The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-09-04
THE DURRANT JURY At EMMANUEL CHURCH,

trict Attorney intends to touch upon the
evidence in his opening address"
Thus persuaded Judge Murphy made the
order. 1t excluded from the room all wit
nesses excepting the arresting officers.
Those affected by the mandate left the
room with evident reluctance They were
taken in charge by the bailiff and housed
IN Judge Murphy's chambers.
Then the District Attorney began. He
spoke distinctly, in clear voice and not
word OF what he said was lost by his aud
ltors. His statement was the story Of the
crime, and it was prefaced by these intro
ductory remarks:
AT this point in the trial, and before proceed
Ing with the evidence. it becomes my duty as
a representative of the people to make what is
called the opening statement of the case. This
is survival, partly, OF the old common law
1dea that the accused must be made familiar
with the evidence against him, of which the
opening statement is his official notification,
and is further made for the purpose of inform
Ing the jury of the circumstances of the case so
that they may listen to all the evidence intel
hgently, and be able as the testimony falls
from the lips of the witnesses to fit it in its
proper place in the chain that is woven link by
link, and may be able to give it its just weight
and its proper consideration. The opening
statement should not be regarded by you
in the light of testimony, neither should it
be regarded as an argument upon the facts. 1t
should not have any weight with you, nor
should you consider it initiating against
the prisoner; it is merely statement of what
the people expect to prove-a statement of the
evidence which they intend to present for your
consideration, and upon which they will con-
hdently rely for verdict at your hands, which
shall sweep away the sophstries and the tech
nicalities that have enveloped criminal pro-
ceedings in this State as with garment, and
shall declare that the land we live in is blessed
not only with the manifold gifts of nature and
Of God to man, but it is further blessed with
the hard, clear common sense that can rise
above the tortuous environments that surround
the criminal, and punish the crime committed
in the manner required and demanded by all
laws, both human and divine.
Of course there were objections taken to
Mr.. Barnes speech. When he reached
that part of It describing how the school
girls had seen Durrant and Blanche La
mont leave the High School Mr.. Deuprey
interrupted to say that it was not fair for
Mr.. Barnes to tell what the schoolgirls said
to one another.
The court sustained the objection and
ordered the jury to regard the words OBJ
iected to as not having been uttered.
Mr.. Deuprey again objected to the state
ment concerning Mrs. Leaks anxiety over
the non-appearance of her daughter while
standing at the window. But Judge Muir
ply thought this was competent and over.
ruled the objection.
When Mr.. Barnes reached the point
where reference was made to the finding of
Minnie Williams body Mr.. Deuprey made
objection to any reference to the other
case. Judge Murphy decided that the ref
erence might be made as an incident to the |
discovery of the body of Blanche Lamont |
Upon the point raised by Mr.. Deuprey,
however-that of merging the two cases
the court declined to rule until the issue
should be fairly presented in the course of
the hearing.
At the conclusion of NJ. Barnes ad-
dress Judge Murphy requested the counsel
on both sides to confer with him at the
bench. At the end of the conference At
torney Dickinson made the motion for the
jury to visit Emmanuel Church. He
spoke at some length of the necessity for
such procedure and was anxious to have
the jury conducted by specified route,
but the court held that general examina-
ton OF the church should be made.
This is a very risky piece of business"
said his Honor. son such trip remarks
OF an improper kind are apt to be made"
The question of who should accompany
the jury to the church was considered.
Judge Murphy remarked that the law COM
PEELED him to be present.
"The defendant must co." said Attorney
Dickinson.
The court looked displeased, but the
reading of a Supreme Court decision on
the point decided the matter and his
Honor ruled that the prisoner must accom-
pany the expedition.
Gentlemen of the jury, what is your
opinion of the matter? Would you like to
visit the 2" asked his Honor
Juror Hooper spoke for all. He stated
that he would very much like to make the
trip.
Very well, then, we will 60" remarked
Judge Murphy, "but we will not start
until 2 O'clock