The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1893-03-28
A ROMAN RELIC.
Jurors Seventeen Hundred
Years Old.
COFFEY DISCOVERED THEM.
How a fiighbiuder's Trial in Judge
Daingerfieid's Court Was Success
fully Delayed Yesterday.
coFFEY DISCOVERED THEM.

"The Sheriff has sworn, IL your Honor
please, that he served those subpenas when
Rome was iourishing In her imperial gran
deur.
He claims, in his affidavit here, that
about 1TG5 years ago he complied with the
order of this honorable court, made last
January.
He went after jurors 10 serve in crimi-
nal prosecutions held in the Superior Court
Of the city ana county of San Francisco at
time when Nero was watching Rome burn.
or swarthy gladiat0rs were slicing each other
up in the arena.
I'm the year A. d. 1873 he asked each of
these hundred men to attend before your
Honor, and, in their zeal TO obey your
Honor's instructions, they kept right on
living through the decline and fall of the
Roman Empire, right on through the dark
ness of the middle ages and into the dawning
light of the revival of learning; kept right
on living through the EiiZabethan age and
the commissions OF the eighteenth century
OF Europe, and here, in the year 1888. they
dotf their Roman togas, jump into modern
coats and trousers and appear smlllngly
before your Honor, ready to try my client.
Lee Ling, for the crime of murdeTP
The astonishing history which Mr. Cot
fey thus imputed to the thirty or forty San
Francisco business men who filled the
benches in Judge Daingerheld's courtroom
yesterday was, as might be expected, a
complete revelation tO the gentlemen them
selves. none of whom claimed an age eX-
ceediug so or 60 years.
Every single one of them looked incredu-
lous. 1t was prep0sterous-absurd.
COtfey held the ancient document I'D to
the view of the court.
1t was filled-in legal blank, printed by
local stationer. No one would have sus-
pected that it had come down to us from the
Augustau age. II was remarkable no W
the page had withstOod the ragages of time.
Lee Sing, one OF the nine Chinese who
were recently indicted for murder by the
Grand Jury, sat in the dock.
He didn't "savey" all this talk of his
counsel about Rome and the gladators.
The countenance OF the highlander wore an
expression OF stolid Indifference.
District Attorney William S. Barnes had
come down from his sanctum on the second
floor for the express purpose of assisting his
subordinate in the trial of this the first of
the nine highbindeT cases. But the grace
less Lee Ling did not ackn owiedge the obv-
Gus compliment
His attorney, NJ. NJ. COffey, was not pre-
pared for the defense of his Client the case
having been promptly pressed to trial by
the prosecution. He wanted another day
OF preparation, and he wanted it badly.
1t was o'clock, the jurors were all there
ready to be impaneled. and Mr.. Barnes
said, I'VE are ready TO begin"
Mr.. Coffey was in n hole He was in one
month ago, right there in the same court
room, and the jury. fortunately for him,
had said Not guilty"
he had gotten out of that little excava-
ton nicely, and his mother wit did not en-
tlrely desert him in the present emergency.
DE looked about him for something to
object to, and the first thing he struck was
the SheTitf's return 10 the court upon sum-
monlng the Venlre OF Jurymen at present in
attendance IN Depar tment II.
The Police Court practitioner surveyed
the document with the eagle eve of the ex-
perienred iurist If Mr.. COtfey couldn't
find flaw in the wording of the document,
pray who could?
1t wasn't o'clock yet and he would have
to kill a whole lot of time II be expected to
get out of trying the case that day. and it
was only question of his wind holding out.
So he cleared his throat and commenced
Directing against time.
Il object to this Jury, IL YOUR Honor
please, on the ground that they have not
been properly summoned by tile Sheriff.
The return is defective In many particu-
lars"
District Attorney Barnes smiled good
naturedly, expecting, of course, that the
delay would be very short
What are your grounds Of objection?'
he asked.
Why, in the first place, here in the
ItpoII VI MS interview with one
man the answer is, Wife is ill., Now,
what has the fellows wife or the illness of
the said wife got to do with whether or not
the man was told TO come here and act as
juror? | will read the provisions of the
code which define the duties of the Sheriff
In the matter"
And MI Coffey read. He read right on.
Every moment or two he paused for
breath, and then he continued reading.
Then he drank a glass of water, after
which he again went diligently TO Work at
his reading.
When he had exhausted the Political
Code, and incidentally the whole court
room, he reverted to the document and
picked some more flaws in the phraseology.
again referring 10 the code 10 sustain him
After awhile he fell to examining sigma
lures, dates and other such portions of the
unfortunate report, and it was then that he
discovered that the Sheriff had showed in
on the court an antique manuscript instead
OF modern legal document
The Sheriff after rcciting his various acts
In regard to the summOnng of the iurymen
under the order Of Judge Daingerfield, had
signed his name, but had omitted to fiji in
the date. The blank on which the certif-
cate was written was an old one and tho
figures "1SS-" were printed at the end of
the place for the date. The iSherlff should
have changed the last to a 8 and added
the figure But lie didn't. and here Coffey
got In his fine work.
HO SOl tiHttlt DehIS uhIb 100 ana IS
sworn to by the Sheriff. aud we object to
the whole return on Tho ground that it
states palpabe absurdiies"
And the ingenious attorney for Lee Sing
proceeded TO kill more time by enumerating
the startling impossibilities which followed
from the statement of The Sheriff that he
had interviewed those hundred San Fran
ciseans in the year a. ID. 1873.
Mr.. COffey displayed nn erudiion on the
subject OF ancient history only to be com
pared to his knowledge Of law, and by and
by the hands of the clock crept around to
$3.50 and Mr.. Coffey Gasped and asked the
court for continuance until TO morrow.
when be promised to file abundant authori.
ties in support of his objections to The re-
turn.
But Judge Daingerfeld heartlessly denied
his motion, ruled that the jurymen were all
right and ordered the prosecution to proceed.
COffey practically gained his point, for
there was not sufficient time to impanei the
jury, much less to proceed with the testi-
mony. and he looked as happy as a Roman
gladiator who had downed his man and had
received the applause of the multitude.