The San Francisco call., 1895-11-02
Convicted by the Jury on the
First Ballot. <>

on the animated figure of the District At
torney, his head supported on one hand
He kept two fingers up against his cheek,
the other two fingers being bent against
his face and his thumb under his Gilman
attitude of studious attention For more
than an hour he had preserved this posi-
ton, saying no word and making no move
ment. He hardly seemed to wink. The
first time he changed was when the Dis
trict Attorney was smashing his alibi.
Durrant had testified that on the Sd of
April he had gone on long walk with
fellow-student. He had said that on that
day he was not feeling well and did not
feel that he would be able to eat full
meal; so, instead of lunching, he bought a
pocketful of nuts and munched them as he
walked along. An exasperatingly long
| cross-examination had followed. The
trivial circumstance of the nuts engaged
the time of the court for long time, and
everybody wondered why.
How much he had paid for the nuts
/ Whether he had paid for them with a
nickel, dime or quarter? What change
he had received? What he had done with
the shells and the paper bag. Whether he
| '-@NN ACAG az VIC Gnu OI MS WBlk /!
Every minute circumstance of the simple
incident was gone into, and the District
Attorney IN his argument read to the iury
all OF this, and again everybody wondered
| why.
Ihen the District Attorney turned to
Inc lesumony OF his companion in that
"aIH' anu showed that on the day when it
really occurred Durrant and his friend
lunched together at a Fillmore street res
tauraht' AND then the people knew why.
III was trlhe, but crushing one, and
When barnes began to thunder and bring
the contradlctlng circumstances together
Ourrant and everybody else realized that
almost the last of the few poor point. that
| remained TO the defense had been brolyan
down. Then 1t was that Durrant smiled
He turned to his mother and smoke +o ber
and the little woman in black Matted bis
hand and smiled back. Then Durrapt re-
sumed his old stony pose and kept it almost
to the end-not quite to the end for as tbe
argument drew to close the LAWYER grew
earnest and emphatic. and his voice rose
in one of the few flights of eloouence in
which he INDUCED. The SUMMING nm vas
strong-wickedly strong In few words
the lawyer heaped the damninp facts
against Durrant mountains high and
some of the thrill that all the other peonle
there felt must have penetrated the cold i'm.
passiyeness of the prisoner himself for
again he shifted, and again he spoke to his
mother, and again he smiled.
During the reading of the Judges cbaree
the prisoner gave no sign. When Judge
Murphy rolled out the long sentences in.
structing the jury what they were Der.
mitted to do and what they were not per
mitted to do, what they could take in de.
Gliding the case and what they must ignore
it seemed as if the Penal Code had been
written precisely with the Durrant case in
mind. Every sentence of cold law seemed
to bear directly against the marble little
man with the scowling face, who listened
so stolidly. The lawyers say it was fail
and an able charge; that the law wa:
clearly told and the prisoners right pre-
served. This may be SO, but to the laymar
! it seemed that every carefully worded sen
tence pushed the murderer step nearer
the gallows.
The Judges charge was very much of {
literary effort. He heaped up adjective,