Los Angeles daily herald., 1888-04-15

branded some of the witnesses as
devils, some as vultures and some they
have condemned to everlasting hell for
perjury. They have disposed OF
every witness and you are to
! ne,, e,,:ave that the State has not a living
witness of the circumstances IN this
case. You are to believe that ! have
labored night and day for a fortnight
to convict an innocent girl with lot
of perjured witnesses. Oh, how low,
how degraded would l be should / at
tempt such thing! How you gentle
mel would scorn and loathe me !
Man is prone to err, but with the evi-
dence l have l cannot conceive how
could possibly be mistaken. Let us
see: These girls we're living in quiet
retirement in Illinois. They left
their homes and came to this city.
They went ID work as domestics in
private families. Miss Hattie, "a retir-
ing girl of twenty-five, meets DIR.
Harlan and, in accordance with her
own testimony, becomes engaged to
him in ten days-quick, gentlemen
yes, and at the end of ten days is
raped by her lover. We must
get to the facts. l care
not to refer to the flowery
arguments of the attorneys for
the defense. l do not want to say
anything unkindly of this girl accused
befofS you. / have it not in my heart.
.he defense at the inception of the
trial denied everything, even the
death of Harlan; but when Miss Hat
tie went on the stand and revealed
the fact that it was in fact the body
of Harlan that was burned in the
barn, they suddenly are of the opin-
ion that l should dismiss the case.
Col. Wells even intimates to me that
it would be popular for me to do SO.
l want it understood l am not seeking
popularity. They go in raptures over
the love Of women and cover up with
it the crowning facts in this case"
District Attorney Du Puy at this
point entered into the facts of the
case, closely following each circum-
stance in detail. In reverting
to the circumstances, Judge
Du Puy called attention to the
the fact of Miss Hattie having pur-
chased a pistol, of her denial OF at
tempting to borrow one OF Mrs. Fer
gus son, and the fact that after purchas-
ing q pistol with the intent to take her
own life, she refrained from executing
her design until she arrived at the
Barley barn. He recited other cir
cumstances pointing to her guilt, and
concluded his argument at 4:25 P. NJ.
with a brief, pointed summary of the
case and an appeal for justice and
justice only.
The instructions, though volumin-
GUS, were the usual ones in such cases
and were delivered by the Court in
twenty-five minutes, after which at
4 :55 P. N. the case was finally given
to the jury. During the brief period
the jury were in retirement q painful
and suppressed excitement reigned in
the courtroom. The prisoner, sur
rounded by her lawyers and relatives,
sat waiting, and so far as could bejudged
through her veil. all color had left her
face. The minutes passed slowly
along until the hand of the clock
reached 5 and crawled on until it
pointed at minutes past, at which
time it was announced that the jury
had agreed. As the jurymen filed
into the court room every eye watched
them closely, endeavoring to gain an
idea as to the nature of the verdict.
From the shortness of the time they
had been out it was evident that no
compromise verdict would be ren-
Gered, and all felt that the defendat
would be found mot guilty" The vi
most silence reigned in the room
when the foreman OF the jury stood
up and read the following verdict:
ave, the jury, find the defendant
Hattie Woolsteen, not guilty of the
charge of murder"
The announcement of this verdict
was greeted with an outburst of ap-
plause which was with difficulty sup
pressed by the officers of the court.
Judge Cheney then ordered the pris-
oner discharged and the courtroom
cleared. The crowd fled out and in
stead OF dispensing gathered about
tue doorway, where it waited until
ne released girl made her appear
ance. She was greeted with cheers,
and as she was driven away to the
Nadeau in carriage which had been
summoned, another cheer was given
and the last scene OF the trial was
finished.