Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1895-03-22
AC0UITTAL OF GOODMAN.
EXPRESSIONS OF OPINION BY THE
STATE PRESS.

SIAIE Gn60Ss
The jury in the trial of T. A. Goodma
for the murder OF III. G. Parsons at til
Gladys Inn, Clifton Forge, June Goth, 1885,
which had been progressing at Charlottes
vile for some days, brought in verdic
Saturday morning of mot guilty. Th
Charlottesville Progress of Saturday. says
"An attempt at applause-an involuntar
one-was made, but checked-for a mo
ment. During that brief interval the &C
cused and his wife were clasped in eacl
others arms. The seventeen-year oil
daughter threw her arms about her parents
and the smaller children nestled near. Mrs
Goodman wept freely. and finally Captain
Goodman yielded to his feelings, which hai
been hitherto under strong central
Sinking in his chair, he gave way to tears
quietly. Friends and sympathizers press
ed forward, pressed his hand, and express
ed their joy at his deliverance. In thu
meantime the applause broke through al
restraint.
When The Progress reporter called al
the Parish Hotel to which Captain Good.
man went with his family after the YER
dict, be found the man who had just beer
restored to liberty, surrounded by his hap
Ply family, his faithful wife still crying fol-
joy. For several hours he held quite re-
ception, hundreds of friends calling to Of
fer their congratulations. The jury called,
among others, and as Captain Goodman
thanked them for their verdict, and prayed
God to bless them, he was greatly affected
and the tears rolled down his cheeks. We
never saw happier family circle than the
little group at the Parish Hotel this morn
ing.
Captain Goodman and family were driv-
en- over the city this afternoon. They will
remain at the Parish Hotel until Monday
afternoon when they will leave for their
home in Richmond. Captain Goodman
has been quite sick for the past two weeks
and will, upon his arrival home, undergo a
course of medical treatment. He has not
formed any plans for the future, and will
rest up for several weeks before deciding
as to his future movements. We have
heard it rumored that the railroad compa-
nv will offer him similar position as that
formerly held by him, whenever he is ready
to go to work.
The Progress reporter interviewed seve-
raj of the iurymen after the trial was con-
cluded and found them unanimously OF the
opinion that Captain Goodman shot in self
defense. When they first began to delibe-
rate upon the verdict they should return,
one stood for convection of voluntary man.
slaughter and eleven for acquittal. At the
conclusion of the trial, the members of the
jury were the recipient of hearty congratu-
lations on all sides. One juryman said
that the minds of all had been fully made
up, he thinks, before any speeches were
made With him Goodman IS evidence was
fully believed and there was nothing else to
be done but acquit.
From the Richmond Times.]
"When the jury acquitted Captain Good.
man, Virginia received the saddest and
most injurious blow that has been inflicted
on her in many day. Coming on the
heels of the inadequate punishment of Nc
Nance, outsiders may very well come to
the conclusion that human life is without
proper safeguards in Virginia, and that
the rule of existence is to be found here in
the paraphrase of an old verse that,
''He may kill who has the power,
And he may live who cam
'Despite the approval Of the verdict by
the audience in Charlottesville and Good
mans friends elsewhere, the moral sense
of many thoughtful men at home and
abroad will be shocked by it. For, besides
the blow it has given our own confidence in
the administration of our criminal law,
the effect on outsiders will be serious. We
are always proclaiming to the world that
we have unrivalled resources, and we are
always urging outsiders to bring theil
money here and develop them, by which
they will receive enormous returns and we
shall be immensely benefited. Are we SC
ignorant Of human nature as not to know
that the last place on earth that any quiet
law-abiding citizen will go to, Or will allow
his money to go to, is the place that has
the reputation of tolerating disorder, OF
where human life is without the amplest
and completest safeguards? If we do not
know it we will learn it by the lessons of
bitter experience when it is perhaps too
late for our knowledge to be of any avail to
us.
sit is useless to publish handbooks of Vir-
ginia, when we publish along with them
the verdict Of jury of Virginians upon
such crime as the murder of Colonel Par.
sons,'
From the Richmond Dispatch.]
The verdict of the Albemarle jury in the
case of Conductor Goodman, charged with
killing Colonel H. G. Parsons, was rather
surprise to us. After Judge lIcLaugh-
lin had decided that much of the testimony
admitted at the trial which took place at
Covington was inadmissible we expected a
light verdict compared with that which
was rendered upon the first trial, but we
were not quite prepared for the acquittal
of the prisoner.
From the Staunton News.
While Captain Goodman has some SYM
pathisers in Staunton, we think we are
safe in saying that the majority of people
in Staunton thought he ought to have been
severely punished.
From the SJaunton Post.1
We cannot endorse this verdict While
sincerely hoping not, we fear that it tends
to sow the seeds of murder, to countenance
killing upon small provocation. to under.
estimate the value of human life.
From the Richmond Daily Star.]
The acquittal Of Thomas A. Goodman
will be generally approved by the people OF