Lewiston teller. [volume] (Lewiston, North Idaho) 1878-1900, 1885-12-24
THE TRIAL OF HIBBS.

dictrents against Hibbs, and there were
twenty nine other charges which were
considered by the court in British Co
lumbia in connection with the extradi
ton. These all pertained to forgery and
uttering forged orders. This making of
these orders was all done in Lewiston,
but as ths forgery was not complete till
they had been uttered, the venue Of the
crime was claimed to be where the orders
we're received in letters, as they could
not utter till some one had received these
orders aud had read them. Some of
them were received in Ill.,. some in Kan.
asus, some in Wyoming and some in Mon
tana and 10 the numerous places where
he had addressed them. Hence for the
crime Of utteriug them the venue would
have to be laid in the State or Territory
where they were received. Of these
eight indictments brought forward, four
only Of them were brought forward by
the y. s. Attorney for consideration by
the trial jury, aud these, were for the
purpose Of the trial consolidated into one
and requiring separate verdict on each.
A motion to the jurisdiction of the court
to try them had already been made by
counsel for the defense, and ably argued
but was overuled by the court The in
dictments were then demurred to and ar
-gued and one Of them quashed leaving
three upon which the consideration OF
the trial jury was demanded. One Of
those the court instructed the jury to
bring 10 "Not guilty as the venue was
improperly laid. After the Lsariug Of
the evidence the jury found verdict OF
"Not guilty" in third on account Of a
fatal variance between the allegation in
the indictment and the proofs produced,
and upon the fourth which was the
main indictncnt in the trial upon which
the government depended, the jury could
not agree, there being six for ocs..c.ion
and six for acqui,tsl. Alter several ef-
: forts to agree the court discharged them,
and the U. S. District Attorney after the
long trial and the consideration Of the
case, not only BY counsel, court and jury
and the public, deemed it not possible to
get another jury at this term, the further
consideration Of the case was past over
the term and the U. S. jurors in court
were discharged from further survice.
The prisoner was remandcd to the Gus
tody Of the U. S. Marshal, who, for safe
keeping, took him to Boise City, the
prisoner not being able to give bail in the
sum of $4,000 for his appearance TO be
tried on the remaining indictments at the
next term of the district court. The
prisoner had as able counsel as defen-
dent charged With crime could reasonably
ask for, and that counsel worked hard
for his defense. But the prosecution had
the decided advantage in the fact, and
the law Of the case as shown by the wit.
nesses and the instructions Of the court,
aud tho U. s. Attorney aud his assistant,
presented these facts clearly and forcibly,
and it seemed to be . surprise to those
who heard the evidence and the instruct
ions Of the court that the jury could not
agree upon verdict Of "guilty." But
according to the fourth proverb, not
found in the book Of Solomon, "the way
Of petty jury is past finding out" So
much discussion Of questions Of law in the
case on the motions and demurrers 10 the
presence Of witnesses and jurors before
the jury was empannelled that they mus,
have become confused and muddled, and
in doubt, and they gave the prisoner the
benefit Of the doubt This had been
predicted BY many when it was asserted
that be could not be tried except for
forgery, that crime for which he had
been cxtradited. But uuder the defini
ton Of forgery which had been given by
the court many underwent a change Of
opinion and thought the proofs showed
that that crime had been proven and .
conviction was expected. But not SO
thought all Of tho jury, and they had to
be discharged. It is not known that any
illegal means were used to bring this re-
suit. 1t had been evident that several
parties 10 and about the court we're car.
nest and jealous fer his acquittal, but
that they used any undue influence upon
the jury no one has been willing or pre-
pared with proof to ray and hence it has
to be concluded that the jury decided up
on their honest convictions Of the law
and the evidence as they understood the
case, and We would be among the last
mea to impugn the motions Of jury Of
the district cmpannelled and sworn to try
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