The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1892-01-07
FESHALL'S Big CHANCE.
Continued from First Page.

victed on confession in open court the
Court shall proceed by examination OF
witnesses to determine the degree OF
the crime and give sentence accordingly.
Now does that mean that When o de-
fendant is arraigned in open court, and In
answer thereto says he is guilty, that his
plea deprives him of his constitutional
right of a trial by jury, because. in imiGa-
tion of George Washington, he told what
he believes to be the truth? l say. no;
most emphatically no..
ION the other hand, if the prisoner
stands up and in answer to the arra1gn-
ment, to assure his constitutional protec-
ton. states what he knows to be a lie and
pleads mot guilty then l say that any
such construction as that of the n
and intent of the Constitution would be
simply an outrage.
'In an Indictment for murder a man is
not indicted for murder in the first de-
gree. but for murder; therefore the jury
may find him guilty of murder in the
first degree, the penalty whereof Is death;
or of murder in the second degree, the
penalty for which Is twenty years i'm
prisonment; or else manslauShter. with
varying degrees of imprisonment.
LEGISLATIVE PROTECTION.
."The Legislature recognizes these facts,
so, when a man pleads guilty in New
Jersey to an Indictment, not even the
court knows what he has pleaded to.
Therefore, the court to determine that
fact must, as by statute provided. ex-
anime witnesses, judge OF their credi-
bility, usurp the powers and provinces or
d Jury, and then decide, upon the evil
deuce elected in this way, whether the de-
PENDANT shall be hanged or sent to State
Prison for a long or a short term.
.tIn New Jersey this court consists of
two law aud lay judges. Let us suppose
that, under this statute, the two lay
,,1rac chOnln cav that fha man on Trial
was no guilty OF any crime, and that the
two law Judges should find, from the
same evidence. that he was guilty or
murder in the first degree, and that they
should adhere to their conclusions? VIII
some learned and distinguished prosecu-
tor of the Pleas advise me what would
become of the defendant in such a case?
This one proposition is sufficient to
demonstrate the fallacy of this statute
which has been in force in New Jersey
since April, 1864. Many men have been
uulawfully and illegally executed under
it, ana many men, who are now In state
Prison serving out their sentences. can
be released Upon habeas corpus proceed
ings;, :. :,
tempted to uphold this statute is that a
man may waive his right to a trial by
jury. And in some States statutory pro-
visions are made whereby a defendant
uuktCl tlAlStbAOhp Aty aShOO "ASh oao
prosecutor of the State and plead guilty
IN all cases except murder Now in this
State there is no such law. Its murder
statute makes no such provision. A
prisoner on trial for murder agrees to
nothing, and valves nothing, and the
constitutional provision covering his
rights is so ample and full of force that it
protects him from the hair of his head to
the soles of his feet.
..Agaiu, a mar has no interest in his
W life except to protect it and preserve
it within the body. The moment life and
body are severed, or the vital spark is ex-
hailed therefrom, from that moment all
interest to him must necessarily cease,
and he is forever powerless to redress an
injury or right a wrong one unto him.
Under our peculiar institutions, the pub
lie. society and the mans family have an
interest in his life and in its preservation
in order that they may enjoy it with him
and partake of the benefits arising there
rom.
INSANITY A GOOD DEFENCE.
'.Insanity, as we all know, is not oaly a
perfect, but an absolute defence against
a charge of crime. Granting that y de-
PENDANT was Insane at the time an offence
charged against him was committed then