Salt Lake evening Democrat. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1885-1887, 1885-06-08
SIMPSONS APPEAL.
A Pen.ned POIygamiSt Catching at q
Straw.
The Defense Ayers That a First Mar
rige Was Not Proved.
But Dickson Asserts That COnSenSual
Marriage is Valid One.

The case of the United states, responu-
emit. VS.. Thomas Simpson, appellant,
came I'D this morning in the Supreme
Court of Utah, before Judges Zane, Bore
man and Powers. 1t will be remembered
that the appellant, Simpson, was In
dicted for the crime OF polygamy in the
Third District Court of Utah, July 18th,
1884. He was tried and convicted
March 18th, 1885. On the 14th day OF
last March he made a motion for new
trial, which was overruled by the court,
and the appellant was thereupon SEN
fenced to term OF imprisonment in the
Utah Penitentiary. He now appeals to
the Supreme Court from the order over
ruling motion for new trial, and from
the entire Judgment of the Third District
Court.
Mr.. c.. O. Whittemore stated the prin-
cipal question involved to be, what evil
dence is necessary to be shown by the
prosecution to prove valid first marriage
in cases of polygamy. In dwelling
upon
THE ASSIGNED ERRORS
! Mr.. Whittemore stated that the Court
erred in giving the following instructions
to the jury, at the request OF the prosecu-
ton, which are claimed to be erroneous
in conveying the idea that no strictness
is required to establish marriage IN
cases of this kind.
THE CLAIMED ERRONEOUS INSTRUCTIONS.
You are further instructed that it is not
! necessary in order to establish marriage
! between the defendant and the woman Han
nah Powell, that marriage certIncate, or
any other record evidence of such marriage,
should be procured; neither is it necessary
TO produce any witness who was present at
such marriage You may infer the marriage
from the deliberate declarations or admis-
| sions of the defendant, that this IUonldn tCdS
has aUife, if you believe, from all the evil
dence in the case, that such declarations
and admissions were in fact made by him.
In the defendants arguments many
cases were cited from other courts to
show that simple admissions, without
evidence and proof, were not sufficient to
convict.
MR.. DECISIONS ARGUMENT.
United States Prosecuting Attorney
Dickson maintained that the only vital
question involved in this appeal is
whether or not the alleged first marriage
of defendant could be established by his
deliberate admissions and confessions.
In considering the question we must not
/ lose sight of the fact that such marriage
was claimed to have taken place in Eng
! land that there was no evidence whatso-
ever of what was necessary to constitute
valid marriage in England; and that by
the law of Utah there is no statute regu-
lating marriages or prescribing any form
of ceremony as essential to the validity
thereof 1t is left as it was at common
law, and a consensual marriage, simply,
is in all respects valid. In the absence
of evidence to the contrary, the pre-
sumption of the law is that
THE LAW OF ENGLAND
Respecting the requisites of valid mar
riage is the same as the common law Of
the forum. In the absence of evidence
upon the matter, the presumption is that
a marriage in England could have taken
place without witnesses or ceremony, and
without record. They could have met
on the highway at any time of the day or
night and could have made contract of
marriage, which deliberate admissions
would be sufficient to prove.
With no provisions in Utah for such
breaches of the law, the resulting conse-
quences are evident.
THERE is NO RECORD, THERE is NO
WITNESS.
Ii the confession should be held incom-
petent or insufficient, as matter of law,
then the people of Utah, where con-
sensual marriages are recognized,
may transgress the law prohibiting po-
lygamy with impunitv The only pre-
caution they need to observe is to enter
into the first or lawful marriage secretly,
without witnesses, and they may
LAUGH THE LAW TO sCoRN,
And boast daily of its transgression.
The case was submitted and taken
under advisement.