The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1885-02-27

prisoners behalf, stating that he WI
y fully cognizant of the nature of the Grim
and the great responsibility IL laid upo
a the counsel. He referred TO the inabil
ty of the prisoner to defend himself, an
70 ANYTHING done in his favor must be don
for nothing whatever on the part of tn
q counsel. He stated, that after Thorough
review of all the circumstances connect
!. ed with the history Of the man and hi
crime, there was no doubt in the coun
sells mind as to the propriety Of ples
for mercy, and he would perform tina
" duty with q perfect consciousness thai
he was right. Mr.. Buck referred to the
|. growing sentiment among the American
people against hanging, unless where q
clear case of murder existed without one
mitigating circumstance. He knew that
, In this case their was murder in the first
degree, but the circumstances were 80
mitigating that he believed there was
ample reason for the use of the margin
given the court in such cases, and urged
upon the Judge to relieve the convicted
man from the death penalty. The coun-
sci referred to the recommendation of
the grand jury who indicted Alexander,
to the effect that he be not hung. Sever
al extracts were read from eminent
men on this subject, oil bearing upon
the relief Of the prisoner from death.
The story of his life was repeated by Mr..
Buck and used TO good advantage in the
plea. The counsel made q good and
able plea, much better than the average
attorney could have done with the limit,
ed material which existed in this case.
At the close Of Mr.. Bucks plea, Judge
Severance asked Alexander If he had
anything to say, and he rose to his feet
and spoke in low, hesitating manner,
referring TO his good conduct while en-
ployed in Mankato, and stated that his
feelings abhorred crime of the kind for
which he was convicted, but the wrong
he had endured, 80 unnamed him, that
all efforts to throw otfths burden, proved
Of no avail and an over PIONEERING impulse
drove him to the act. He would no
doubt have talked longer, but for emo
ton which necessitated his sitting
down, which he did, crying visibly. OIL
course he had reached the last moments
Of suspense, and the strain upon him
must have been great, as few minutes
more would decide his fate
An oppressive silence settled over the
room as the Judge reached for glass of
water, preparatory to speaking. With q
great deal Of gravity he began, and it
was easily seen that he realized the deli
cacy Of the task. He said that the time
had arrived for the court to discharge
its responsibility and that he would
be glad to share that responsibility with
others, but this could not be and he felt
ksenly the duty snjoined upon him. He
would endeavor to discharge it without
mistake, but if he should err, he wanted
the error to be on the side of mercy.
The law of the State recognizes the death
penalty in punishment for such crimes,
and it was his determination to be loyal
to the State, or leave bis position. He
referred to the section of the statutes
making death penalty, and called at
tention to the language leaving the court
to consider extenuating circumstances
in coming to conclusion. He considered
it was as much his duty to examine into
the case, to discover If such circum-
stances exist, as it is to pronounce
sentence. He knew that murder in the
first degree had been proven. The ques-
ton was not whether or not the crime
was committed, but did circumstances
exist to justify moderation of the PEN
atty. 1t was claimed that such was the
case, and If there were, and the court
was convinced of that fact, he would not
be justified in imposing the death penal
ty. If the disappointment which the
prisoner met submerged his reason to
that extent that his viii power was in
effective, that would be sufficient reason
for the courts using the discretionary
part of the law In the prisoners behalf.
The court said that he had no desire to
shrink from the responsibility, nor did
he desire to shed blood. Here the Judge
went over the facts in the case, stating |
what did and what did not constitute O
circumstance in this case. He
said that Thornton's conduct was no ex. ;
cuse for the act. nor was the unfaithful-
ness of the girl, but the question was, &
did the fact that he was disappointed
and supplantsd drown the prisoners rsa.
son to that extent that it lifted him out ,
Of moral responsibility. If this were
30, then the crime should not be pun
shed by hanging. The evidence pro. :
1uced in this case seemed to fix this fact,
and under his mental agitation he could !
not throw off the impulse to do harm.
There are cases when men are under
power of their passions and are 10 I'M
PEELED by them that they do rash things.
The prisoner was 30 constituted, and
as to make him worse than !
other men. The court then reviewed in
/ brief way the unfortunate circum-
stances of his birth and consequent
1t was impossible for him to |
possess that moral sense incident to per.
sons brought up under the ameliorating
Influences of Christian homes and .civil-1
zed communities. He was aware that
different minds differ in judgment, and :
hat under the force of temporary ex- c
element and superficial views, whore
40 responsibility rested upon the indi- {
Gidual, it was easy to say that such and q
,uch things should be done and would '
be, had they the power Of doing it, but y
lnder full knowledge of the case, and
he weight of terrible responsibility, I;
he discretion of the mind assumed al i
together different ASPECT, IL Is not q
Easy to deprive q human being of his G
life, unless in the most extreme cases, Z
hen indeed it Is hard. The penalty to
De imposed, would forever blot out his Y
life, and under full sense Of duty en-
ightened by all the attendant circum-
stances he could not impose the death =
penalty.
Henry Alexander, stand up;' was the !,
of the court, and the doomed
nan arose to his feet with his face part =
y turned from the audience, gazing out =
IF the window, knowing that at the next !
moment the accumulated suspense of
months would fall with q crash, either \
or better or worse, he knew not which. =
The sentence was read to him, which in !.
substance was that he was committed to !
he State penitentiary of Minnesota at I
hard labor for the rest of his natural l
life.
The sentenced man than sat down and
,ried bitterly for Q few. moments, when '