The Sunday morning news. [volume] (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1886-1891, 1891-07-12

mat was ial1pose1ble. for mfne. Ar
mand was murdered in October
.Then this man did not kill her. for /
viii take my oath that he was in Mem
phis at that time =
What interest have YOU in this tria1y,
and as he asked the question the iudpe
looked at me snsesply.
= have no interest except in seeing an
innocent man preserved from hulnin-
ating death, ! came here as the repre-
sentative of the Now Orleans Picayune.
without any knowledge Of the parties in
interest. Up to the time the prisoner
entered the door had no idea had ever
seen him, but / recognize in him an old
friend, and one who in the nature Of
things could not have committed this
crime Of which he Is accused.v
But the prisoner appears to deny the
acquaintance said the judge, somewhat
cynically.
lie doesssir, and what his purpose is
IN doing SO cannot even infer
But IS their no possibility Of your be-
ing mistaken persisted the Judge. who
IN the lax procedure of his court was not
greatly affected by the sacredness which
was supposed to hedge him in. ssYou
know how treacherous resennbIances are.
Though no two faces are cast exactly in
the same mold, there are sometimes such
counterfeits that we can SCARCELY tell the
spurious from the genuine.
II this man is the Jason Brigham
knew in Memphis he has scar upon the
right side Of his head above the ear and
well forward toward the temple I said.
with sudden inspiration, as the memory
of that indelible mark flashed on my
mind.
Sheriff" said the Judge, leaning for
ward over his desk, Examine the pris-
oners head and see If you discover such
scar as the gentleman mentions"
The sheriff in very matter of fact
way separated the prisoners hair, which
was long and unksmpt. My heart
seemed to stand still while he did SO,
but when he stood to one side and with
his fingers spread apart silently directed
attention to long white scar at the
place I had designated, / felt the blood
rush to my brain in q food that threat
ened to unseat my reason
Your Identification seems complete,
sir" said the judge, ssbut you will, of
course, pardon me if point out to you
how impossible it would be for MS to adj
init your unsupported evidence in this
case. You are q stranger to us all, and
though do not believe such thing for a
moment, still in the eyes Of the law your
motives would be susceptible to doubt.
You should have eorroborating testi-
mony. But, wesghtier than all, the
witness declares that he is not the man
you say he is. You do not allege that he
is insaneg'
He appears to be sane. enough, but
from what know Of him, in the light Of
present circumstances, should be will
ing to believe he was insane.
IF what you know of him leaves you
with such an impression, does It occur to
you that he might be guilty of the crime
with which he is chargedYs
mot for a moment; for though I can
not reconcile the phases Of his career that
have come under my observation, / have
never seen any tendency toward crime
in his disposition. / knew linn as gen
erous, brave and truthful man. Besides,
as have said, was with him at the
verytime Nine. Armand was murdered
My dear sir, you are treading on dan
gerous ground" remarked the judg
smllingly.
II am too confident that / could provo
an alibi, Your honor, to heed your warn
ing, and can prove one for this unforta-
nate man, if you will give me time"
At this point the prosecuting attorney,
who held his pence as long as possible,
sprang to his feet and said tragically and
oratorically:
ssYour honor. must enter a protest
against such an unwarrantable proceed
ure as this stranger suggests It seems
to me, your honor, that this trial is pro-
ceeding in very odd manner, very
odd manner indeed. But do not need
to call your honors attention to the I'M
precedented liberties accorded this gem
tlenan. l merely desire to direct your
attention to the fact that what he says
lacks confirmation even from the pris-
oner himself, even from that man, sir,
who would be most likely to catch at
any straw which offered a reasonable
hope of enabling him to escape or even
to postpone the fate he so richly de-
serves. | move you, sir, that the trial
of the accused proceed"
s.This trial has indeed taken avery nm
usual course, replied the judge delib-
erately. sBut you win admit that this
is a very remarkable interruption.
am impressed with the sincerity Of the
gentleman who mas so unexpectedly and
SO peculiarly appeared as a voluntary
witness for the defense, and feel that in
Justice to the prisoner he should have an
opportunity Of presenting testimony to
support his statements. Under the cir
cunlstances | shall entertain motion
for the postponement of the case"
It is unnecessary to say that the coun-
sci for the accused was not slow in act
ing upon the suggestion, and the case
was continued and ordered placed ON
the docket for trial at the next term Of
court
With the dismissal Of the case and the
sherifFs leading out of the prisoner was
about to hurry away when the judge
stopped me and, calling me to his desk,
IA