The prison mirror. [volume] (Stillwater, Minn.) 1887-1894, 1888-06-20

to meet the charge. His money and valu-
able watch and ring are taken from him.
| He j, found to have Seventy-siX dollars.
The man robbed, claims to have lost four
ten dollar bills. The accused has five ten
dollar bills among his money. The bills are
| not identified. but there is witness who
claims to have seen the accused in the hall,
near the room where the money was taken
| from, at o'clock in the morning, and there
| is no one else on whom suspicion can fall.
A complete search is made of the room he
occupied and in an old wash stand is found
the pocket book that contained the money
On this evidence he is bound over and his
bonds placed at one thousand dollars. His
| friends are in distant state. they cannot
procure him bonds, and he lays in Jail three
months. He is looked upon as guilty man
and is advised to plead guilty by the pros
ecuting attorney. He refuses to do so. but
prOcures good lawyer and awaits his trial
The evidence of the prosecution points to
his guilt unquestionably. He brings reput-
able business men from his native town to
prove his character Every inch of the
| ground is contested. and the prosecution
brings witnesses from the same town to
prove that he had been considered a wild,
reckless youth; had been at home but
little of late years; had been in numerous
fights. etc.-all going to show his criminal
! tendency. The case is almost closed and to
contradict the accused in some minor mat
| ter, the principal witness. the landlords
son is recalled. He shows nervousness is
closely cross questioned and be;rays weak
ness Just at this point, the brother OF the
accused handed a note to his brothers at
torney which proved to be some questions
to ask the witness. The witness hestated
and when pressed answered them in such a
manner as to leave no question in the mind
of the brother that he was lying. 4 short
consultation between those interested in the
accused resulted in his attorney asking for
an adjournment, which was bitterly opposed
by the prosecution; but while this argument
was in progress, during which the prosecut-
ing attorney and attorney for the
defense came near fighting and were
both fined twenty-five dollars for con-
tempt of court, the few friends of the
accused had gone to the hotel and dis
covered that the prosecuting witness had
perjured himself. The story as to when
and how he had seen the accused proved to
be an mpossbility, and when they returned
to the court room the court was made ac
quainted with the discovery. The contin-
uance was granted and when the court
convened again the tide of public opinion had
been changed and verdict of not guilty
was hastily arrived at. The prosecuting
witness was arrested and is now serving
seven years sentence in state not thOus-
and miles from here.
Such are the chances of conviction. 1t
cost this young man over a thousand dollars
to keep out of prison and he has not. and
probably never will, recover from the men
tai stress Where would he have been if
his friends had not come to his rescue? And
even then his acquittal was all accident.
But you say these are exceptional cases.
True, but every pententiary on earth. it is
safe to say, contains some who are just as
far from guilt as either of the cases cited.
These men are not justly convcts. But
there is another class of men who get in
prison who can make the same claim and
yet they may be guilty of the act which it
claimed constitutes crime. | will have
something to say of them in my next.
OBSERVER.