The St. Johns herald., 1894-05-31
TROUBLESOME JURORS.
Some Remarkable Cases of Obsti-
 nate Talesmen.
One Man May Have the Other Eleven at His Mercy-FIattery Sometimes
 Used as a Means of Convicf!cn.


 Conviction.
 Jurymen are sometimes quite uncon- scious of their own determination of spirit. One of them, says the London Illustrated News, Croake James tells us, once explained to the Recorder, who had noticed his peculiarity, that his behavior was entirely misunder- stood. No man, sir, is more open than I am to conviction, and to do what is right in every case. but I have not met with the same consideration from others. It has generally been my lot to be on jury with eleven of the most obstinate men imaginable, who will not listen to reason" It is fair to say that once in hundred times or so this minority of one proves to be in the right Lord Lyndhurst mentions a case in which, through the opposi- tion of a single individual, the jury, who were otherwise all for verdict of guilty, could come to no agreement; but on the prisoner being tried again he was unanimously and, as it turned out, justly acquitted. On the other hand. some jurymen have too low an opinion of what some philosophers call their ego, and are willing to depute their duties to an alter ego. When Justice Gould had been about two hours trying a case at York he noticed there were but eleven jury men in the box. 'Please, my lord, replied the foreman, in answer to the judges natural inquiry, ''the other has gone away about some business he had to do, but he has left his verdict with me-"
 The most remarkable case of jury standing out" against what seemed unrefutable testimony, and all through the resolution of one man, oc- cured before Chief Justice Dyer. He presided at murder trial in which everything went against the prisoner, who on his part could only say that on his going to work in the morning he had found the man dying, and tried to help him, whereby | had become cov- cred with blood, but when the man presently died he had come away and said nothing about it, because he was known to have had quarrel with the deceased, and feared that he might get into trouble. The hay fork with which the man had been murdered had | the prisoners name on it. In other re- spects his guilt appeared to be clearly established, and the chief justice was convinced of it. When this is the case judge likes to get conviction. l have sat beside one myself, who on the second day brought his black cap with him, neatly folded, and placed it in the drawer before him ready for use, and very much annoyed he seemed to be when the jury returned verdict of mot guilty" This was Chief Jus tice Dyer's case, and when, notwith- standing their being locked up all | night without fire and candle, his | jury could come to no deci- sion, and eventually came to the ! wrong one, he put some searching | questions to the high sheriff The | cause of the acquittal, said that off cial. was undoubtedly the foreman, a farmer of excellent character, es- teemed by all his neighbors and very | unlikely to be obstinate or veXatious. | "Then," said the judge, II must see this foreman, for an explanation of the | matter I will have.'' The foreman | came, and after extracting from his lordship a promise of secrecy proved at once that the prisoner had been | rightly acquitted, flor" said he, cit was myself who killed the man." It had been no murder, for the other had attacked him with the hayforl1, and las he showed) severely injured him; but in the struggle to get possession of the weapon he had the misfortune to give the man a fatal wound. He had-no fears as to his being found guilty of the murder, but, the assizes being just over, his farm and affairs would have been ruined by comics sion, through lying so long in jail, so he suffered matters to take their course. He was mortified to find one of his own servants accused of the matter, supported his wife and chil- dren while in prison, managed to be placed on the jury and elected fore man, and resolutely held out in favor of the prisoners innocence. He added that if he had failed in this he would certainly have confessed to his own share in the business, and the judge believed him. Every year for fifteen years his lordsh;p made inquiries as to the foreman's existence, and at last, happening to survive him, he consid- cred himself free to tell the story.