Pawtucket tribune. (Pawtucket, R.I.) 1890-189?, 1892-05-23
.LOOPHOLE FOR ALMY
Appears to Be Among
the Possibilities.
AN ALLEGED FLAW FOUND,
Which, It Is Claimed, Offers Him q
Chance for Absolute Freedom.


an assured fact that the case Of Abbott,
alias AImy, the Hanover murderer. 10 10
again engage public attention. According
10 information of the most tunquestionably
reliable character that has come to Her
aid reporter from legal circles in Grafton
county, IL will be through further judicial
proceedings in his behalf, the necessary
preliminary steps toward which have
already been taken.
The June term OF the supreme court, full
bench, will be opened In this city on Tues.
day. June o, little more than two weeks
hence, and before its close the murderer's
counsel will appear to contest with the
prosecution question never before raised
In the courts of the state.
This question will have no reference to
the guilt or innocence Of the prisoner, will
not deal with matters OF new testimony.
nor raise an issue rs to the legality Of a
sentence announced when the respondent
was absent from the court room. 1t will
seek to establish the fact Of the uuconsti-
tutionality Of the trial in which Almy was
adjudged guilty. and furnish grounds for
demand that not only shall his life not
pay the forfeit Of his crime, but that the
prison doors shall be open and
Permit His Return to Freedom.
Some days before the court at which the
prisoner was to be tried convened at Ply
mouth, the counsel for the defense in-
formed one of the justices of the supreme
court that the prisoner had decided TO
enter a plea Of guilty. and thereupon the
the jurymen who had been drawn were
officially informed that they were excused
from appearance at the trial on the day on
which they had been summoned to be
present
When Almy's case was called Chief
Justice Doe and Associate Justice Allen
were upon the bench. The trial was begun
and continued to its close a. il a jury was
present. Almy pleaded guilty to the In
dctment which was murder in the first
degree, and in the course OF evidence, he
told the story OF the tragedy. The argu-
ments were made, and when finished the
court took the usual recess for dinner.
During that recess Almy was sent to
prison, and the sentence Of death was
later announced when he was on his way
to Concord.
In it's proceedings the court acted under
section 3 of chapter 27S OF the general
statutes, which says: "If a person shall
plead guilty to an indictment for murder,
the court having cognizance OF the ofYense
shall determine the degree"
So far as statutory provisions were con-
cerned, the proceeding Of the court in
the matter of trial was legal and proper,
but, singularly enough, the enactment of
any such law as that quoted
IL Strictly Inhibited
by the constitution of the state. The two
articles, Is and IS OF the latter instrument,
which bear upon the subject, read as fol-
lows:
No subject shall be deprived Of his life bat
by judgment of his peers or the Jaw OF the land.
No subject shall DO liable to be tried after an
acquittal for the same crime or offense; nor
shall the Legislature make any law that shall
subject any person to a capital punishment
excepting for the government OF the army
and navy and the militia in actual service)
without trial by jury.
The language quoted is nowhere changed
or qualified by other articles in the copsti-
tuition, and as has been argued, it would
seem that as the legislature is without
power to enact law modifying or con-
flicting..with the organic laws it seem clear
enough that after sitting as jury in
capital case, the court is without power to
impose the sentence Of death upon pris-
0ner.
That the question of the constitution
ality OF the law. II ii should be formally
raised, would offer an avenue OF escape
from punishment for Almy was convic-
tion expressed by many Of the ablest law
yers Of the state, and the prediction made
in The Herald at the time OF the rehear-
ing at Plymouth that IL would soon
trouble the courts has been verified.
The mnrderers counsel have fled with
the court document motion that pre-
sumably embodies the exceptions To the
manner OF trial on the
Ground of Unconstitutionxiity.
and the transfer OF the case from the rial
term of the June law term has been
granted by the court. When IL Is heard,
as IT, undoubtedly will be by argument,
neither Chief Justice Doe nor Justice Al
len will sit, rs they constituted the court
before whom the trial was had. and the
law prohibits justices from sitting at the
law term upon n case IN which they sat as
trial justices
The situation created by the raising of
the question described, while being one 10
which great public and professional inter.
est will center. will, nevertheless, be one
OF most embarrassing conditions. The
issue will be directly as TO whether Almy
shall I've given his liberty or whether he
shall be subjected to another trial, and
this will depend upon the interpretation
given to another
Provision OF the Organic Law.
The constitution says: Nor shall any
person be subject for the same offense 10
be twice pot in jeopardy OF life or limb. "
That Almy has already had one trial Is
fact scarcely 10 he controverted, and that
another would twice place him Ia jeopardy
OF life would seem to be equally clear.
IL may be, however, as has been sug.
gestec by prominent lawyer. that
the court will hold that the FIRST proceed
ing, from being unconstitutional il not 10
he regarded in the light Of trial that
jeopardized the respondents life. In such
an event. q new trial by jury would ~
ordered to take place at Plymouth, prob