Waters remained
dict Guilty of murder in the second degree"
The penalty for this Is Imprisonment in the
penitentiary for not less than five nor more than
eighteen years A motion for a new trial was
made by the prisoners counsel
Mackin, upon being asked how he liked the
hanging. At one time thought my neck would
age and has the reputation in Havre de Grace of
being reckless. DANGEROUS youth
FURTHER TESTIMONY FOR THE STATE.
AndrsT GepPes IL through
rieks' public house wit Bacsiszta. Maclsn was
also there. and used insulting language 10 BAG
siszta, who replied in the same strain. Mackln
invited Bacsszta to come out. The latter replied
"All right" After Ave minutes Bacsiszta and
several Others went out together. Shortly
afterwards the witness, while sitting under the
railroad bridge heard shots and identified the
man who was shot as Bacsiszta.
form of the freight warehouse. saw Mackin come
from his home to the ticket office Four or five
| men were on the PLATFORM. Heard maCkiD use
offensive epithet, to which one Of the men replied,
Your e another" Mackin fired twice. His pis
tol missed fire and he worked with it until he
fixed it and then continued firing. The man APP
peared frightened when approaching Mackin.
with his hands uplifted. The distance between
them, when Mackin fired the first shot, was about
from the witness stand to the jury box (25 to 30
feet) and when the third and fatal shot was fired
they were from 8 10 8 feet apart
Mrs. Elizabeth Albert, market woman, testi
J fled that she saw the occurrence. The Hungarian
advanced t.wards Maekin pleadingly. with his
| ha vii no foil
ed Mackin home and heard him tell his step.
mother that he had shot that man and would hat
for 1t. Mackin told his step-mother he had shot
J him because he called him -. Witness had
come upon IL the porch during the conversation
shut the door in her face.
DR.. d. W. Hopkins, who was one of the jurors
on Inquest, made a superficial examination Of the
, wound, which was in the left side. in the region
of the heart between the fifth and sixth ribs.
Justice Charshee also testified that he acted as
| coroner and removed the body from the station
to his office, where the inquest was held
The evidence for the State was closed at this
point, except for rebuttal.
EVIDENCE FOR THE DEFENCE.
For the defence, Mr.: VIM. S. Bowman, survey
, or was first called and explained a map of the
The offered produce the
and of Sheriff Walker and Deputy Sheriff Car
5 man, of Hartford county. to show the riotous and
dangerous character of the foreign railroad labor
ers. Inis evidence was not admitted and an excep-
DR.. J. II. Kennedy testified that he had been
v | Calleu III WIN Dr. smith to see
4 young Mackin, on the Goth of September 1870
The boy was suffering acutely with fever and
D., was very nervous and at times unconscious. His
condition was such as might have been produced
by the bite of dog, whether rabid or not. The
witness knew merely of the physical condition OF
condition then or since.
0 On Saturday morning. the first witness called
by the defence was Mrs Neal Mackin. the wife
i of young Mackin's uncle James Mackin had a
e spell of sickness. at her house, near Hoopmans
sickness nr Hau
bitten in the lip by dog two or three months be-
. fore he came to her house.
: Joseph Mackin the father of the prisoner, tes-
tined that in 1879. in Baltimore, bulldog had
bitten his son James in the lip. He was Ill in
i month after receiving the wound. All he ate was
, through q, quill: This sickness left its effects
;. upon the boy, He would have nervous fits, roll
on the ground, turn up his eyes and act in curl
- GUS way. The boy had been delicate from his
infancy, and had spasms. generally one and some.
!. times two month up to the time he was seven
years old. He was between 10 and II years old
when, he was bitten by the dog. The spasms
after the dog-bite. AT times he was unconscious.
The witness was in Bel Air the I'D of May and
closed the front of his house that morning. His
Mrs. Dawson. of havre de Grace, an aunt of the
prisoners mother. testified that she had nursed
him in a spell of sickness and he had always
, been regarded as very delicate;
d Andrew +. Slymer testified that he had seen
. last was in May when the boy was at his sly
Il mer's) house. He acted in curious way, and
| 10 get up q nRnt Win some men when
there seemed to be no cause forit. Witness took
black jack or billy from the boy. Mr. Slymer
= said at different times he advised the boy not to
drink. At times he would fight his father.
t e: NJ. Allen testified that he had employ ed the
boys father TO run boat and had often seen the
:, prisoner who was kind, we'll disposed boy. Saw
d the boy soon after he was bitten by the dog. He
a was in bed and Mr.. Allen did not think he would
: live.
G Mrs. Joseph Mackin, the prisoners step-mother,
testified that she had been married for Ave years.
and had seen James Mackin in the spells spoken
1 pf tup hti haI IF hon 10
y barked like dog and acted very curiously. The
house was closed the day of the trouble. She
I back way, by the alley. He said he had shot at
an Italian She asked him why he had done It.
: He said he would not let an Italian come close
Being cross-examined she said she had seldom
3 seen the prisoner drunk and never knew of his
being under the influence Of liquor. He was at
times wild and howled like dog, and would con-
. tinue walking about wildly for twenty minutes
; or more and seemed vicious She did not hear
the shots. When he came in, at first he sat down
u calmly and then got up and walked about wildly
he went out front with his aunt, who followed
r The witness called to him, and wanted to per-
him lie Thf a MaSkn
ting IN posts. He was not regularly at work but
only worked when he pleased She did not see
VIM Jones' SD II: Legates, Justice charshee
, Franklin Person VIM. Griffin, Charles Peterson
nesses for the State were recalled by the defence
and said they did not see Mrs Albert at the depot
Thos. Mackn. cousin of the prisoner, testified
that there were four or Ave on the siding the
day of the occurrence.
. Henry Courtney also testified that there were
} cars on the siding near the depot on the 22d OF
May.
Court then took recess until 100 P. NJ. Upon
! reassembliDg
, James Mackin. the prisoner, was put on the
stand and testified that on the day the shooting
| occurred, after dinner he walked out in company
with his uncle: Frank Mccain. and two men from
Baltimore. They W. mt to Serricks' place He re-
manned on the porch while his uncle and the men
went inside Seven or eight Italians were there.
He was asked to go in and get segar. which he
did. Mrs. Serrcks refused to sell the Italians
any liquor. and remarked that she wished there
D was a man about the house; that Mr.. Serricks
advantage of it.. Mccain, Mackin and their
friends then left, but McCann told Mackin to go
, back and remain until he called for him. as their
work lay beyond Serricks' house The prisoner
said he returned to Serricks and tried to explain
to the men that Mrs. Serrcks did not sell whlskey
and wanted them to go out. He went outside and
came out. AS they passed him one of them said,
"ril remember YOU" Witness then went to the
to see his friends of. When he got there il was
minutes OF one O'clock He saw two men follow
ing him and crowd of Hungarans on the plat
form. One OF them called him an offensive name
and he paid no attention to it, As he turned to
go away one of the men walked to the edge of
the platform and came S,, towards him; saying
turni around saw the man coming towards him
in threatening manner. He drew his pistol and
After the second shot the pistol snapped, and as
he was fixing 1t his finger accidentally touched
the trigger and the pistol went off. The man
, wheeled around and walked away, while he went
home. lie told his stepmother he had shot at a
man. She asked him what he did that for Wit
ness replied:
to cut me with a knife. says. he came at me In
threatening manner, and done It. in self-de-
TSe prisoner said further that he apprehended
bodily harm Being asked why he carried the