St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-12-23
ERwIN's ELOQUENT PLEA.
Mum Roasted and Horton De.
Clared to BE Innocent.

| TO express a personal opinion. but not per-
! mitIed by the law to put personal bias before
| ajury. Counsel are comm ssioned 10 stand
| here for the state and Tor the defendant not
| for the purpose of showing their eias, pref
| udice, and their feelings; not TO so handle
| the elements of the case as to PROD doubt
| or darkness; not to advance $, his y; but
| they are here to honesty and Cat did, weigh
| the eyidence-the whole vldent0, 70 assist
the jury to secure justice and Il true verdict
on the evidence. So strong Is this desire by
| the people that they do not permit any but
/ hose whom they elect for the purpose TO
| prosecute one of their number. One would
| suppose thai from the close attention you
| paid to counsel for the state, II you have
| believed the prosecution in this case you
| have only perfuuctory office TO till nno to-
| find verdict and not 10 exercise sympathy.
| If you have followed him % his conclusion
| you have forfeited your high office as jurors.
T"e theory of prosecution permits only the
! ullic to accuse through us officer,
AMI the theory of the jury is to leave
a.. prejudice and personal feeling aside.
| he theor, OF the jury system Is that who
cannot be punished until twelve men can be
! convinced that this who mas been con-
| victed beyond a reasonable doubt. This
| who. like you. is one of the people. This
| defendant speaks through me ana says he
| has no fear.
| VII says that defendant tipped over that
| boat w.lfully and drowned his wife and
chilu.
| No one.
No one.
Who. through any sense that mortal man
| has. can say that this man
Tipped Over That Boat
| and drowned wife and child:
I What is the use of witnesses?
1t Is that you may nse- their senses to see,
| hear or feel The evidence of their senses is
| evidence to you. No witness came here to
| say he saw. orheard, or felt or knew by any
! of his senses that this man tipped over the
boat to drown his wife and child.
| You stand here before God sworn that you
! Will not yield up the life of this man until
| you feel aud know that he has done this
| crime.
You have nothing to do III a certain sense
| with the punishment OF this man; in another
| sense YOU are the authors of it. In one
sense You have nothing TO do with the proof; ;
| in another sense you are the source of it.
| You are here from the ranks of the people,
who are ten million times more interested
tnaI you should not yield up a life until you
| have absolute proof of guilt.
When il is not clear that man has been
| proven guilty, then with you is left the in
| Fiction of punishment
| Do not play Plate in the "a e OF Chris
| tianity. Do not think you cau wash your
! hands in the face of Allowing mob, II you
! IA to find the case clearly proven. If you
! write upon your ballot guilty. you write
| upon it Let this man be hung in the jail
| yard II is you and no one else who write it,
| You are limited TO going no farther Ill this
| case than the evidence warrants. If the
| case does not bring you to moral conviction
| that this min murdered his wife, you are
| compelled to stop where logic, reflection and
manhood bring you.
| You have heard Mr. Mum give you the
| states theory of how this crime was COM
| mitled. 1t will not be his fault that this man
| is acquitted In opinion of Counsel there is
| no evidence of guilt. In the public accounts
| there were misrepresentation made-nota-
| bly, in regard TO the safety of the boat Coun-
,.DI.r
evidence for state closed that there was no
| showing of guilt If this had been Il mere
! larceny case there never would have been
| any evidence for the defense. But the world
| waited to hear from the defense. Feeling as
| we did, your honor, when We Proffered this
| man TO be sceurged and whipped and tested
| blythe ingenuity of Marcus ID. Mum, we felt
| that when he went through the ordeal he
| would convince the world that he was un-
| seathed. He was not put on the stand to
| save his life Mr.. Mum Waged the battle of
cross-examination for a day and half
thinking if he could get this man diseomdt
| ed for a moment he would go down. But
he emerged from the conflict unseathed.
Put yourself in his place.
| 1t is said 10 the jury; Hand him TO the
execuuoner. You have nothing to dc with
| the Office of eXecutioner" But you have the
Office OF handing him over.
| We have no fears of how yeu execute your
| Office. 1t is not for me to stand here and
say fear for the life of Mr.. Horton. L have
/
| that this jury shall not substitute the word
| bewilderment for proof; that the bulwark of
| liberty shall not give way at this time. Your
| duty at this time is Of the supremest conse-
| Quenee. You are to measure up proofs. not
| to indulge il sophistries The state must
Arch the Proof
| over this defendant before you can pro-
nounce him guilty-must inclose him in proof
| of guilt.
Who'is prosecuting here: What is the
| crime?
| Murder of wife and child.
What motive?
We have only motive that will run to
| wife. but not TO child.
Why? Only motive in theory, not in
logic.
! Did no one see this murderf
/ None.
] Then how do you expect to pass this jury
| of the country? BY cloud of dust. By no
| reaso4l; by no logic; but by the bewilder-
M n of the jury. oh, STATED whom do you
| prosecute? A man named Horton. VINO
is Horten? A man of unquestioned charac-
ter. BY whom do you prove the character?
By all the people of this community. What
| is good character? That which shows moth
| ing but good: a soul that shows nothing
| wrong Then, If y7u accuse q man like
| that we will hold you to proof that
! shall be on measure with the crime chsrged,
/ not by a mere whim or caprice. The steps
of character run up for good, run down for
bad. If character is CT no value. tear down
your ChurCheS ana Schools
| Al the very first blush, when confronted
! with the charge or the crime, the motive for
| the crime failed. The prosecutor gave the
! best theory of the case but he could not make
case, unless he could d stroy the evidence
| of DR.. PaQuin. He had to put Miss Van Vie
| III the plot to discover motive. To make
! the states case out you must make the de-
| fendInt out daring he'll hound or fool in
| order to convict him of the crime charged.
| That he is of abandoned character is contra
! dicted by his life character and appearance
You heard the state proclaim the ire
| proachabe character of Miss Van VIE at the
beginning of this ease, and at the last mo-
| ment in argument to the jury, hold her
| up as piotter against the life of Nellie Hor-
| ton.
To whom did he speak of his troubles with
| his wife? Mother, two brothers, chief Of his
department where he worked, Hanson, Eye
| lund and the two policemen.
Go find me a man in poetry, or where you
will that will stand with this man.
The marriage and the trip to Dakota and
his failure were detailed. How he left his
wife to go to her brothers and save what she
could out OF the wreck, and he would GO and
work and send what money he could and
| build another home. He continued:
Do you want tests that DR.. Paquu told the
| truth? could give you mary, hut l will
merely give you one. Mrs. Horton went home
suddenly from Brainerd. L will give YOU al1-
otner. 1t was stated by mistake that Eye
lund's name was mentioned in the Hanson
letter. 1t was not. If it Is true that the let.
ter was the first time the wife knew of the
charge, why was the letter sent to Eglund By
| Hanson?
Some men said That Gen. Sickles should
not have taken the wife back to his bosom
after shooting down the dog who had de-
bauched her. ] have thought though, that
il was his proudest act. believe that. Where
the world cannot protect the peace of home
ii IS the duty OF the man to protect
Wife or Daughter
| by taking the life of the dog who destroy;
| the peace of home.
/ Mr.. Erwin commented upon the letters and
kilograms sent by Horton to his vie as bear
ing out the theory of an attempt TO effect q
| reconciliation Continuing:
IF he intended to drown wife and child
| why go to the most prominent place on the
| West side to find a room for them? Why tell
| Mrs LaIdroche that they were wife and
! child? You will have to prostitute the mind
| to the point that you will have to see villain