The sun. [volume] (Morris, Stevens County, Minn.) 1882-1895, 1889-07-04


Beckman of manslaughter in the second de
gree and Peterson of ASSAULT in the second
degree They will be sentenced tomorrow
morning.
PROCEEDINGS AT THE TRIAL
The third day of the Beckman and Peter
son murder trial opened with Edward Peter
son, one of the accused, on the stand Dates
testimony, in the main, has thus far been
uncontradicted, and this, coupled with
the fact that Peterson Contradlcts
his statement made to Dr.. Collins last
April about Combs having been injured by
falling from a scaffold, and that Dates state
ment is partially corroborated l'y Carlson,
an attendant at the hospital, has materially
strengthened the case of the state. Peter
son said he had been repeatedly informed
prior to the murder that Combs was dan
gerous man. An attempt WAS made to show
by this witness tina: Date on one occasion
had broken his hand by striking patient,
and had lied to the doctors about it, On
ss-eXamnation of Peterson by Attorney
General Clapp Peterson was badly broken
up and made a poor showing. DR. Bowers
was recalled, and said Date did not
tell all of the story at the
time of the murder, but his story told then
cOrrOborates with the one he tells now. Mr..
Carver, assistant deputy warden of the Still
water penitentiQry, testified TO Combs bad
character For the first half hour of the
afternoon session the attention of the court
was occupied in hearing the reOuttal testi-
mOny of the prosecution, showing the repu-
tation of Date for veracIty was good, and
also attacking Beckman's reputation, wit
nesses testifying that they had heard reports
that he had abused his parents. The prose-
cution then rested. Attorney General Clapp,
in an
ELOQUENT ADDRESS TO THE JURY,
summed up on the part of the prosecution.
He dwelt at length and with scathing criti-
cism ION the plan of the defense, which
was that the defendants We're Justified in
treating Combs harshIy because he was an
incOrrigtble and dangerous man, frequently
doing violent acts I'VE admit" he said,
that he was vicious and dangerous man,
liable to do violent acts, and tue asylum is
there for the reception Of just such unfort-
unates and these men were placed in
charge of him because he was liable to do
Just such things, and 10 be murdered by
these very men who had This irresponsible
maniac in charge was crime
doubly heinous. That asylum stands
there, an emblem of the charity and
humanity of the State of Minnesota,
for the benefit of those distracted people,
and when they do these acts that are the
very cause of their being placed there then
is it the intention of the people of this state
who support the institution that they are TO
be pounded and choked into submission?"
He commented upon the fact that the de-
fcnse had attacked the testimony of Carlson
and Date he stating that they had no motive
in lying about the affair, while the defend
ants had, and the unreliable story was more
probably on their side, for they had the
states prison staring them in the face. Mr.
Wilson, attorney for the defendants, then
made the closing address in their behalf. He
said that the story of Date was not credible
on account of it's
IMPROBABLE BRUTALITY
and that, although his clients might not
have displayed that amount of skill and
good Judgment which KILLED and expert
enced nurse would be expected to possess,
yet they had doue the best they knew how
and had committed no crime, as their only
intent was to control and subdue the man
Combs, whom they justly feared. Judge
Start charged the jury at considerable length,
and it is generally conceded to be an unusu-
ally able document The nature of the
charge was explained to the jury, and they
we've instructed that before they can convict
they must be satisfied of the defend
ants guilt beyond a reasonable doubt,
which explained to them that there
were two general questions in the case.
First, was Taylor Combs death caused by
reason Of injuries Inflicted upon them by
the defendants substantially as alleged in
the Indictment Second, if 80, were the de-
Pendants legally justified in using the force
upon Combs which they did use. Upon the
| first question they were instructed that in
order to convict, the proximate cause of
Combs death must have been the injuries
inflicted upon him by the defendants; that il
| his death was due to an accident they must
acquit But if they found that Combs
would not have died at the time he did die,
except for the injuries he received at the
hands of the defendants and such injuries
were Intentionally inflicted, his death was
not due to an accident, but the force used
upon him was the proximate.
CAUSE OF HIS DEATH
Upon the second question they were in
structed, among other matters. substantially
as follows: 1t is claimed on the part OF tho
defense that the death of Combs was the re-
| rult of accident or misadventure while they
were attempting to place him in the muffs
\ to prevent him from injuring himself or
others, and that they used no more force
than was reasonably necessary or proper for
| that purpose. To enable you to consider this
claim uderstandingly it is necessary for you
to be advised of the legal rights, duties and
| obligations of those having the custody of
| the insane wards of the state in our hos
| pitfalls The state places them under the
! guardianship of those in charge Of
our hospitals for restraint and treatment,
and while there they are to be treated by
| those in charge Of them as insane and not
| responsible for their acts Dis to be remem-
bered that the minds of these patients are
| obscure; their reason gone. To them their
dearest friends often are their deadliest ene-
mics, and their necessary and reasonable re-
straint an outrage upon their personal l1ber-
| ty. To their paroxisms of rage they must of
stern necessity be restrained bv physical
force. which those in charge OF them have q
| legal right to use. While this IL so, yet those
/ who voluntarily take upon themselves the
onorous exacting and responsible duty of
caring for the INSANE are bound TO use mod
Grafton and discretion. They may not legally
use unnecessary aud unreasonable force or
become angry at any insults or provocations
| offered by the patients for they must expect
| this; nor In the heat of passion use
! UNNECESSARY AND BRUTAL FORCE
l upon those committed to their care who are
unable to reason, and therefore not responsl-
| bic for their acts. In this connection YOU
are instructed as follows: Defendants were
employed, and it was their duty to restrain
| and control Combs. and prevent his iniuring
other patients as well as themselves and il
| In the effort to maintain order and subdue
| the violence Of the deceased they used no
more force Than might talrly and reasonably
i be supposed requisite in the circumstances
they could not be held criminally RESPONSE
/ BILE for an accident or an unintended injury.
/ Ii they acted with reasonable prudenceiand
i caution In the performance of their duty.
he use of force or violence upon or toward
| the person of IN insane man is not
unlawful If used by the persons law
fully having him in charge, and be
reaaonably nee essary to prevent such insane
i person from committing any act dangerous
to himself or to another. IL from the evil
4 dence you are katlsfied that there was rea-
sonable groundsfor the defendants, or either
of them, to appreEend purpose Or design
on the pant OF Combs then and there 10 do
them or either pf them some bodily harm,
then they were justified in using against
him such force md means as would appear
TO an ordinary, cautious and reasonable man
necessary t0 nrnvent k11nh iniurv tn thau1 nr