The Abbeville messenger. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1884-1887, 1885-02-11

sound mind ut the time that he committed the
murder. Well now that is for you entirely.
Has he so satisfied you by the preponderancs
Of evidence that at at the time ne did that act
he was not of sound mind 2 II that state Of
mind was produced by intoxication existing
at the time-in other words IL his state Of
mind rendered him not responsible at that
time, that will not render him excusable. I
so diseased his mind and 1t is diseased after
the homicide tho law gives him the benefit,
but unsoundness of mind existing at the time,
and not after the homicide is no excuse. It is
and later life subject 10 epileptic fits. 1t is
for you to decide whether that be true. II
you reach that conclusion, you are then to
come to the next conclusion. Did those cpl
souudnsss Of mind. Physicisns have testi-
fcd that ~epilentic Ats may produce such
results the question is not whether
it may do it but did it do it in this case in your
minds. Does it satisfy you that it did. Tint
Il certain course of conduct may do . certain
thing does not amount to anything unless you
go on aud connect il with the fact that he did
do IL. That a certain disease may result SO
aud 40 is not the thing, you will have to go on
and sec if it did do it. You have no right to
also that when it is hereditary one may inner
it the disposition of insanity from his father
or mother or a remote relative. The inquiry
is were any of his ancestors Of unsound mind 2
ana Is Luut SattSt2CtuTN 10 your III . II
that is satisfactory then did they produce un-
soundness Of mind in his case? and unless
you can find proof that it did mt do So you
have no rightto conclude that it brought on
that result. Excessive drinking may produce
insanity, some say long drinking. Was it his
practice to indulge in excessive drinking and
did it produce insanity on him7 You have no
right to conclude that it did, unless you arc
led t." believe it by the preponderance Of evil
dcnce. have said now that you must not
6eride IL that If an and a. Vaa fhn rnsn h,,f
you take in all the facts Of the testimony,
which you can rely on and then determine was
he a person of unsound mind and then you
are to consider whether his family so believed
and treated as of unsound mind. You take
their testimony 40 far AZ they state facts but
40 far as they indulge in opinions you must
not take them. And in this connection I feel
bound. I feel that it is my duty to call your
attention to a matter which they have testified
to and that is that they knew. his father and
his brother knew that no was carrying a pis-
tol, and they do not prove that they ever took
any steps whatever to guard him from taking
it. That is what they testify to of which
you have a right to Judge in reviewing their
testimony upon both sides. You have heard
abont their uncle and aunt, you have heard
about the fa%inting fits. One of the f~ainting
fits as testified by the father, came on Mt Il
We'll the physicians have not testified that
attempting 10 lift anything brings on cpilcp-
tic fits. Another ~testities as to his having a
fit while in the field blowing. / don't know
and you do not know whether that has II ten
dency to bring on e~pilcptic fits. Well against
this testimony you have the testimony of his
ncighbors aud associates. They always
dealt with him as Of sound mind. They new
er regarded him AZ being of unsound mind.
One witness testified that he VAS behaving in
a curious manner while on tho road to a saw
mill, but he refuses to testify that he was
drinking, or not. Weigh all the testimony
carefully. Say to yourselves, is he of UNI,
sound mind 7 One that is regarded of un-
sound mind in the eye Of the law as laid down
by you Docs he satisfy you that you would
not like to live with him or to deal with
him as a person of unsuund mind If your
mind has not been led tn that conclusion then
the law will have To convict him it it has led
to that conclusion then you will have to say
not guilty If he has established no other
legal defense to it you arc bound to saw guilty.
Hand the record to the jury.
1t was half-past eight O'Clock when the
record was handed to the jury. and on
being called out at twelve O'Clock. and
reporting to his Honor that they were
unable to agree upon a verdict he sent
them buck, saying he would call for
their verdict the next morning. When
morning came and they reported they
were still unable to agree upon vor-
dict, the Judge ordered a mistrial to nc
entered, and thus for the present ends
the Fcrpuson casa