Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-09-15
attack upon Mr.. Lipscomb, 'she char.c.eriaed

attack upon Mr.. Lipscomb, che characterised
that poor, helpless boy yonder ss cold -blooded.
deliberate murderer and later as a Judas Is
CARROT. Even after that l was amazed at his
audacity in telling the jury Of Virginians that
| they must bring in o verdict Of guilty or else
their verdict would he cowardly and miser
| able one.
Upon what meat hath this our Cesar fed
| that he has grown great? He 10 represent
! ing the private part of the prosecution and his
pocket Is filled with blood money, in return for
which he must have the blood Of that poor,
helpless boy yonder. who sits with hands tied.
He has come to convict. He represents some
enemy of poor Thornton Hams. He does not
represent that father of the dead man, know.
do not know if MIR. Lipscomb has expressed
Senator Voorhees, sentiments. Mr.. Lipscomb
has come down to old Virginia in the interest
Of private vengeance"
After continuing the attack upon the Wash
inSton lawyer for some time Judge Goode
finally said, "And now. without further prelimi-
naries or introduction, let me come down to
the more important part Of the work have to
do"
After rehearsing the indictment charging
Hams with murder Judge Goode said that his
client did not deny killing Ned Hannegan. He
regretted the act with a deep and lasting re-
greet. but he hsd entered plea Of not guilty
for the reason that he knew he was not guilty
OF the awful crime of murder. He had but
acted upon the divine right of self-defense
when his life. that precious gift from God. was
AeosSiiSu. nc uhd uOt tTuusCthucu rights
In any sense. There could be no murder,
| either in the first or second decree, without
malice. Excusable homicide is the taking of a
man s life in defense Of ones own. II a mans
life is in danger or he has reasonable grounds
to believe that it ia he il justified in killing his
assailant, even though the supposed danger
did not really exist.
After explaining the different degrees Of
murder and nans!aughter he asked the jury to
follow him while they in which category
fhp 4
1t could not be murder in the first degree UNI
less there were malice, and all the testimony
that had been adduced in the case went to show
that there was no malice, no old grudge to be
settled up and no hard feelings of day,
month or a year existed between the two men.
According to the story OF Lieut.. H. D. Todd,
u than whom better man never sat i'll Tie
witness sand, as well as of the father OF the
accused, the relations Of the two boys were OF
the closest. They could not be more intimate
than they were. Could man like Thornton j.
Hams have cherished malice all this time. then
must he have been the most treacherous OF
men anu one Lost TO all the better instincts of
humanity.
Gentlemen, you have heard for what purpose
the defendant had that pistol. 1t was for a law
fuI purpose: TO summon the colored man
the boat. It not fair to infer malice from the
fact OF carrying pistol unless that pistol was
used for some unlawful purpose"
As 10 the story that kains had scullcd out
ITO inc Tue aIter lne SNORING, Judge uOOCe
asked whether private vengeance could further
go than to conjure up such a story that
Commander Evans said that when he saw the
man sculling he was sculling toward the light
house wharf, and now man of skill and ability,
whose ability had been bought, bad come down
from Washington to shut their eyes to testi-
mony like that.
Judge Goods said that they had been asked
to note that Hams had not stopped on his way
to the Hygeia to tell some that he had shot
thus showing no feeling over what had hap
pehed, whereas the only nun he saw on his
hurried course was Commander Evans, his
deadliest enemy Would the jury have him
give himself up into the power of his mortal
foe! AS to the statement that Hams had acted
callously upon the stand he called the attention
OF the jury to the fact that they must have no.
ticed the tear yelling up from the depth of
that poor boys heart as he told OF the death of
his friend.
ADJOURNMENT FOR THE DAY.
At this point in his speech Judge Goode
turned to where Judge Gunter was sitting and
asked that on account of the heat and fatigue
of the long day he be allowed to discontinue
there and go on tomorrow.
Judge Guntcr said that the case really must
be finished tomorrow. Judge Goode promised
that he would not consume the entire forenoon
and with this understanding the hearing was
postponed until tomorrow morning at $50
o'clock, the usual hour for opening. Y.k.