Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1893-10-11

Or. SAWYER and DR.. Strors saw the facts
thew have stated. They made cAreiGi
,xs,n;ns,isa Of TIE whole tesy, 50 Careful
.sst they even hooked At the limbs and tx
suinsd the nose ard jar.
Have yeu ary doubt 'hs. this nan was
ts-owuesls Eur the government says pc
wss s:saer dead when he went into tAs
xx.s, IL hs had %; been lroxnea. or wAs
ureopseious whea nc went in If be had rot
teen arosnea.
There WAS the presence Of goose hesa
ana other unri.laksbie Signs of drowning.
There n,uss be st least s. reasonable
i,erhc that he came 70 lis death by &ny
other means. Would no, Cor moment
grant that these bruises produced ancon-
seriousness.
We leave this man here upoa the tssh-
mcny of two As a. good physicians as found
in Gardner, after an inqaest. which under
tbs statute of the State is held for the pur-
pose of ssesr.sining death, We leave this
man. say, drowned.
Mr.. Spear then took up the subject OF
the second inquest and asked why. when so
much depended upon it, DIR. Turner had
no. been called TO eorroborate DR.. Gid
dings.
DR.. Giidings couldn't tell anything ahou,
the face or brain. He found the skull
whole and nothing bu. what would De found
in a healthy man or on the body. He found
merely VIVA, he described as two blood
elots over the temporal regions, the one IL
8 I-2xl.a inches and the other on the lett
AZ l-sxl-s inches and symmetrical and on
each side of the head in the same way. The
minute this fact of symmetry is noticed,
donb, as to the correctness of DIR. Giddings
discovery begins. Mr.. Spear paid high
compliment 10 DIR. Giddings. DR. Giddlngs
Is man of strong conviction and one who
leaves no stone unturned 10 sustain the
position h. takes He went to tind signs
of foul play upon the body of Charles
Blenn. don't blame him, such feelings
are natural but no man should suffer for
them.
Mr.. Spear brought out two pieces OF
paper, cut the size of the clots, and fitted
them to the skull, showing where such clots
as DR.. Gddings had described would ex-
tend. Mr.. Spear read from the testimony
of DIR. Giidings showing that the clots had
extended to just behind the ear.
DIR. Giddings says he went there AMI
made an incision over the head and than au-
other transversly and dissected the scalp
back from the skull and fonnd these clois
between the rim and the skull. He has no
denied il. When man steps upon this
stand AMI undertakes to deliver testimony
upon which mans liberty depends it is in
cumbent upon him to weigh every word.
don tn nj
when mans liberty is at stake it should
not have the desired effect. Did not hear
word about the temporal muscle or anything
else being there until put on DR.. Gerrish,
He did not find it. DIR. Sawyer says he
saw the scalp dissected back and the who'll
tissue peeled back with the scalp. Read
from DIR. Gidtings' testimony describing
the dissection Of the skull. DIR. Sawyer
says that it WAS taken right of the head
| asked DIR. Sawyer whether it was on the
scalp or skull and he said it was on the
scalp. 1t was all cot or no clot for there
was difference in the consistency of the
issue under the scalp.
He did not ind a,clot. DR.. Sawyer saw
what was on the inside of the skin and he
utterly impossible for the clots TO be located
as described.
DR.. Weeks and DR.. Gerrish tells you il
was utterly impossible for such clots to be
located where described.
The temporal muscle is something and
something important in this case.
DIR. Giddings goes on the stand again.
When be comes back here after the differ
ent version given by DIR. Gerrish for the
frt time. you heard him testify that he
found the temporal muscle bruised ami
crushed. What else " ould you expect Lin
TO say: His position had been proved ur-
icaable. Now after the testimony of their
own witness Dr. tiildngs had erred.
Gentlemen If Dr.. Gliding made ms
take in the use Of terms. or vague, whi t
credence viii you give To it when weight d
against the liberty of one Of your fellow
mem don't care how small wavering
you should give the benefit of the doubt il
favor of tile defendant. | claim that Dr..
iiidiags was not only uncertain, but in
error.
How about infltration? Dir. Weeks
sad a clot might form in the loose ti.sB'
next to the skin and then would merel,
dscolor the muscle. DIR. Giilidgs' error
should not be allowed to weigh against III,
clients. Is there one of You who believes
that DR.. Giidings found those clois:
pom the clots rests the structure of gov
eminent as TO the force of the blows al
legged. The minute any one of you gentle
men sees doubt in the existence of Il
ciots the governments case falls to the
ground. Charles Blenn's death depends |
upon those clots.
Whist is the testimony of the doctors in |
regard to the force of the blowss DIR. |
Croker said assuming that DR.. Gliding |
was correct the he thinks it might pro3uc,
death. That was all. Nearly all the phys |
clans on both sides told you that it was al |
most impossible to tell what would be III |
effects of the blows alleged. There wer, |
all degrees of force estimated. DIR. Weeks |
frankly states that he could not estima G |
the force and effects of the blows alleged |
Considering the error of DIR. Gi1diDgs |
| do not believe that any man can accep |
the result of the Dresden autopsy.
Then you go back 10 the shores of IT, |
stream, you find an autopsy by two con |
petent physicians who found that the ma
came to his death by drowning.
Mr.. Spear then touched upon the nature
Of the alleged blows, and said that DR.
Strout and Sawyer had found only .igl
DO swellings. He said that
there was plenty of evidence that the thre
had been drunk. An examination of the |
boat and the condition of the bruises show
that Blenn might have been sitting at tht
end of the boat drunk. have begun to rock
been struck on the face with paddle by ST.
yer, who would wish to stop hin, fall back
and strike his head in the peaked end of the
boat.
The government must prove that j. Ign
9. Wakefield either struck the blow or a..
listed in striking it. IL is incumbent upo
hem to prove this point. II BY any oth"'
n pothesls you can account for BlennS
Heath, your verdict must BE- mot guilty"
This case is based upon great bias. Every
1ne of you has seen tie bias. the treat
nent of Witnesses, who would not testify
'uit the counal.
find no fanlt with Mr.. Van Blenn's con-
lEct. Il was his brother who was found
here and he has a right TO GO the verge and
10 every thing in his power to bring parte
o book that he deems guilty.