The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1896-04-18
APPEALS IN CRIMINAL CASES.

The attorneys for Patrick Coughlfn,
convicted of the murder of Constable
Stagg, have filed a petition and brief
in the state supreme court for writ
of error TO the United States supreme
court. We have no hesitation in saying
we hope the petition will be denied. OF
Coughlin's guilt there is no doubt, and
if there is some slight doubt as to
whether or not he is entitled to an ap-
peal to the United States supreme
court, that doubt should be resolved in
favor of the state. Society has as sa-
cred rights as the man who violates its
laws and wantonly murders its mem
bers. The long and too frequently need
less delays in executing the sentence
of the law upon criminals increase their
chances of escape and tend to bring
the law into disrepute and induce
lynchings. And these delays are too
frequently brought about by appeals
of doubtful validity.
The San Francisco Examiner of
Thursday had very thoughtful article
upon this subject of appeals in crimi-
nal cases, in the course of which it
made the following extract from the
Criminal Law Magazine and Reporter
for March-April, 1896:
Quite recently Judge Isaac c. Par
ker OF the United States district court
| for the Western district of Arkansas, in
charging the federal grand jury called
attention to the prevalence OF crime
in this country, and especially to the
increase of the crime of murder The
judge said that in 1895 the number of
homicides was not less than 10000, and
the number in the past five years
nearly $4,000 During the same period
there were 725 legal executions and
Ills lynchings. These statistics bear
out the judges statement that homi-
cides are on the increase, and this is
shown by the concurrent testimony of
the newspapers. The prevalence of
| lynchings has also called forth pro-
tests abroad as we'll as in this country.
The Legal News Montreal, February
2, 1880 commenting on Judge Parker s
remarks, says: THE great evil of end
less appeals and rehearings in criTni-
nal cases. which seem to be a matter
of course in SOME portions of the Unit
ed States, has been vigorously opposed
by Mr.. Justice Parker in charging a
federal grand jury in Arkansas. The
judge asserted that the number of those
who had been murdered in the United
States in the last five years is six
times larger than the continental army
at the close of the revolution, and that
the number of murdered last year is
greater than the standing army at the
outbreak of the civil war. In the abb
sence of precise, figures we do not know
how far this may be an ex-
aggeration, but the judge went
on TO say that the issue be-
fore the country was whether or not
life was to be adequately protected. He
thought the people should demand Of
the courts that they discountenance in
| trigue and hair-splitting distinctions in
favor of criminals. The appellate court,
he added, existed mainly to stab the
trial judge in the back and enable the
criminals to go free"
Very many appeals in capital cases
are doubtless 1callowed because judges
are really wanting in judicial courage
and desire to shift the responsibility of
the final decision, where it involves
death, on to someone else.
That the state supreme court will de-
eide the question of appeal in the
Coughlin case according to law no one
doubts, but we still hope the law will
be against granting it.