The Hazlehurst signal., 1885-10-08

j. NJ. Gates, A. ID. Gates, ii. II.
llogg, all business men Of Mississippi
had known Bridges since his birth;
had gone TO school with him. His
reputation forpeacc and quiet was first
class in Copiah county.
This closed the case, and the court
adjourned until this morning at lO:3O.
The clock Of the Criminal District
Court was striking in it, slow, meas
urcd way the tones Of II Us Judge lso-
man assembled the bench, andth Brid-
gcs case was opened by the accused
making his statement to the jury:
Ills STATEMENT
met Il stranger who took me tn lS
Basin street. There lmct girl who
obtained - from me; she said she
wanted to 20 to the corner to get Il
drink: we went: she left me there. !
went back to the house to find her:
there was seized by two men who
draggcdmc on, aud beat me and knock
cd me down. asked them to let me
20. but they would not. then shot
one Of them to save my self.
Assistant District Attorney llApri-
que. opened the argument for the pros
ccution- lie began by claiming vcr-
diet Of guilty on the grounds that n
murder had been committed and that
the evidence showed that. lie intcn-
dcd to do his duty faithfully lie was
SORRY that hc could not say let this man
20: but his duty had been markod out
irrespective Of newspapers, howllng
mobs, or any like tcrrorS. Let's 20
back to that evidence: let 20 to March
.6. nj Is Basin street. Then the at
torncy reviewed at length the tcStimo-
nv given by the women Of Basin street
He went over the evidence in detail.
TIE lltbN. y. J. h'i'sNAn'
of Mississippi, arose To close the arsu-
ncnt for the defense. lie said that nc
desired To make II statement relative 10
an assertion made by the assistant dis
trirt attorney. who had said that the
defense had used minionS to further
their purposes. lie denied the inph-
pli,a,ion lie had no minions here or
elsewhere: if il meant him or referred
To him it was untrue.
You have Il fearful responsibility
resting on you. rely on the law ana
the evidence. lie was not altogether
blanlclcss. We depend on justice I'M
der the law Of the land. the merit oi
the cause. the evidence during the
progrc.. of this ease while on trial.
To make guilty Of murder il Il Icc-
ccsSary To prove malice. II dcvolv''
upon the State tuprovc every charge.
The accused must be given the ben
ciit of every reasonable doubt. \
reasonable doubt L. almost dc!inablc.
IL after considering the matter YOU
reach a conclusion then misgiving>
come. Your thoughts 80 back, think
maybc there are mistakes; this consti-
tutcs "A reasonable doubt, and you
must acIuit.
The learned counsel then compared
and reviewed all the evidence of the
case. and placed all its contradictions
before the jury in the most concise and
explicit manner. lie referred to tic
character of the three women who tcS-
titled. an d compared il To that of ,ucl
men as Corporal Andy, Special Lii-
tlcton and Officer llarring. lie claim
eel that, in the light Of the testimony
elected. Bridges had right to shoot
to act, to rcpcl the danger that
threatened him. Ii was not ncccssar.
for his asSailants to have dangerous
weapons in their hands. Actions ar,
stronger than the utteranccs of the
tongue. The principles of sclf-dcfcnsc
are tablets of the heart. IL Is not ne
ccssary for the defendant to wait until
he is within the power of the other.
Life is sweet to him, and the law
allowed him to rcpcl his assGilant
his threatened evil: the acts, the
words. gestures, attitude, conduct,
position of Anderson and his compan-
ion gave Bridges the right to shoot in
sclf-defcnse.
lie has proven n good character: le
i u young man against whom there
has never been II spOt-nOt one blot, Z,
nothing to sully his good name. Men
do not act without a motive: men don t
bound from peaccablc citizens To the
role of nurlcrrs; there may DC cx-
ccptiOnablc cases Of rare occurrence, +,
but the point is, what's the rule! IL
will not do to take human life on the
words of brazcn women. You rnn' I
afford tO do il; courts can't afford to
ID IL.
Anderson was undoubtedly intimate
with the woman and witness, Gracia
Clark. lie was there us her friend.
lie was her pal. lie was there with
two compaions. The prisoner had no
friends, no companions; he was alone
He had used no profane language
The declaration Of the dying rogue
differed also In material points from
the testimony of the women. Where
did the third man, Wilson, come from!