Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1892-05-26
LO0PHOLE FOR ALMY
APPEARS TO Be AMONG THE POSI-
nlLlTiE5. -kLLgGED FLAW FOUND
In the Trial which 1t Is Claimed VIII
CTer Elm Chance Tor Abs olute Free
donna ouestion For Tho Supreme
Court to Decide.

IN assured fact that Ute case OF AbDott,
alias Almy, the Hanover murderer, is 20
again engage public attention. According
to information of the most unqsiestonably
reliable character chat has come to Her
Md reporter from legal circles in Grafton
cc1nty, it will be through further judicial
proceedings in his behalf, tho necessary
,Neliminary steps toward which have
already been taken.
'rl,e June term Of the supreme court,full
bench, will be opened in this city on Tues
nay, June &, a little more than two weeks
hence, and before its close the murderer's
counsel will appear TO contest with the
prosecution a question never before raised
in the courts of the state.
This question will have no reference to
The guilt oil Innocence of the prisoner, will
not deal with matters Of new testimony,
nor raise an issue as 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 unconsti-
nationality Of the trialin which Amy was
adiudgcd guilty. and furnish grounds for
a demand that not only shall his life not
pay the forfeit of his crime, but that The
prison doors shall be open and
Permit Ills 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 plea of guilty, and thereupon the
the iurymen who had been drawn were
officially informed that they were excused
from appearance at the trial on the day en-
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 as il jury was
present Amy pleaded guilty TO the in
Ilictment, which was murder in the first
,legree, and in the course of evidence, he
tol the story of the tragedy. The argu-
snents were made, and when finished the
court took the usual recess for dinner
During that recess Amy was sent to
prison, and the sentence Of death was
later announced when he was on his way
10 Concord.
In its proceedings the court acted under
section 8 of chapter 21S of the general
statutes which says: of person shall
plead guilty to an Indictment for murder,
the court having cognizance Of the offense
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
Is Strictly Inhibited
by the constitution of the state The two
articles Is and l6 of the latter instrument,
which hear upon the subject, read as fol-
lows:
No subject shall be deprived of his life but
by judgment OF his peers or the law of the land.
No subject shall be liable to be tried after an
,tcquittal for the same crime or oGense; nor
shall the Legislature make any law that shall
subject any person to capital punishment
excepting for the government of the army
and navy and the militia in actual scrvice)
without trial by jury.
The language quoted is nowhere changed
or qualified by other articles in the cOusti-
tuition. aud, as has been argued, it would
reem that as the legislature is without
power to enact law modifying or con
fiictingswith the organic lawsit seem clear
enough that. after sitting as a jury in a
capital case the court is without power to
impose the sentence Of death upon pris-
Drcr
That the question of the constitution
alty of the law if it should be formally
raised would offer an avenue of escape
from punishment for Almy was Il COuvc
lion e. pressed by many of the ablest law
yers Of the state, and the prediction made
in The Herald at the time Of the rehear
ing ut Plymouth that it would soon
trouble the courts has been verified.
Tho murdcrer's counsel have fled with
the court Il document motion that pre-
sumably elrbodies The exceptions to the
manner of t?ial on the
Ground of UnconstitutionaIity,
md the transfer Of the case from the tria
term of the June law term has beer
granted by he court. When it is heard
as il undoubtedly Will be by argument
neither CHIEF Justice Doe nor Justice Al
len will sit, as they constituted the Cuur
before Whom the trial vas had, and tn,
law prohibits justices from sitting at thl
law term upon 4 case IN which they sat a
trial Justices
The s.ultl,u created 10y the raising o
The question described, while being one il
which SrOa, public and professional inter
r-t will center, viii, nevertheless, be ou
uf nest cmbarras sing conditions. TN
j. re will ~ directly as 10 whether Aim
shall he given his liberty or whether h
shall he .ubiected 20 another trial AM
this will depend upon the Interpretation
Liven to another
Provision Of the Organic Law.
The constitution says: Nor shall an
person b9 subject for the same oliensc q
De twice put in jeopardy of life or Hmb.
Tint AlnN las air, tuY bad one trial is
TACT scared. 20 be coutroyegted, and tina
Buotner would twice place him in leopard
% life would seem TO be equally clear.
It may h., however. as has been suG
FesteG by a. prominent lawyer, tha
the court viii hold that the first proceed
ing, Iron being unconstitutional, IS not +