Omaha daily bee., 1889-04-09


every fish; IL was given TO every living
thing, the right of self defense. And the
right of self defense cannot bo taken away
by human law, no matter what Is in your
statute books. The rights God has gwen
you cannot be taken away from You by man.
And the right of self defense is n GodRiven
right, and cannot be taken away by humun
law. have no occasion TO stand by and
submit to an assault on me whereby l may
receive great bodily injury, or whore my life
may bo in danger. God gave me mind,
power, and strength to defend IL TO the best
of my ability, and have right to do IL;
and no man has right to assault me and
say ~ would only have hurt your throat n
little. II might have annoyed you for years,
but you had no right to resist, because l did
not mean TO hurt you but little" No, sir.
j have right TO protect my person; IL was
given to me. This is a hard world to live In,
at best 1t is for poor folks, anyway; and we
need every muscle, every power, every vcin,
every artery, every nerve, of our body to
work our way through the world, and we are
entitled to it, and no man has right to take
1T from us. If o man assaults me,
and / am liable to lose my little finger by
that assault, he cannot complain, and the
law cannot complain il l take his life and
save my hand. On the law of self-defense
there are other considerations. Whether or
not the danger is imminent is to be governed
in great measure by the disposition of the
assaulting party, by the conduct of the as
saulting party, aud by the relative strength
and skill of the assaulting party and the
party assaulted. Bear that in mind. |
might not have the right TO use gre arm in
defense of an assault that any of you would
make upon me; still another person not as
strong rs / am, not having the same natural
powers of resistance that have would have
perfect right TO. Now, then, would have
the right TO use my pistol III self-defense
when assaulted by overwhelming forces,
while another person stronger than am
might not have the tS
Right to Use It,
Here tho story of Miss Biechler's ar
rival at the hotel November Ia, how sho
went up the elevator TO Kings room, where
she expected to find him with Miss Duffy, how
she paced the hall while waiting for him to
come down, and their interview in the parlor
was graphically pictured, and the General
continued: Did she upon sight of this man,
as deliberate murderess would have donc,
blow his brains out at sightl No, she did
not come there to kill him. We have proven
that they sat together in the parlor, and that
while standing ut the elevator the fatal shot
that cost Harry King his life was fired. AT
terwards while i'll the Office she said he took
her by the throat, and we have the testimony
of two reputable witnesses that they saw the
marks OF his fingers on the side of her neck.
spoke of this thought before in the unrav-
cling of this transaction. On the one hand
Harry King, six feet high, a strong, power
full and violent man. who had demonstrated
that he was capable of no respect for this
woman, possessing an abandoned heart,
she was with child The brutes will not per-
NIT themselves such abandonment but with
strong jaws and open mouths will protect
their young. This man King knocked her
down and dragged her by the hair OF the
head, not once, not twice, not thrice, but
many times. This usage was impressed on
her brain, and doubtless the situation in the
elevator caused realization of the posslbili-
ties that might enSue, to flash through her
brain. On the other hand Libbie King is a
small, frail woman, strong only when
her VIII power is called into
tol given her by Harry in her valse. And
what troubled night was that on the car
between Chicago and Omaha, with move
ment confined to Its narrow limits and sleep
banished by the misdoings of Harry. Arriv
ing in Omaha, she puts the pistol in her
pocket.
On th> Question of Self Defense
the statement of Libbe King is put in evil
dence by the state and the state can offer
her but as witness whose statement is to be
accepted as absolutely true. | regret exceed
ingly that the assistant district attorney
should seek to reflect on his own witness,
and ] still adhere to the position taken by
the defense that there was no call for accu-
mulating testimony.
General Gown read the testimony of DR..
Robert, using Judge Baldwin as subject on
which to illustrate, to show that King was
not shot by the little woman. The bullet
the shoulder and it's direction was down
ward at an angle of about As degrees. The
general then continued: If she was holding
that pistol outward, then she shot from
heaven. The only explanation to be given is
that while he had her by the throat she
threw her hand with the pistol in it over her
shoulder with the muzzle pointing down
ward and it was discharged.
Gentlemen, we must dwell on the scene at
the elevator, where the fatal shot was fired
His grip is on her throat This is shown to
you by the testimony of a witness who said
that the throat of the defendant was purple
from contact with the fingers of some one,
and this statement could have been contra
dicted by twenty witnesses had it been false.
And with all the rapidity of thought came
the reflection that the man was capable of
carrying out his threat to kill her. How
long must this woman submit to the grasp
ing Of her throat by n powerful and reckless
man ere she raised her arm in self defense.
want to ask my friend, The
have this defendant, with her memory
of the cruelties of this man that ought to
have landed him in the penitentiary, inactive.
How long must right and weakness stand in
the throat-cutched power OF tyranny. l
might put that question to the spirit of EN-
NETT who was judlcally murdered for the cx-
ercise of the sacred right of self defense or
to our forefathers of the revolution. might
also interrogatc the spirit of Mrs, Potts, of
Pennsylvania, who met death from blud-
geon in Jne hands of her husband. She is
not man, but weak woman, in the clutch
of u strong man, and with II recollection of
treatment calculated TO overturn her reason,
and yet the state would have her wait, al
though the law says she was under no such
compulson.
Let us say that she fired the shot in full
consciousness of the act, and, II she did, L
say that the law of the land, under tho Cir
cumstances, would exonerate her. And il is
not only the law of the land that would so
declare, but that of God Harry King
Has Her lsy the Throat.
She pulls the pistol from pocket
of her wrapper. The poor woman,
in her trepidnton, left Chicago with no
other covering. Who shall say that assum-
ing the shot to have been leyeled by her that
struck him in the back, in the hundrcdth
part of second required for him to turn from
the weapon, she could check the firing of the
pistoll And it must be remembered that this
was a self-cocker, whose trigger raised to
the firing point, while pointed at his breast
had passed beyond control. Can you say TO
that trigger, thus far shalt thou go, and no
farther! II is not in human power. Gentle
men of the jury, put yourselves into posi-
tion to witness that scene. Would yOu not
have given the woman the Command to fret
Aye that you would.
Now, you have heard this testimony aud