The evening tribune. (Pawtucket, R.I.) 189?-190?, 1897-05-14
WILL DURRANT DEP
PLAN TO SAVE THE LIFE OF THE
/ CALIFORNIA MURDERER.
Legal Barriers That Will BE Raised-Prob-
able Appeal to the United States Court.
A Petition Will Go to the Cover nor.
Warden Threatened With Arrest.

Petition VIII Go to the Cover nor.
Warden Threatened With Arrest.
The attorneys for Theodore Durrant,
the California murderer, have SO sur
rounded the condemned man with the
technical barriers of the law that they
believe the warden of San Quentin
prison will not dare to execute the SEN
tence of death on June IL. The law
yers representing the murdeSer have
now but one purpose in view-cethey wish
to keep their client alive until after the
day set by the court for his death. If
that day be passed, the murderer Of
Blanche Lamont will have to be SEN
fenced again, and new opportunities for
legal quibbling will arise to save him
from the gallows. The campaign of de-
lay and obstruction, as the attorneys
will conduct it, has at last been out
lined. Some Of the steps in the case
have already been taken.
Eugene Deuprey has again thrown
the murderer into the state courts, and
within week he will be before the
United States circuit court. The heavy
machinery of the law has been set in
motion, and the lawyers declare that it
will be moving ON June IL. They claim
that it is utterly out of the question to
determine before June II the questions
they have raised, and they declare that
Warden Hale will not dare to put Dur
rant to death before these questions
have been settled in the courts.
If the warden should undertake to
carry out the sentence Of death, he
would be served with notice not to do
SO. If he should ignore this notice and
hang Durrant, the attorneys of the con-
demned man declare that they will ar
rest the warden for murder and proceed
against his bondsmen for damages. This
In outline is the plan Of the defense,
and it is perhaps interesting that it
does not involve a single issue relating
to the guilt or innocence of the murder
er. That question is left out of consid-
Grafton. The attorneys Of Durrant are
now using the courts to prevent the ex-
ecution of decree of the same courts.
The campaign in the state tribunals
is an involved one. Eugene Deuprey
yesterday finished his bill of exceptions
to the order of Judge Bahrs sentencing
Durrant to death. District Attorney
Barnes and Mr.. Deuprey will meet this
morning and will agree that the bill of
exceptions is correct. This will be a
purely formal proceeding, as an agree
ment in the matter was reached yester-
day afternoon. The bill of exceptions
will then be printed, and on May 10
will be filed in the supreme court as an
appeal. The defense claims that 25 days
more must then be exhausted before all
the briefs in the case have been printed
and filed.
1t will then be June 4. one week be-
fore the day set for Durrant's death.
The defense will insist upon an oral ar
gument and will ask that the case be
taken up in its regular order. In this
way the attorneys expect to have an is
sue pending in the supreme court Of the
state on June IL. From this point Of
view it will be impossible for the ap-
pellate tribunal to consider the case be-
fore the July term.
In this phase Of the case the vital
question is whether or not Durrant may
be legally executed. If the appeal is one
from the Judgment of conviction, it is
claimed that Durrant cannot legally be
hanged. It is also claimed that if the
warden of San Quentin should execute
Durrant he would be guilty of murder
If the appeal is not from the Judgment,
but from an order of the superior court
made after a judgment of conviction
has been given and confirmed, then Dur
rant may be legally hanged on June IL.
The attorneys who represent Durrant
claim that their appeal is one involving
the Judgment itself The prosecution
insists that the Judgment is in no way
involved and that the appeal is simply
from an order of the court. AS already
outlined in The Examiner, case in
every way similar has been decided i'll
this state when murderer was hanged
while an appeal from an order of the
superior court was pending in the su-
preme court.
Durrant's attorneys are familiar with
this case, but they claim that the law
yers representing the defendant did not
insist upon their legal rights. Durrant's
representatives freely admit that if their
appeal were granted their client would
gain nothing more than the dubious
privilege Of being again sentenced to
death. While the lawyers claim that in
this appeal the very judgment is in
volved, they also admit that in the state
courts they cannot appeal from the judg.
ment. Their own logic involves them in
q contradiction, but they intend to make
the most Of the situation.
While all of this is in progress Gov
ernor Budd will be asked to commute
the sentence Of death to one of life i'm
prisonment If the chief executive will
not grant this request, he will be asked
10 grant o reprieve until the legal ques-
tions now raised may be determined in
the courts. If all of these schemes fail,
Theodore Durrant will be hanged for
the awful murder of Blanche Lamont
San Francisco Examiner.