The San Antonio light. (San Antonio, Tex.) 1883-1886, 1885-04-24
A Trial for Perjury.


est. The accused was nm accomplished
young girl. no for some years had been
governoss In wealthy family, and
whose conduct Ind been above re-
proach.
She had been called rs witness in an
ordinary civil suit, and had answered In
the negative the usual question as to
! whether she had ever been punished for
any criminal oilense. by accident 1t
was afterwards discovered that, some
years previously, she had been sem
fenced to prison for thirty days for
theft, and consequently the charge Of
perjury was brought against her. Less
on account of the false oath than of the
theft committed by beautiful and
highly cultured young lady, the court
room. on the day of the trial. was filled
to rcplction. I was unavoidably him
dered from being present until the pro-
ceedlngs were nearly ended.
The counsel for the prisoner Ind risen
to speak for his client. lie was u digni-
fled old gentleman. and was usually
| somewhat still. cold and measured In
]
voice trembled. and 1t was evident that
he was deeply moved.
"Gcnilcncn Of the jury" he began. II
| have stood here many times To defend
accused persons, hut never before with
so heavy heart rs to-day. while
| | have never been more fully con
WINGED Of the innocence Of my client,
| have. ON the other hand, never been
more fully conscious Of the difficulty. of
] lao. I.uL Of obi
u favorable verdict.
"Thc accused Is an orphan. BY the
| death Of her parents before she had
| scarcely reached womanhOOd she was
| early compelled to seek her bread among
strangers. 4 liberal education enabled
her to obtain n situation ms goyerness.
For two years she was in the same house
always industrious, simple In her man
| ners, aud modest in her demennor-
| without there having been the shadow
| of doubt MS to her honesty, when all ~
once she was accused of theft, and ar
rested. She has assured me that she
| was uniustly convicted. | have prnc-
! tiCed my profession Tor fifty years. Long
| experience has made me inscnsible to
| tears and plausible stories. Here. gen
| llemen. there were no tears. Her words
were simple, but TO mel convincing.
| The accused was moi guilty of the theft,
/ anu consequently sue tOulus WIN Cl'HI
| conscience. answer the question with re-
| gard to having been punished for any
crime, MS she did. In the negative; for
| she had not been punished, but had been
| the victim OF great Injustice.
81 am. of course, not unmindiul OF the
| fact that my opinion can hardly he taken
| into account. The defense Is compelled
/ to admit that, ifjudged solely by the evil
| denCe, the charge has been substuntiated;
| but beg, gentlemen, that you will for
II moment imagine yourselves in the
| place of the accused. Again she had
found a situation; nothing was known Of
her having ever been imprisoned; for
some years she had discharged the du
| ties of her position to the entire satisfnC-
| tion of her employers; she had won the
love and esteem of Il large and culture,
| circle. Now ! ask you, gentlemen.
could she, even had 1t been true, make II
confession that would have sent her ont
friendless into the cold wOrldY Would
| il not have required more than human
strength to make such confession? Can
| you not understand, gentlemen, that
what she suffered when she was asked,
Have you ever been punished for any
| criminal oilenseY was sufficient to rob
| her. for the moment at least, of reasOny
"The unusualness of the case will ex-
cuse me- trust, for calling your atten-
| tion to the severe punishment that must
| follow your verdict of Guilty Shall Il
| young girl who on single OCCASION
| and, gentlemen, in this instance, even
! that Is not the case here-has committed
n fault, for which she has fully atoned by
| long years of irreproachuble conduct, be
| brought together for time, long or
short, with the dregs of society Never,
| gentlemen-never rill now her soul
| has been pure and unsullied. Were she
| to serve Il term in the penitentiary, what
would she be theng Who will assume
the responsibility of sending her there?
81 can say no more, gentlemen.
leave the case in your hands, and trust
and pray that you Will give me verdict
of Not guilty."
The old iurist's plea was listened to
with breaihless silence. 1t was short,
but on that account all the more effect
| i've. No one seemed to be unmOved,
| and many of the women present wept.
| | glanced towards the accused she
raised her eyes with n look of gratitude,
and reached out her hand to her aged
counsel. Where had | seen this pale
but beautiful face. this wealth of dark
brown hair, and these large, honest
eyes? II seemed to me rs though these
very lips, at some time, had told me n
story of bitter suffering; but when and
whereY tried to awaken recollection.
but my efforts were fruitless.
The judge began the usual charge
to the jury. While 1t WAS evident
that he felt deeply for the prisoner,
he called the attention of the Jury
to the facts of the case, which
had been clearly proved. and which
alone, said he, should govern them in
finding their verdict. In speaking Il
the life of the accused. he said
For three years after the oilense of
which she was convicted her conduct
has been thoroughly exemplary, for the
theft was committed on the 9TH of April,
| 1871"
At these words n flood of recolleclions
came upon me, and with them came the
| joyous certainty that the young girl
would soon be free-iree through me;
! that 1t was In my power TO save her
from moral death Near me sat the r.
porter of one of the local papers; before
him lay brief account of the young
| girls previous life, and of the principal
facts concerning the supposed theft.
asked to he allowed to look ut the paper
for moment and ran over the state
ment with feverish haste, for the Judge
had ended his charge, and the jury was
about to retire.
had found what / sought, and arose
from my seat. One of the associate
Judges saw me, and called the presiding
judges attention TO me.
"What do you wish ?n he asked.
II beg to he heard as witness in this
case, your Honor. | have statement
to make which will perhaps be deemed