Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1886-02-18

Q His wife was there but her story cou
Q not be presented to you, through I
!. operation of the law ON our statute bool
v It was providential that this colOred b
5 should be there. The law depriving /
: wife of the right to testify in case whe
{ her husband is concerned would have Il
8 the prisoner at the mercy of his eneini'
Q "0h," declared the speaker, 'Iny ey
D shall not close, nor will give sleep
3 my eyelids, until before the next la
' making tribunal of this State meets al
/ adjourns, if il is within the bOnnds
J influence or argument, will exhau
every effort TO have the law abrogatt
from the records of Delaware jurispr1
dence, and let Delaware take her pla,
by the side of her sister states !"
This declaration was greeted with
salyo of applause, which was prompt
suppressed by the crier and the gavel {
the court.
Turning his attention to the questio
of the impassability of the road, Nj
Gray claimed that they had shown thu
it was not serious or dangerous obstrut
ton, nor in any way insurmountabl
without danger. He closed with an elc
l hohlAlk AOt u ftAhAOb v
acquittal, and the court adjourned unit
z o'clock in the evening.
EVENING sEssIoN-ADDREss OF MIR. BIRD.
There was an air of suppressed but in
tense excitement in the courtroom Mt til,
evening session. A number of pcrson
remained in their seats during the recess
SO as to be sure of good positions. aud the
major portion of the seats within the hni
were filed by $50 o'clock. When th,
doors were opened, at O'Clock, the
crowd surged in, the police again aiding
their ingress by judiciously distributing
the people to the right and left, and in a
few minutes the auditorium was filled.
The space within the bar and at ench side
of the bench was also crowded, and a
number Of ladies were accommodated
with s,nis upon tho bench.
Ihn prisoner was assisted to the dock,
and plninly showed the effects of the
terribl" strain to which he had been sub
ected during the past three days. He
suffered from a severe pain in his head
and for awhile appeared to be in faint,
but revived under the ministrations of
his wife and nurse, and listened to the
addresses of counsel. His physician, DIR.
Stubbs, sat in the dock with him during
the session.
At 7.15 o'clock the Jury fled into the
courtroom, and five minutes later Levi
O. Bird, Esq, began the closing address
for the defence. In opening he said that
while he had defended all sorts and kinds
of criminal cases, never had he defended
one like this, in which the State depended
on such rotten testimony, and asked a
man almost dead, to give up his life,
because an assassin, in the mercy of God,
did not complete his wreck. He said it
was no fault of John Wesley Hanby's
that the wads for his gun, which he so
carefully rounded, did not go into Isaac
Talley's heart, as he intended.
He questioned if the States attorney in
this case would allow verdict, or the
results of a verdict, in manner and form
as the prisoner stands indicted. The
opening statement of the prosecution that
the prisoner, on the fatal morning, had
built fire TO warm himself by while
waiting for the deceased, was disproved
by the testimony, which showed that tho
fire was but the burning of brush that had
been accumulated during the winter, and
was but o part of his regular la
bors. He claimed that if the road
was not impossible Handy had no
right to go through Talley's land, and
that the testimony showed that everybody
that tried to go through the road went
through without any serious trouble, and
left no doubt whatever that the portion of
the road in dispute was in good travelling
condition. The testimony of Joseph
Weldin, who dug out the road, showed
fhat ha daanaCf f,uNt ha found
only two feet and three inches,
while the road commissioners, Mr..
Petitdemapge and Mr.. Bird, drove
through and found SO little drift that they
paid no attention to it. All the other
testimony on this point was reviewed, to
show that there was no trouble whatever
to drive over the road between the upper
and the lower bars. He claimed that the
deceased we'll knew the road was pass
able, but only waited an opportunity to
put into execution the threats he had
made, and carry out the murderous pur-
pose he had in his heart.
Mr.. Bird next reviewed the testimony
describing the events that transpired the
night previous TO the shooting, and
showed that while Frank Handy stood
solitary, alone and unsupported in the
declaration that the prisoner had threat
ened to kill Wesley Handy if he at
tempted to cross the field, whole array
of witnesses had testified to the reputa-
ton of the prisoner for peace and good
order during all of his life.
Mr.. Bird next reviewed the testimony
of the colored boy, Walter Lockwood, the
only witness save the prisoners wife,
whose mouth was closed, that saw the
terrible tragedy. He held that the testi-
mony in relation to the threat made
by Handy to Talley the night before the
shooting, although denied by the deceased's
brother, coincided with the threats he
subsequently made in Mrs. Saring's
house, eliminating in his awful vow,
upon his bended knees, to take Talley's
life.
In most effective and powerful
manner Mr.. Bird detailed the circum-
stances of the fatal affray, all of which
he held, tended to show that the shot that
took Hanby's life was only fired by the
prisoner as the final resort, and when his
own life was in imminent danger. He
begged the jury to carry in their minds
all the circumstances of the affray--the
deadly blows, the frantic appeal Of the
wife for the assailant not to shoot, and
finally the fatal shot, and with all these
facts before them to render a verdict of
not guilty.
Mr. Bird closed at 9.25 O'Clock, when
court took a recess until o'clock Satur-
day morning. =..
The court room doors were opened at
o'clock Saturday morning and the people
struggled in In sections as they arrived,
fhttg aNnfItafy fba Sfrtn,rulo nj tho lpp thut
has marked the other sessions OF this week.
The crowd was much smaller than usual,
when court opened at o'clock, but in
creased as the proceedings progressed.
Hitherto, with the assistance of two
friends, around whose shoulders he passed
his arms, Talley was able to walk into the
court room, but Saturday he had to be
carried from the cells to the dock. He.was
paler than usual, and a wan and weaited
| expression was on his face. DR., Stubbs said
| he slept but little during the night and was
| out only much weaker than at the COM
mencement Of the trial, but worse In every
other way affecting his general condition,
The doctor was apprehensive OF serious re-
i suits following the reaction that he eX-
pected would undoubtedly ensue upon the
announcement of the jury's verdict. The
/ prisoner recined I'm his sick chair, with q
| pillow under his head, and kept his eyes
closed almost constantly. -... .
The gentlemen composing the trial jury
also looked somewhat tired and jaded Al
they came into the courtroom. Juryman
| Cooper, who was sick the first night out
was also unwell Friday night, but said to the
court as he took his seat, that he felt able
| to proceed.
Attorney ey-genoral Paynter, at DIS o'clock
began the closing argument for the prose
cution. He said the State was not to bam,
for placing the prisoner on trial in hi!
present physical condition, as they woult
gladly have consented to n continuance