The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1893-09-28
County Attorney True.

liminary discussion of the import of the
Indictment and the duty of the jury,
Mr.. True said:
1t frequently happens that certain facts
which have appeared in testimony are
admitted, and in this case it is not
strongly disputed that the annual
municipal election in the city of Port
land was legally held ON the 9th of
March last, that the respondent was the
warden of Ward I, in said city election
that it was his duty as such warden to
preside impartially at the election in
said ward, receive the votes of the quail
fled electors present, and sort, count and
declare such votes in open ward meeting,
and in the presence of the ward clerk of
said ward. And as | stated to you at
the beginning OF this case now restate,
that if / understand the law, the sorting,
theaeounting and the declaration which
the warden is to make means an honest
sorting,
An Honest Counting,
an honest declaration, and that if the
count and declaration was false when
made, and the falsity was within the
knowledge of the respondent he should
be convicted under this Indictment. In
others words the act of counting and de-
claring must have been honestly per-
formed by the respondent. Going a little
further it is I believe substantially adj
mitted that the whole number of votes
cast for mayor in Ward l at the election
on the sixth of last March was not 1850,
but at the outside not more than. eleven
hundred and sixty-one, ana thai bhe
whole number of votes cast on the queE-
ton of the revision of the ward lines was
not twelve hundred and twenty -four, but
a much smaller number, how much
smaller we shall never know. We have
produced the check lists which were
used in that ward on that day; the name
of the electors voting have been counted,
and the two check lists have been shown
to agree so far as they have reference to
the number of names marked, and thus
we arrive accurately at the number of
electors who voted. These two acts were
necessary to be proved by the government
and this burden has been maintained so
that mathematical demonstration of
the fact is the result This is circum-
stance which rarely happens in a crimi-
nal case and / again urge the attention
of the jury to the fact, because, with the
above facts admitted, the argument is
necessarily limited to discussion of the
evidence, an analysis and consideration
of it within much narrower lines. Be
fore proceeding to discuss the evidence in
detail will make single remark. The
only theory have in this case is what
the fact proved gives Truth follows
straight lines, and does not require the
elaborates effortssOf man versed in logI
nor the skill Of the rhetorician. With an
earnest effort TO speak fairly, shall now
discuss the evidence, feeling convinced
that the cold cruel facts require no word
painting and no effort of the fancy.
: If it be true that Thomas r. Harper
was warden of Ward / at legal meeting
of the electors held on the sixth OF last
March, under the constitutional duty of
honestly sorting, counting and declaring
the votes then and there cast, and made
a count and declaration which was false,
in fact, the only question which can re-
main for your consideration or mine is
whether he did 1T knowingly, whether he
knew it to be false, for if be did the in
tent to defraud conclusively follows.
And this leeds us naturally to brief ex-
animation of the doctrine of the criminal
intent How can we ascertain it?
The intent which man has in doing
a certain act can be ascertained in two
ways, and only two; first by the declara-
tions he makes prior to, at the time, and
after the happening of any particular act,
and second, by inference from the act
itself. That is, assuming an act done,
after hearing what mans says was his
says, or we base our belief, with or with
out hearing anything from him, upon
what we know he has done. In certain
cases, we most frequently encounter both
circumstances of the act and declara-
ton explaining it, 1t is an almost uni
versal fact, when the question OF intent
is at all material, and it is material in
most, criminal cases, that the respondent
denies the evil intent, even ii he admits
the fact There is no crime unless the
mind is criminal is an axiom good alike
in morals and law. Knowing this to be
fundamental there can never be an actual
criminal defence, if the act charged and
admitted be criminal, without denial
of evil intent. So that in crimes Of the
expects to be confronted with denial of
the existence of criminal mind. But
the experience of men in cases like this
has led to the conclusion that, it the fact
charged be proved, it has always been
done with some intent, that is with some
purpose, be 1t innocent or guilty. And
the mere denial of the corrupt purpose is
not sufficient unless it be reasonable
denial. should spend my time and that
of the jury to little purpose in an attempt
to reason out the process by which men
infer the intent and motives of their
fellows from what they do. 1t is the
knowledge of experience, early acquired,
and never untrustworthy, except in few
beggarly exceptions which serve only
more strongly to fix the rule.
Men Intend the Natural Result of Their
Conduct
is maxim good in morals, business,
law, politics, in every department of life.
If we could not proceed, and safely
proceed, to collect the intent in mans
mind from what he does the activity of
the world would be hushed, and in
silence we should have to refrain from
the slightest motion until we heard what
our fellows had to say. Do you listen
to the murderer, who is shown from the
testimony to have raised the axe and
killed his victim, when he says he
didn't intend to do it?n Do you heed the
ruffian, when, with his dastardly deed
proved against him, he pleads, he in
tended something different? Do you
believe the rumseller, who, when reliable
men have told of sales of liquor he has
made them, says Il didn't intend to sell
it?n Would you even credit the distin-
guished counsel for the respondent, after
listening to the brilliant argument he
has made, if he should now say in your
presence, 81 did not intend to argue the
case?n The universal experience, the
Instructive knowledge Of men, answers
Il Il 81