The Anaconda standard., 1895-04-21
EHRICK GETS ONE YEAR
BE Almost Laushs Aloud When Be
Hears The Verdict.
WILLIAM PARSONS REMARK
" :"
The Case Was HotIy Contested
J. From Start to Finish-Judge
Speer's Instructions to
the Jury.

been found guilty of the crime OF man
slaughter by jury of his peers and his
punishment fixed at one ear in the PEN
itenfiary. Thus Butte's record for turn
ing red-handed murderers loose Is not yet
broken.
The case against Ehrick was generally
considered by those who heard the testi-
mony. with the exception of the jury. to
be one of the strongest cases ever made
against a man IN this county; the pre-
meditated and unprovoked character of
the brutal murder was almost undenied.
II was at least clear that IL was murder in
the first degree, committed in cold blood,
or that it was plain case of self-defense
and Justification. There was no halfway
ground in it. 1t looked as if the defend
ant was guilty, as charged, or he was not
guilty at all, and therefore the jury's ver-
dict must be taken that the state made
out its case fully and that the defense
failed to establish self-defense, but that
the jury regarded one year in the peniten-
tiary as punishment sufficient for killing
Michael Gilmore.
{. The state. through Mr.. Booth and Mr..
Mattison, put up a masterful prosecution
and they are not to blame for the result
OF the trial. Judge Speer presided with
~
sound exposition of the law, aud there
fore no blame can be attached to the hon.
orable court. The instructions were read
10 the jury this morning, and it was IL 80
O'Clock when they retired to deliberate
upon their verdict. Their first ballot
stood eight for conviction and four for
acquittal. There were II ballots, and at
no time was there q vote for murder in
the first degree. The four men continued
TO hold out and they did until the others
were brought down to the least degree
with the lowest punishment. They
reached verdict at 10 minutes be-
fore 6 o'clock this evening and were then
brought into the court room.
There we're less than a dozen spectators
present when the verdict was received
and none of the defendants friends or
family, though his attorneys, Messrs.
Baldwin and Campbell, we're by his side.
Ehrick sat with the same half smile upon
his face that he wore all through the trial.
Gentlemen, have you agreed upon q
verdict?" asked the court.
The foreman handed the verdict up and
the court read IT. Then he read it again
and a look very much like extreme and
nauseating disgust spread over his face
and he handed it TO Clerk Prickett to be
filed and recorded, after which bsing
done the clerk read:
The State of Montana, plaintiff, VS.. Andrew
EDTlck. QeIeQQdnL.
We, the Jury in the above entitled cause. find
the defendant, Andrew Ehrick. guilty of the
crime OF mans .aughter and FIX his punishment
at one years Imprisonment In the state prison.
j. w. kEMPER, foreman.
Ehrlck almost laughed aloud in his glee
and even Mr.. Baldwin was so much sur
prised that he neglected to make an OBJ
lection or demand to have the jury pollcd.
Gentlemen, you are excused until
Monday morning." said the court to the
jurors, without thanking them for the
faithful performance of their duty.
Ehrick was sent back to jail laughing,
and on the way he met some of the jurors.
"Gentlemen," he said. II thank you for
the kindness YOU have shown me-"
well, II this is not hi of a note ~
said Billy Parsons, who is doing time in
the county jail, when he heard of the
verdict. Here l am doing six months for
borrowing two bits from fellow on the
street, and this man only gets a year for
murder"
The men who served on the jury are I:
Morgan James, j. H. Hall. ]. w. Kemper,
o. c. Abbott. William Verran, Joseph
knotwell, X. II. Green, William Guedel-
hofer, A. A. Mcmillan, +. N. Dunckel,
Joseph Boiler, Howard Adams.
After Judge Speer had charged the
jury this morning, Mr.. Baldwin made a
request that the jury be taken to the
scene of the murder so that they might
better understand the testimony. The
court said the request was made too late
and refused it, whereupon Mr.. Baldwin
took one more objection.
There were six forms of verdict SUBJ
mitted to the jury as follows: Murder in
the first degree, murder in the second de-
gree and leaving the punishment to be
fixed by the court; murder in the second
degree, with the punishment fixed by the
jury; manslaughter, and leaving the pun
ishment to be fixed by the court; man
slaughter, with the punishment fixed by
the jury and verdict of acquittai.
MIR. Baldwin asked permission to ex-
anime the forms of verdict to see if he
could find cause for another objection. He
found none
1t took Judge Speer almost an hour to
read the instructions, and lawyers who
heard them declared that they were as
complete and expounded the law as
clearly and fully as any they had ever
heard. They went fully into the subject
of seif-defcnse and threats whether COM
municated or not, and the effect on the
mind of the defendant. Tho court said
these threats could only be taken into
consideration with the other testimony (;
that the bare threats without an overt act
on the part OF the deceased at the time of
the encounter warranted. no excuse for
the killing. In short, the court said that
the alleged threats Gilmore made against
Ehrick could not be a Justification for the
killing unless Gilmore really attempted to
carry out those threats.
If Andrew Ehrick had sought Michael
Gilmore with the intention OF provoking
him into an affray, the plea of self de-
fense would not stand. said the court.
If Ehrick had been assaulted by Gilmore
he was not justified in using more force
than was actually necessary to protect
himself from bodily harm. and, even had
Gilmore fired tho first shot. Ehrick was
not justified in resisting the assault fur
ther than was necessary to protec: him.
self from injury.
The result of the trial is. in one sense,
n great compliment to the defendants
attorneys. John L. Baldwin and Thomp-
son Campbell, who certainly put up a re-
markable defense in bad case.