The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1896-12-08
.DU1RANT'S BRIEF
FULL OF ST|NGS
An Alleged Trial" and
An Alleged Yer
dict"
Proceedings in the Trial Court
as So Described by His
Lawyers.
Whether 1t Will Be Receive! by the
Supreme C urt Will Be Decided
in Two Weeks.

w. H. T. Durrant's attorneys, Messrs.
Dickinson and Deuprey, were in the Su-
preme Court yesterday in support of their
motion to dismiss the order of submission
made recently at Los Angeles Tue pur-
pose OF this was to permit the filing and
consideration of the brief in behalf OF
Durrant, which the attorneys have, with
much care and labor, prepared.
Attorney-G eneral Fitzgerald was also
present. He tacitly consented to having
the order set aside in behalf of the State,
when he rose and said that he had not
been able to prepare the brief for the
people in the case. This brief, which the
Acknowledgement has in preparation, is in
answer to the brief of Durrant's attorneys.
The latter was prepared two weeks ago
and was handed to the clerk of the Su-
preme Court, to be filed whenever the
co urt should consent to set aside Its order.
A copy was given by Durrant's lawyers to
the Attorney General.
The court after hearing what the Attor-
ney-General had to say put the matter
over until December q. At that time the
Attornev-GeneraPs brief will be ready to
file. The order will be set aside, the two
briefs will be put in, and then the defe nse
will have ten days or such other time as
the court NAV order to file an answer to
the Attorney Generals brief That will
be the last step preparatory to final sub
mission.
The brief of Durrants lawyers, about
which little has been said definitely, con-
tains some lively reading. The hearing
which resulted in the conviction OF Dur
rant is called IAN alleged trial, and in it
tho action OF the jury is described as fol-
lows:
Tho inv haino oberoad ~, +bo oorr+ 70
tired, and in few minutes without any time
TO deliberate upon the evidence presented
before them rom Septem Der 4, 1895, TO Oc-
tober %, 1895, returned a verdict OF guilty
against the defendant and appellant herein.
The verdic. is termed 1.-The alleged YER
dict" and it is C aimed that ''there is not
a particle of evidence which can be pointed
to in or ascertained from a perusal of the
whole record of evidence introd uced upon
the alleged trial of the case which Ill any
wise shows that the defendant and ap-
pellant herein either assaulted or I'M ured
Blanche Lamont"
Concerning the arguments of the AS
sistsnt District Attorney and the District
Attorney TO the jury the brief says this:
The Assistant District Attorney in his Ian
guage asserted, what was the motive? I'm
brdIed passion, - and followed the assertion
with oratorica flights of fancy to extreme
cases OF the dark ages and the monstrons base
ness of Marquis de SADIE. There was not the
slightest foundation IN proof of any nature to
support the weirdness OF Mr.. Peixotto's assey-
erstions. In fact all the evidence in the case
was To the contrary.
The District Attorney limited at outrage
without the least justification for the INFER
ence. There was not an atom OF proof 10 es-
taDlish motive and from all the surrounding
circumstances there was not any evidence to
even indicate motive.
The brief discusses 232 points. In the
last paragraph occurs the following:
From a thorough knowledge OF the case and
the proof deduced and dduced, we fervently
contend-we N good faith contend-that Will
liam H. T. Durrant is Innocent of the crime of
when he ands charged, and we ask that
under the laws he be given the opportunity of
being tried in a proper manner and in accord
ance with the provisions of these laws-laws
which govern g civilized people and nation.