The Portland daily press., 1895-08-06

facts when balanced against the lack of
opportunity and move Of Lewis to com
NIT the crime; the absolute denial o f
Lewis of any such confession or admission
to Graffam; that he Iewis) was in the
Lowell house until O'Clock at least: that
Lewis was able to account for all his
money; that he (Lewis) talked freely in
relation to the deed without hesitation
and, if it is claimed that the murder was
committed during the time Lewis was
out of the Lowell house, which we abso-
lutely deny as an impossibility under the
circumstances since it has been shown
that he was out of the Lowell house at
most, only fifteen minutes; the fact that
Lewis left the Lowell house only when
the lamp burned out, p. 81 and s4; that
Lewis when he approached the Goburn
house came from the direction of the
Lowell's, would seem to raise not only 3.
reasonable doubt as to Lewis guilt, but
a strong9sprobabilit Of his innocence, and
a far stronger probability that Graffam
is the guilty man.
Commenting upon the claim by the
state at the trial that Lewis's conduct
during the evening of the murder was
strange, unnatural and inculpatory. Mr..
Seiders after rehearsing Lewis move
ments up to the discovery of Coburn's
body in the tieup, said: Is there anything
inculpatory in these acts on the part of
Lewis? just what Lewis and Mrs. Kim
ball said after finding Coburn, except a
few isolated words, neither she nor Lewis
are able to state clearly, which might be
expected from the shock Of finding
Coburn dead. Lewis directed Mrs. KIM
ball to leave everything just as it was
and disturb nothing-the contrary might
have been expected. had he been the guilty
man. under the orders of Mrs. Kimball,
he went to the Lowell house for help,
protesting against leaving Mrs. Kimball
there alone, and urging her to go and
leave him in care of the body he an
nouncd the fact at LowelPs, appearing as
they all testify, as usual except a little
more sober and formal than was his
custom and it must be borne in mind
that he had been away from the Lowell
llOuo6 llOU C4AOCCb1h5 A1AuOS1l ht4AouGo3 Oa
the announcement of the deed done at
Coburn's, all the men present at the
Lowell house made some remark of sur
prise except Graffam, who was silent !;
Lewis Immediately went back to the barn
with the Lowell folks and rendered all
the assistance he could about the barn,
and finally went for the doctor and
officials at Gorham, by request of Mrs.
Kimball, and at Gorham explained fully
all he knew about the matter, while
Graffam was reticent.
Can any or all of these acts be claimed
to be indicative of guilt on the part of
Lewis if SO, what course of action, or
series of acts, would have indicated in
nocence on the part of Lewis? We con-
tend that the acts, conversation and be
havior of Lewis on that entire day and
evening were entirely consistent with in
nocence, although the prosecuting officers
tried to twist and distort them into indi-
cations of guilt and guilty knowledge.
We submit that careful reading and
analysis of the evidence in the case will
necessarily raise in the minds of the court
reasonable doubt of the guilt of Lewis.
Strike out OF the Indictment the name
of Lewis and insert in the place thereof
the name of Graffam, and the same evil
dence by which Lewis was convicted,
would irretrievably have convicted
Graffam of the murder of Byron G. CO.
burn Under that Indictment with the
array of evidence against Graffam, his
contradictory statements, perjuries. de-
malls, and the lack of accounting for his
time satisfactorily, particularly when
taken in connection with the newly dis
covered evidence, no jury would return
other than a verdict of guilty agai nst
him and yet the jury failed Ito compre-
hend the vital bearing of the evidence
against Graffam and returned yerdictsoi
guilty against Lewis.
In this we claim that the verdict was
| against the law and the evidence. The
| verdict can be accounted for largely on
| the ground of the erroneous instructions
and the lack of instruction, given by the
presiding justice to the jury, and lack of
| due an alysis and careful consideration by
the jury, of the voluminous evidence be-
| fo re them.
| AT the adjournment of court, Mr..
Seiders had not finished his argument.