Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1886-03-27

page 622 OF the first volume, that writer
said Another important consideration is
that the want of capacity must relate to the
act for which the prisoner is upon trial; if
he had capacity TO understand the nature
of that act, and to refrain from doing If
because unlawful, he may be charged"
That seems to be the latest doctrine on
this question, that the defendant not only
must understand that his act is unlawful.
hat he must have the mental power. the
will power, the self-control over his mind.
to prevent and restrain himself from doing
the act, and as is stated in the Hurtado
case, the provocatiOn must be at least sufli-
cient to stir the resentment in the breast Of
a reasonable man.
CHARACTER AND STANDING OF TUE DEFEND.
ANT HARLAN.
Now, we have before us here in this case
man 6i years OF age, man who has
been resident of Iolo county fer some
thing over thirty years man who has
reared in that county 4 large family of
daughters and who has young sons grow
ing up around him, a man who has lead u
frugal an honest, honorable and industri-
Gus life. a man who is almost ready to close
his career in this world-br9ught before
your Honor upon an application for bail
In considering this application. your Honor
has Il RIGHT TO consider his age bis posi-
ton in society bis circumstances, HIS fam
lily ties, his property and his weaitd. in
order to see whether or not this is one of
the cases involving those special circum-
stances which make it absolutely certain
that this defendant will appear for trial
when his case is called. A fact in this
case. and one that cannot be disputed is
that when this defendant committed the
act charged, he sought the Sheriff ont, sur
rendered himself, and upon the first op-
portunity asked that he might have 4 trial
by jury of his country No act upon the
part of this defendant and no part of his
conduct has been that OF man trying 10
evade the law and public trial, but,
on the contrary, every act and every
expression by him has indicated a desire
for a speedy public trial. He had raised
this daughter from a babe upon It's mothers
breast until she had grown to womanhood
the pride and JOY Of his declining years,
woman that was welcomed in every
household, from the humblest cabin to the
highest mansion, a woman respected by
every man, woman and child in Yolo
county. On the Thursday evening before
this homicide, her hu band and herself
came to her fathers house, and there the
base ISLANDERS which the deceased had cir
culated concerning her were detailed to
her father. There il his own house she
said to him: This man has charged me
with the most Infamous crime that wo-
man can be guilty of; this man has charged
me not only with being prostitute, but he
has charged me with being the murderer of
my own offspring, ofall of which God knows
am innocent He came here to this town
and sought out my husband He has tried
TO estrange him from me by charging me
with a crime unnatural, inhuman, and Cf
which no woman wants 10 be charged
much less to be guilty of. Not only thar,
he has said that he will kill somebody,
that someone must die" The facts of this
case, your Honor, show that the deceased
went % miles from the city of Sacramento
where he lived, and that in the public
depotin this city he talked to 4 man from
Woodland and
TOLD HIN THIS HORRIBLE AND DIABoLICAL
STORY.
He told this man that this woman had not
only given herself up and yielded to his
opportunities, but that she had had COM
United upon her an abortion and further
than that, that he had stood over her and
assisted i'll the preparation of this crime,
admitting himself to be felon. He goes
out to Woodland, seeks out the husband
and what does he tell him? Now this
amounts to more than SANDER; it amounts
to more than abuse of the woman; it
amounts to more than the Idle, fiippant
statements OF a mamie goes out there on
that day and tells her husband that he
wants to see her; that he intends to see
her. He gives them until Sunday night,
the 9TH day of February-the day on
which this homicide was committed-not
only to admit the truth of the charges but
he says that he viii demand at the point
of a revolver that this woman sign All
acknowledgment Of her own infamy; sign
an admission that she Is a felon under the
laws of this State, under her own seal and
handwriting, and surrender ii to ne who
had sought her out and attempted to de-
stroy her home and her happiness. This
girl goes to her father and SAYS to him that
these are the facts. She tells him that her
life has been threatened that her hus-
bands life has been threatened; that she
has been charged with everything that is
unnatural and degrading in a woman, and
that she has not only been so charged, but
that by the setting of the sun on the fol-
lowing Sunday she would have either to
sign this document admitting the truth of
the charges or take the consequences. This
is
THE STORY WHICH COMES To A FATHER RIPE
IN YEARS
And proud of his family: proud of q
daughter that any man may well be proud
Ola child as innocent and pure as the
crystal dews of heaven. What does he do?
He goes to town on Sunday morning and
visits the Sheriff's office, ascertains the
derogatory character of the remarks that
had been made; ascertains the conduct of
this deceased, and ascertains that lie is in
Woodland on the very day and at the very
hour that he said he would he there. The
defendant goes down in front of the Bank
of Woodland, where his office is located,
and where it has been located for the last
ten or fifteen years. He stands around
there transacting his ordinary business
There is no overt act-nothing on his part
to indicate that he is seeking the deceased
nothing to indicate that he wants to meet
with him nothing iii the world to show
that he is seeking out some human being
for the purpose of taking his life After
remaining around there for awhile he
walks down TO public hotel, goes into
the front door, casually giances over the
crowd. but does not see any one there to
attract his attention. Al! at once he throws
his eye TO the left and sees the man who had
destroyed his home, who had ruined the
fair name Of his daughter who had threat
ened TO take her life on that very day, un-
less she agreed 10 his infamous and dam
nable demands, Their eyes meet. and the
next thing seen of the transaction is the
ueIenudnt Iaflan tOliOWlng up the de-
ceased, who had jumped from the boot
black stand and drawn his revolver Both
were fighting. No witness has testified,
and it is not in the pages of this testimony
as TO what the conduct of Craft was before
Harlan fired the first shot. Their eyes
met there. Harlan knew that the deceased
was yindictive against his family Harlan
knew that he was bent upon mischief, and
even on death, because he had said SO. The
first evidence relative to the deceased's ac-
ton disclosed by this record is that he had
jumped off of the bootblack stand and
thrown his hand behind him and endeav-
ored to draw his revolver. Now al that
evidence shows, if it shows anything, and
all that you can draw from il is that it was
al aflray in which
BOTH MEN WERE EQUALLY ARMED,
An affray in which both men had equal
opportunities, and in which both were
fighting with deadly weapons. What is
the conduct of the deceased on that day
and prior to the afiray? We find him in
the back part of the Lindner buildin with
Frank b. Nelson we find him watching
every movement of the defendant, Harlan
We find him going stealthily through the
back alleys, and going in through the back
doors of hotels we find him locating him
self in favorable positions when no word
had been spoken by Harlan, and when no