Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1885-06-05

| raw OF counseii We ni'Sn' sSN
II we are hired prosecutors defending
the rights Of the Commonwealth, and
asking only that murder be punished,
If they stand in any better light than
hired defenders Of the murderer of a
woman whom their client had betrayed.
But nv friend needs no such assistance
as that from me.
HOW COLONEL AYLETT STANDS.
/ do not propose in the management
of this case to enter into denunclations,
but | ask you to allow me stop one
moment and explain to you his situation
in this case.
When my friend, Mr.. Witt, found out
that this case would arise and when the
news went to King William county
the county that the deceased came
from--the people of King William felt
the same deep interest in it that was
felt by the citizens of Richmond, and
they called upon my associate to repre-
sent the county Of King William in this
prosecution. g,
II is true that he has been promised
a petty sum, barely sufficient to pay his
daily expenses, and he is here at a
loss of the comforts of bis home, and
pecuniarily, to do nothing but his
duty.
To that extent he is a hired prose-
cut0r.
COLONEL AYLETT's CALL TO DUTY.
But over and above that, he IS here
at the call OF the people of the county
who have so often loved to honor him,
and whose wishes he loves to respect.
He is here in the interests of the Com
monwealth, and the Commonwealth
| to-day knows how ably, and how ear
nestly. and how faithfully her interests
have been represented by him; so
earnestly and so faithfully and so ably,
that all the insinuations and discour-
teous remarks Of opposing counsel
could not affect in one title his reputa-
ton. Gentlemen, we all know that
from every house and from every ham,
let within the borders Of this Com
monwealth into whose doors his elo.
quent argument has passed arose the
highest need Of praise that could be
given to man, and with one acclaim,
"WeH done, thou good and .fa'thJat
Serrdnt."
THE TWO LINES OF DEFENCE.
With that simple explanation in this
cause. | shall ask you to pass with me
over the facts in the cause. Before |
ask YOU to do so | shall be obliged to
call your attention to the instructions
as given by the Court.
| earnestly and sincerely attempted
last night to do what | asked the Court
to adjourn to let me dc--to try to sys-
tomatize the lines of defence that have
been offered in this cause. And be-
leye earnestly that do not do injus-
tice to the other side when | ask you
whether there have not been but two
lines of defence: One was to frighten
the timid and the other to catch the
unwary.
Has one word showing his innocence
been offered?
Has one explanation of conduct been
given?
Has one alluson been offered to you
based upon the evidence in this case to
show YOU that the verdict of "not
guilty" would be right in the eyes Of
God? Or has the attempt been made
either to catch you by undertaking
to make you believe that the people
of this Commonwealth are so preju-
diced that you must stand up and do
the opposite of what they ask! Or, by
the citation OF authorities-if authority
it can be called--of cases Of circum-
stantial evidence for the purpose Of
frightening you from doing in this case
what the law requires you shall do.
CIRCUMsTANTIAL EVIDENCE.
If circumstantial evidence was not
proper evidence upon which You could
base verdict, you should not have
been sworn to try this cause. Bat as
it is recognized by the laws of your
State as proper evidence upon which a
verdict Of guilty can be based, can
there be any doubt, you having sworn
upon the Holy Book that you
would according to the law and
the evidence render your verdict :
that by all the tales that can be brought
up from all the books Of fiction, or OF
law, that you shall not be frightened
from doing in this case what you have
sworn to do.
MEN UNJUSTLY HUNG.
Gentlemen, / might undertake to cite
TO you case after case where men have
been unjustly hung, not upon circum-
stantial evidence, but upon direct eyi-
dence. might undertake to cite to
you case after case where men and
women have sworn directly to the OBJ
servation of the crime and it has
turned out afterwards that the parties
were not guilty. And yet, is crime to
60 unpunished? Is it because men err
that men shall not do justice and do the
best they can according to their judg-
ment and their consciences? And yet
that is the plea. Let me read to you
what has been regarded as the best de-
cision that has ever been delivered upon
the question of circumstantial evidence ;
it has been recognized for now nearly
forty years. read from the opinion
of Chief-Justice Gibson, Of Pennsyl-
yania, one of the ablest judges that ever
sat on any bench, American or Eng
lish:
"No witness has been produced who
saw the act committed; and hence it
is urged for the prisoner that the evil
dence is only circumstantial, and con-
sequently entitled to a very inferior
degree of credit, if to any credit at all.
But that consequence does not neces-
sarily follow. Circumstantial evidence
is, in the abstract, nearly, though per-
haps not altogether, as strong as positive
evidence; in the concrete it nav
be infinitely stronger. A fact
positively sworn to by a single
eyewitness of blemished character is
not so satisfactorily true as is fact
which is the necessary consequence oi
a chain Of other facts sworn to by