The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1895-01-13

ttNfo ~ mat III dA ~ all dUs
man In that room. He was surprised to
find those men there. 1t is true the Wit
ness suss say, that when smith came back
of having It out with somebody. MIR. Smith
says not. and between the two men 1 leave
to your eredenee. think that Mr.. suss
ought to go out of this case entirely. |
ra1%y any any weight vel a'v whatever v sly only w sisi
his evidence could be taken. because he
says IN his examination that smith was
fesenting tho State said that somehow or
other this witness had come under the in-
rssoras "a "a t 'ns e ests"s show os shas from t Inc
day SuHs was put in jail he has been IN
the custody OF the ~state-where we could
him.. They are making insinuations that
they have no right % make. ana they ASK
eestion that we nave tempered with this
Witness. But even Il We eoneede what Suss
says s.o,,, to be !, true us, w ,ha, I smi.h op aee II is ce ne
the bar. Smith came In and asked suss IL
said there was not. Did Smith. know OF
the presence of persons in the ether room
Did he have a grudgs against western hoo -;
him. and Mr.. Suss, in the same sentence,
told him there was no one there, we nave
had no Indications of III temper on the part
OF Smith that night, but we have on the
part of Mr.. Thomas. smith says ne sleppea
to the M d9pf 70 ov wruin "a ns so. and hack
man whitman. one of the States, own wit
nesses. says smith stood near lhs uoor VINE"
he asked the bartender for his Dill.
THE CRIME DESCRIBED.
Now, gentlemen, that is the situation.
Smith comes in good-humoredly and stands
near the door. Thomas breaks into the
conversation without any cause whatever.
/ do not want to speak harshly, because
they are strangers. Mr.. Thomas was talk
ing of a matter with which he had nothing
to do. 1t was certainly a piece OF I'M
pudence and impertinence on the part OF
Thomas, to put it mildly. The significance
is this: 1t shows that he was not himself.
If lie had been sober he was too much OF
a gentleman to have said anything or the
kind. 1t shows that he was not ihomas
among men, but Thomas after a night OK
gressive-that as the boys say, he had a
disposition to put his nose into some one
no contradiction that Mr.. Thomas was the
aggressor. l think he was stepping OUT
s wssn Of &c w aaid tbs ao s Snndnc ri nh pay ii nf for y Dea.'
Here, again, was "a piece OF impertinence on
his part. smith was = stranger ntsov h1 his
Then he invited Smith to drink again.
has drank enough. Then Thomas says,
drink. AXE her and be on Mr.. Thomas
Thought he was the owner OF that saloon,
and was ready to take possession OF IL.
had come to aggressive impertinence. We
all know that 1t was a misfortune that
f saa a OF maee m right we there sser as 'e Thomas.
whie.' smith said, I don't know that |
cording to the testimony. laid his pipe on
the bar and turned around; All the wit
attempted to interfere, and Thomas struck
Smith "a blow In the face; smith says IT ~
t ,sS sq u.s. says 3Se so e snd Pr; Mqnsa" w sfssa,
he found smith the morning after
the murder. By that we know Winnie
no further corroboration. From the testi-
mony OF the states own witnesses we can
that It was placed on Smiths breast. II
IL shown that as the hand went out there
was something about the movement that
don't want any fuss here this morning
,'If the testimony of Ma suss can be
iuvely and emphatlcally .swore that Thomas
brushed Lynch out of the. way ana struck
smith In the face, calling him q vile name;
Thomas struck smith on the nose and IT
was bleeding. It has been, shown, that
house. How did 1t get there II 1t was not
Smiths nose? 1t was not from the Knife.
Then the testimony says Thomas got his
hand on Smiths ear and shoulders and
held him. Thomas was pursuing him In
the assault and who says to the contrary?
LII NlOISdt Say6 TIC htNt ~ ehf.''f -
ears were torn loose. You must know there
was great force used In doing that. Miss
smith about the head and ! submit that
from the condition OF Smiths coat next
morning: her story must pc true WAT
time? Gentlemen, what would any of you
thought under the circumstances? The &C
cused was sick. He weighed but 1899
pounds. He found a man stronger and
mightier than he was. He found himself
In a grasp he could not throw off. Caught
nv tho fhrnatI and STRUGGLING for breath.
did not he have a right TO do what he did?
He had a right to take out his knife;
guarantee that there is no smaller knife
carried in this city. ..
says he fell on the side or rather on top:
He says that he got up first. but did not
then know that he had cut the man; He
cut him and he did cut him.. Smith
started toward the buggy and ran to 1t. but
Thomas got up from the floor and was at
the buggy almost as quick as Smith. A
witness says Thomas hands were up as
if he was about to lay them upon the
the whip and struck Thomas. Gentlemen,
this is one of the significant points, of
received his fatal wound; dying. And yet
80 fierce was his anger, so was
his spirit, that he arose ana ioiiowed TINS
est circumstances in this case, as tending
to snow he was the aggressor:, tell you
comes to us with what ferceness of rage
did that man pursue the defendant in this
WAS IT SELF-DEFENSE?
''Of course, this is a sad transaction. We
are sorry for it, but that is not the ques-
ton you have to determine. You have to
determine whether or not this defendant
has been guilty of crime. Whether it was
murder in the first or second degrees;
whether it was manslaughter. or whether
the deed was done in self-defense. Smith
wasn't fleeing from arrest. He drove away
to the creek, washed his hands, and drove
to a hotel. where he was found within
three hours after the tragedy. This is the
case as made by the evidence. But these
gentlemen make some criticism on some
points of the testimony. They say the
testimony of Smith and Myrtle Overturf
cannot be believed. Gentlemen. If there
was any serious conflict between their
testimony and that of the state, then II
would be material for US to consider with
some particularly whether or not this
testimony should he entitled to credence.
Myrtle Overturf admitted that she told the
police she had not seen this quarrel. But
take the situation. She was frightened and
nervous. Smith had told her to keep still.'
that this was not the time to talk. Now,
some criticism has been made on Smith for