Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1889-09-10
UNITED STATES COURT.
An Evening Session al Which the Attorneys
Make Their Speeches. The Judge VIII
Charge the Jury IN the Clawson
Case this Morning.

There was no session OF the United States
court Yesterday until P. n At that
hour Judge Foster called court TO order
and the Clawson larceny case was again
taken M The examining OF the wit
nesses had been finished Saturday evening
and all that remained was the speeches OF
the opDosing counsel before the case went
TO the iurv. The speeches had been re-
stricted to one hour on each side, and the
hour was subdivided by the attorneys, so
that two speeches could be given by eacn
side.
r. J. Hill, OF Independence, Mo, opened
the case for the prosecution. lie began oy
a review Of the evidence given BY wit
nesses. He dweIt largely on the character
of the defendants and the connection they
had formed while in the territory.
In winding up lie asked the
jury to weigh the evidence
which they had heard and to render YER
dict in accordance with there Judgment.
F. T. McMechan, Of this city, arose and
addressed the jury in defense OF the Claw
sons The attorney laid bare the character
of some of the witnesses the prosecution /
had placed on the stand, and showed that |
thief was written in plain letters on |
many Of their brows. he asked II the jury |
would place any confidence III the evidence
given by these people. In The course OF /
his speech Mr.. NcMechan SAID that during |
the time he had been practicing many |
many cases had come under MS notlce DuO !
he had never seen one before this one |
which was a persecution instead OF pros
| ecution. Take the evidence OF the wit
ness. Black, and what does he say? mat
! he had no interest IN the case Dul
also admits that he had bet sl0U
| that the Clawsons would be found guilty
/ Gentlemen, the handwriting on the wall
/ can be plainly seen and it reads that II Is a
/ persecution to run these defendants out OF
| the country and away from the places
! where they had made their homes. Inc
! conspirators had even sent attorneys TO
help them in their plot. Another thing
! was the fact that two witnesses appeared
| here who had been living at the home or
man named Heard, who, it is claimed, Is
one of the leaders against these men, the
defendants, for the sole aim of being here
! TO testify against the defendants in this
trial. The attorney then went through
the evidence which had been introduced
| by the prosecution and handled 1t without
gloves. His speech lasted thirty minutes
and showed remarkable ability in one Of
his experience.
Bill Hackney then arose and
also addressed the jury Tor
/ the defense. He commenced in the follow
ing manner: ''If the court please and gen
tIemen of the jury. You have been Sc
| lected according to law rs arbitrator IN
this case between a powerful government
and three poor men. In all my career l
have never seen 2 case in which so much
persecution and scandal has been
brought to the surface 1t is supposed the
United States are prosecuting in this case,
but what do we see? Simply that this
man, Joe Heard, has employed two law
vers, sent them up here and boarded them
at the best hotels, if he does nothing else
They in turn place the United States at
torney on one side and are the real prose-
cutors in this case Does this not
show that the case is simply
prosecutions" The attorney then COM
menceu to deal in a rough manner with
the speech of Mr.. Hill, one Of the prosecut-
ing attorneys. Passing from this he COM
8 menced to tear up the evidence given by
| the prosecuting witnesses. The evil
dence,n said Mr. Hackney was mass OF
| lIOLh w ~N~'
Mr.. Hackney wound up by thanking the
jury for the patience they had shown III
, listening to the attorneys for the defense
4 3, and he also hoped they would be patient
= with the attorneys who would follow him
= Mr.. Beekman, of Sedan, Mo, then adj
> | dressed the jury for the prosecution. In
commencing his speech the attorney SAID
he would not occupy very
q mucb of the time of the
Jury for he wanted to give Mr.. Perry g
chance to say few words as he wished tc
=, hear few words Of sense spoken to the
= Jury. II do not know" continued the at
torney, what the practice Is IN fedora
! courts but down in my country In the
4 state courts. know that if such evidence
, was turned in these defendants. number
: of the witnesses, and if what Mr.. Hack
= new saws is true, one-half of the attorneys
in the case would be in the penitentiary.'
:, The counsel made brilliant speech anc
0 during his talk managed TO get in few
hits on the attorney for the defense HI
: reviewed the whole testimony and WOUND
{ I'D by a thorough breaking-up of the ties
timonv IN behalf of the defendants and {
It scorchiug of his learned friend Bill
l. Hackney.
e District Attorney Perry then spoke few
minutes He said that the jury was prob
ably tired. and he did not think it wa
: necessary for him to say anything as th'
case had been handled in a splendid man
IT ner BY both sides. He paid compliment
o to Bill Hackney by saying that he wa
original and entertaining and q case Il
! which he was a counsel did not lose inter
est or lag from the beginning TO the close
He also dwelt on the remark made by Mr.
Hacknev-to the effect that he, Perry, ha'
q been put aside by the other counsels 10
4 the prosecution-and said he did not wisl
x TO saw much about this and be did no
Sc think Hackney ought to have done s.
n knowing that il would only hurt hi
h clients He, then, in elea
a and concise manner reviewed tn
C. case aud also again wen
r. over the charge made against the defend
If ants. Mr. Perry, in speaking of the a.
n legged ''conspiracy" that was spoken Of b
re the attorneys for the defeuse, said the con
+ spiracy had simply originated in the i'm
= srinary minds OF his friends on the de
n tense "Mr, Heard" he said. had sinpl
70 employed these attorneys on the pTosecu
te ton to help punish men who had bee
a committing depredations on him" H
n. then wound up by thanking the jury fo
,a the Darie1ce they had shown through "a
y speeches inflicted or them By tie sttol
: neys II the case
p Nj Perry's speech closed the case, al