The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1895-02-04
Jury TO DECIDE.


In the case. Reagan has produced In this
case as good witnesses as should nope 10
produce, II charged OF crimes, witnesses
who say that he was not where the crime
was committed.
"Gentieman, / ask you In behalf of this
defendant to give him the benefit OF
reasonable doubt, doubt for which you
can give reason. The theory OF the
crime, according to the State, Is improp-
able. There are grounds for reasonable
doubt. Determine the case according
to the evidence and the law. Come 10
verdict which Is not based on rumors and
to say are unfair. We cannot
refrain from anxiety that q man charged
of crime and proving his innocence, may
be convicted by some ingenuity of argu-
however, have done all that !,
with my feeble efforts, have
been able to do. And now leave his
cause In your hand, to hearken TO II, and
give him safe dcliverance, unless beyond
a reasonable doubt he Is proven gully"
Mr.. Pierce concluded his argument at
12:15 having spoken for three hours. his
argument was clear, concise and logical,
at times rising to the heights oil eio-
quenco.
At this point the court adjourned until
2 o'clock.
AT the opening OF the afternoon session
Mr.. McGill briefly addressed the jury as
follows:
"If the court please, Mr.. Foreman
case has been so fully and
ably gone into by my associate that shall
not detain you very long. You have lis
tened to the case, and from the careful at
am convinced that you have given this
case profound hearing. You will not be
Influenced by what you have heard
outside. No, gentlemen of the
jury, you held the position
of judges. This is a case OF circumstan-
evidence of this sort Is liable to be. You
know how liable people are to be mis-
taken. We say that the people
who claim to have seen Keegan on the
Hartford turnpike were mistaken. You
may have heard of a Rhode Island case
where man was convicted OF murder and
hanged. The jury made a fatal mistake.
These detectives who have bounded
Keegan say ne is guilty. They always
say that the men whom they
bring here are guilty. Some time ago a
fight occurred on Dexter Training
Ground and man was stabbed and
killed. A ,man named omen
but he was convicted. They had an able
Attorney General then, as they have
now, who thought the defendant guilty.
O'Neil went to prison and remained for
some years, when il was found on exam
ination that O'Neil was innocent and that
q man named Reynolds was guilty. The
General Assembly then said: You have
convicted an innocent and We recommend q
pardon The man was pardoned for a
crime which he had never committed and
the Legislature In its liberality gave him
600.
snow we say about this cnse.
1t Is "A Mistake.
"The sNettie' mare may have been on
the E.a.tford pike, but Keegen was not
there How is it, II Keegan was so well
acquainted with Emily Chambers, that he
took her out to ride. that no one knows
of this acquaintance?
"Anoth her theory Suppose you 60 home
tonight and tell your wife that you have
convicted man OF murder, and You tell
her OF the crime; and suppose your little
child looks up 10 you and asks you:
swhat Did He Kill Her For?'
what will you answer?
'Did You ever read of case of this kind
before where the State offers no motive
for the crime. Nothing has been said
to guess II. They tell you that they prove
one thing which Kecgan does not deny,
that is that he borrowed a revolver. What
IL he did I? He had perfect right to.
"Then they attempt to prove lot OF
other circumstances, and we have had
to examine into them.
"Henry Taylor tells US that Keegan's 8 legs
trembled, but whenI asked him IL he
looked into Keegan's face to see IL he was
agitated he said no, not until he dived
out OF the door. This Taylor calls
himself friend and yet he dived out of
the door. Why didn't he say that he
walked out. Because it would not have
so well carried out the impression that
Keegan was agitated.
Taylor then says that Keegan wanted
to borrow the revolver to go to Warren.
He did not say that at the first trial but
he has read IL so many times in the papers
that be believes it himself.
"He tells us about the cartridges and
tries TO remember just how many cart
ridges were taken and how many were
brought back. But there is nothing cer-
tain about it..
"Another circumstance is that OF the
buggy. They say that there were blood
stains on the cushion of that buggy. Dr.
Palmer won't swear to the fact that il
was human blood. Will you try to say
that II was?
"There was shawl in that buggy but it
was not found until the next day. Is it
probable that IL Keegan had committed
that murder he would have brought { hat
shawl back with him?
"Now Mrs. White is the only witness