The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1885-11-09
The Rlaney Case.
The following is the full text of Judge Vir-
gins letter in the Blaney case

The following is the full text of Judge Vir-
gins letter in the Blaney case:
AUBURN, Sept 21. 1885.
To the Hon. Frederick Robte, Governor OF
Mdine:
/ have the honor to acknowledge the re-
ceipt of your communication, wherein am
requested to "give to the Executive Council
such judicial information and advice as may
seem to me proper" in relation to the petit
ton of Oscar e. Blaney praying for com
mutation of his death sentence to imprison-
ment for life.
When the hearing took place before the
Governor and Council, l was absent from
home and did not then see the c0mmun1ca-
tion of Attorney General Cleaves; but since
the receipt, OF yours | have carefully read
more to comply with your request than to
express my full concurrence in his exhaus-
tive state of the facts and OF the,law..
That Blaney's testimony was full and true
in all its material parts, no intelligent per-
son, think, who saw and heard him testify
will question. The able and experienced
counsel of his accomplice did not attempt to
challenge it by any motion to set aside the
verdict, which rested so largely upon 1t. He
testified unqualifidly that his own hand per-
petrated the killing in all its cruel details,
without even suggestion that his accom-
plice took any immediate part therein, save
by her presence aiding and abetting him. Ii
he had desired to suppress the truth ana naa
he could have readily made her the active
principal, at least in discharging that last
shot which, in the language of the testimony,
finished Barrows. But his appearance up
on the stand, his evident frankness, the sim.
plicity of his testimony, satisfied me, as it
obviously did the jury, that he kept back
none of his own connection with the crime.
and having, after the fullest caution by me,
thus voluntarily testified as (what he claimed
for the relief to his own feelings) privilege
rhoIa tr11fh without OTOmlSa Sl0-
gestion of mercy, Ilthink he thereby became
las some courts have expressed 1t) equltaDly
entitled to a recommendation for some
mercy.
somewhat similar circumstances, the public
prosecutor has considered it his duty to with
hold such witnesses case from the grand
jury, or, if an Indictment has been found,
to stop further prQceedngs, against IN nm ait
facts in the trial of his accomplice, by, enter
ing a mol pros' But by such practice the wit
ness ''goes iunwhipped of justice" and re-
tires with the reflection, perhaps, that he
sold his treachery for good premium, and
similar risk should revenge, or some ad-
venture apparently promising better pay
ing inducement present itself And in Bla-
ney's case the Attorney General had the
power, at least with the consent OF the court,
to adopt the like course. But presume the
leading reason why he did not was, because
he knew Blaney's was the hand that did
all the shooting, directed by. a weak MIND to
be sure, but not weak enough to excuse his
criminal acts; and to free him from all pun
ishment would not be so salutary as to in
dict, convict and sentence him, and then
turn him and his case over to the Supreme
Executive of the State, in whom the Consti.
tuition exclusively vests the prerogative of
clemency to criminals to the end, not that he
shall necessarily receive full pardon, but,
as is sought in this case, that the sentence of
death be commuted to the next dread altern-
ative of Imprisonment for life, which, until
the enactment.of the recent statute, was the
extreme penalty for his crime.
Such result would not seem to hold out
much inducementt to criminals debased enough
to commit murder, which communication may
tend to-" prevent any extensive agreement
among atrocious criminals, make them per-
petua1ly suspicious of each other and prevent
the hopelessness of mercy from rendering
them desperate"
In cases of this magnitude, consider this
the better policy. | am, Sir,
Your Obed't Serv't.,
WIN. Writ VIRGIN.