Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-05-29

/ Iull OF tnat door Wn1cn away dtIacncs lISei
to the abode of the law, and which has
nothing in its favor except its appropriate
ness.
The selection of jury have already de-
scribed. Then came the opening for the
prosecution, after which the policeman on
our beat told how he had arrested Fielding
| on the scene of the assault. He described
| my appearance and behavior, and admitted
that had made no attempt to escape.
Afterward, in response to urgent questions
by the Assistant District Attorney, he con-
| fessed that he had also arrested Mr.. Swag-
ley. Cross-questioned by Mr.. Mucker, he
said that Fielding had been greatly dis
turbed, while Mr.. Swagley had been calm.
He knew nothing about the assault.
The prosecution then desired to call the
victim of the assault, but it appeared that
| he had gone to take up his residence in a
small town on the northern frontier of Zu-
| luland, and would not come back unless
| sent for. The defense offered to wait until
| he could be brought back, which would
| probably take about four years if he agreed
to come, and longer if he resisted. The
trial then proceeded.
I was placed upon the witness stand. 1t
was q nervous time for me. 1 expected to
get through the direct examination all
right, but when Mr.. Mucker got after me I
Under the Cross-Examiner's Fire.
Mr.. Mucker is an able cross-e1aminer; he
knows how to make witness angry and
lead him into rash statements. Mr.. Mucker
is admirably calculated to make any Chris
tian angry. His mere existence is peren-
nial spring of righteous indignation. To
carry on conversation with Mr.. Mucker is
to 90 beyond the cleansing power of con-
oh 1nfi
That he should be allowed to come into
court and make finger marks on the robe of
Justice is an incredible disgrace to all
concerned.
feared Mr. Mucker, but did not under
stand him. I supposed that he would be-
wilder me with questions, and enrage me to
the point of self-contradiction, but he took
another tack. After had told nv story In
nv weak and stammering way in the direct
examination, Mr.. Mucker began. I had
ALWAYS believed that the object OF cross
examination was to get the truth out of a
witness;-I quickly perceived that its object
| is to get lies out of a lawyer.
NV answers were of no account what
ever. Most of the questions were not in
tended to be answered; it was the question
itself which was supposed to influence the
Jurors kept tally on Mr.. Mucker. He
asked me 800 questions, of which 298 were
simply interrogative insults, and had no
other object. The Judge ruled out 279 of
them, and would have ruled out the others
if he had considered them to be of any i'm
portance. This is sample:
Mr.. Mucker's Style of Examination.
"Fielding, on that quiet, peaceful Sabbath
morning, when the church bells were ring
ing, when the steps of all good citizens
were turned toward the house of worship,
and you, with your besotted head bent over
bar we're
"I object" said the Assistant District At
torney
"Obiection sustained" said the Court.
"Fielding," continued Mr.. Mucker, "are
you aware that one of your relatives was
hanged in Ohio in 1892"
"No. nor you, either" said I, hotly, be-
fore the prosecutor could interpose.
"Will YOU swear that one of your rela-
tives was not hanged?" persisted Mr..
Mucker.
Certainly"
"Fielding, how many relatives have you
in both branches of your family?"
"Heaven knows, said l. Several thou
sands, suppose"
care YOU personally acquainted with all
of them?''
"Certainly not"
"will you name all your first and second
cousins, and tell me what each one died OFF"
'I can't; it's preposterous.
f'Then you cannot swear that one of them
was not hanged, as the records show
But here the prosecutor who had been
obiecting till his tongue was fairly cramped
with WEAKNESS, succeeded in making him.
self heard; and the judge ruled out all
these questions But 1 could see the Jurors
eyeing me with morbid curiosity as a man
Er.t hol hoo
He Fared just as Parkhurst Did.
If, however, he had confined himself to
remote accusations such as this, 1 would
have cared little; but he attacked me on
every hand. He accused me of everything
of which he himself had been guilty; and
after thus exhausting all the possibilities of
degradation he sat down, and escaped.
Mr.. Slyme made the closing argument. He
treated all the questions which had been
ruled out as if they had been unassailably
proven against me. He urged the jury not
to regard the word of a perjured, rum
soaked wretch like me, against that of a
gentleman like Swagley. And about half
of them took his advice; that is, they
disagreed.
Since then 1 have felt that the finger of
scorn points at me wherever 1 go. 1 have
received letters from various old friends,
some of whom naturally labor under the de-
lusion that have been tried, and so con-
gratulate me on the verdict; while others
venture to warn me that intimate associa-
tion with man like Swagley might have
been expected to lead me to the depth to
which they regret to learn that
have fallen. You, my out-ot-town
reader, may regard this picture as
overdrawn. But come here and in
vestigate. wish you could have been here
while DR.. Parkhurst was being tried for
every crime on the calendar, on an indict-
ment against somebody else. But come
anyway, and if in a weeks time you don't
have more respect for my veracity than
the Swagley jury did, I'll pay your board
for month in Bloomingdale Asylum. It's
beautiful place. Just let ME be a witness
against diye-keeper once more and I'll go
there myself HOwARD FIELDING