Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1893-06-16
The Second Week.
Summary of the Proceedings and the
Evidence Submitted.

summary of the Proceedings and the
Evidence Submitted.
The main feature of the proceedings at
the session on Monday of this week was
the contest over the admission of the tes-
timony which Miss Borden gaze at the
cOroner's inquest. The state held that il
should be admitted, while eX.Gov. Robin
son argued that her testimony at the in
quest was given when she was separated
from her friends and counsel, and practi-
cally under compulsion, and that whatever
contradictory statements were made under
such circumstances should not be used to
her disadvantage, on the well-establisbed
principle of law that no man can be COM
PEELED to testify against himself After
consultation the judges brought in a de
cision ruling out the evidence on the
ground that statements made bv persons
under arrest, charged with crime, are not
voluntary and are inadmissible at trial
This was an important victory for the de-
fence Miss Borden was visiblv affected
by the decision.
Tuesday was devoted to the examination
OF the medical experts, introduced by the
prosecution. The details were long drawn
out and the day was tresome, except for
those who reveled in its gruesomeness.
Plaster casts were brought in and arranged
to show how the bodies lay, and the skulls
of the victims were introduced with the
Ratchet holes in them. All agreed from
the appearance of the wounds and the
blood that Mrs. Borden must have been
killed an hour or an hour and half before
her husband. Prof. Wood. a Harvard
chemical expert, described the examination
of the stomachs, which showed a similar
difference in the time of death. All agreed
that the assailant must have been spatter-
ed with blood, but none of them found any
blood on Lizzie Borden's clothing except
one minute speck, not so big as a pin
head, on her white skirt, and this might or
might not have been human blood The
prisoner was out of the courtroom during
the afternoon while the skulls were exhib-
tied. One of the jurors was taken i'll dur
ing the session and had to leave the court
room for time.
Wednesday the court decided, after list
ening to extended arguments, that evil
dence might be admitted showing that Liz
zie Borden tried to buy prussc acid the
day before the murder. This was the first
decision favorable to the prosecution on
any important law point. just before the
noon recess Mrs. Reagan, matron of the
Fall River central police station, testified
that on Aug ~ Lizzie told her sister Em-
ma, lyon have given me away" and, on
Emma's denial, repeated the charges, add
ing, 81 won't give in one incl,' and that
the sisters then sat two hours and parted
without speaking again. Mrs. Clifford,
cloakmaker, said the prisoner told her six
months before the murder that Mrs. Bor-
den was "a mean, hateful old thing" and
that she did not eat with her any more
than she could help These were all
points in the governments favor, but on
the other hand the defence made good
point by showing that an outside person
might have entered the house the day of
the crime without being seen by the gov
ernments witnesses, who testified that
they saw no strange person enter or leave
the house.
Thursday the state finished its side of
the case and rested, and Mr.. Jennings,
personal counsel for Miss Borden, opened
for the defence. They would prove, he
said, Miss Borden's spotless character, and
her interest in charitable and religious
work. There is always an outcry for
somebody to be punished for such crime,
but we want the guilty punished, not the
innocent
Evidence was introduced showing that
strange or suspicious persons had been
seen In the vicinity of the Borden house
the night before the murder. A painter
testified that he painted the Borden house
in May, 1892, and he thought the prisoner
was in the vicinity of the paint tubs.