Semi-weekly south Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1883-1889, 1885-01-27
A LAWYERS STORY

never! NEVER"
The speaker was distinguished Grim.
inal lawyer Of nearly forty years active
practice, and whose fame extended far
beyond the limits Of his own State.
: We had besn discussing recent
cause ceIebre in which, upon purely cir.
cumstantial evidence, q man had been
convicted OF an atrocious murder, al.
though many of those most familiar
with the circumstances of the case en-
tortained the gravest doubts about the
justice of his conviction, and had been
swung off into eternity, protesting his
absolute innocence with his latest breath
and calling upon God to send his soul
straightway to hell if he was not telling
the truth.
AS most OF our party we're lawyers the
conversation, naturally enough, drifted
into discussion OF the dangers arising
from convicting accused persons whose
own mouths were closed, upon purely
circumstantial evidence, in the absence
of any direct and positive proof of guilt,
and case after case was cited in which,
after conviction and execution, the en-
tire innocence of the supposed culprits
lad been clearly demonstrated. Most
Of tho laymen present agreed with the
distinguished lawyer whose very posi-
tive expression Of opinion has been
quoted. while the majority of the lawyers
commended, with that earnestness for
whichhwyers are noted henadvocating
thor own side of any question, that
justice could never miscarry when care.
ful judges guard against the possibility
of unsafe verdicts by refusing to permit
II conviction except when every link in
the chain Of circumstantial evidence has
been established beyond doubt, and the
whole chain has been made so perfect
and completeas to leave no room for any
consistent hypothesis Of innocence.
"The first murder case ever tried"
said one of them. twas stranger than
fiction, as you Will admit, and is quite as
remarkable as any Of the cases you re-
ferred TO where innocent men have been
wrongfully convicted upon circusmstan.
tial evidence. 1t ought to have been re.
ported as ON example Of the unreliability
Of the direct and positive testimony q
eye-witnesses who tell what they believe
TO be the truth.
He then related the main points Of
what was certainly most remarkable
and dramatic trial, and which constitutes
a fair offset to some Of the memorable
cases to be found in every work ON cir.
cumstantial evidence. The narrative
produced so strong en- impression upon
my own mind that subsequently, with his
consent. put it into the following
shape, having first carefully compared
1t with his notes OF testimony taken upon
the trial OF the case. 1t can be relied
upon as absolutely correct, with the ex'
cepnon that have used fictitious names.
Tor reasons which will readily be appre.
ciated when it is known that most of the
actors in the drama are still living:
One winter evening about 8 o'clock, in
!he early days OF the war, In the quiet
little town OF -, while patrolling tlis
streets to pick up stragglers from til,
camp on the outskirts OF the town, Cor
pofai Juiius Fry was shot and killed by
one Of three men Of bad character, who
we're In company and upon terms Of open
enmity with the soldiers. The mon wore
arrested, committed to prison, ant
brought to trial at the next term OF thu
Court. Two of them were gamblers ant
desperadoes, and supposed to have NOR
than once had their hands stained witt
human blood. The third, whom l shal
call Short, though bearing an unenviabl
reputation, was regarded as unlikely :.
STAY fellow man, except under compul
sion OF circumstances. On account o
the character OF the men and the trouble
they had already brought upon quiet
law abiding citizens, the sentiment OF tn
whole community was against them.
In order to clearly understand tn
force OF the testimony given upon tn
trial, and the subsequent result, 1t Is i'm
portant to bear in mind the physical pc
culiarites, dress, and general appear
ance OF each Of the three prisoners.
Short was small man, OF not NOR
than five feet six incies in height, slen
der, weighing scarcely l3e pounds, witl
bright, fery-red hair and side-whiskers
and at the time OF the murder, wore
white felt hat and an old hght-blue arm.
oyercoat
Ryan was fully six feet In height, 0
robust frame, with black hair ant
moustache, dressed In dark clothes ant
wore black Derby hat,
Grey was o heavy, broad-shouldere'
man OF medium height, weighing full,
zoo pounds, with a full, black bear
reaching nearly to his waist. But as tn
evidence subsequently, showed that Ii
had not fired the shot it is unnecessar
to describe his appearance more mi
nutely.
81. Certainly 1t is difficult 10 imagine tw
men more unlike than Short and Rya
or less liable TO be mistaken for eac
other even by strangers, much less b
their acquaintance. There was no POI
sibility here for q case OF mistaken idei
tity.
Short and Ryan were tried togetht
with their consent-Grey having aske
for and obtained separate trial-an
each was defended by separate counse
Is, After the preliminary proof relating
the postmortem examination, the caus
Of death and the Identification OF I'll
body Of the deceased as the perso
named in the indictment, the Common
). wealth called as its first witness w
9, man, Mary Bowen. She bore ba
reputation for chastity, but nobody que
{ TONED her integrity or her purpose
tell, reluctantly, 1t Is true, the who
truth. The prisoners were all h
friends and we're constant visitors to Il