The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-05-16
ACQUITTED By A TEXAN.
An italian Homicide Case I'm New York De-
cided by Lone Star State Ethics.

at was known as the murder of the Feast OF
the Turkey said Assistant District Attorney
Hal Bell. who handles all the Italian homicide
cases In the criminal courts. The murdered
man was Nunzio IallaZ, and he was stabbed to
death on the afternoon OF Nov. 26, 1896. The
man who killed him was Giuseppe Ladicrre. /
put Ladierrc on trial in the criminal branch of
the Supreme Court. The indictment charged
him with murder in the first degree. His coun-
sci. Lawyer Palmieri, offered to enter a plea Of
guilty to manslaughter in the first degree, but
the plea was not accepted. as 1t seemed an easy
matter to convict the defendant. There was no
denial OF the fact that Ladierre stabbed IallaZ to
death with n knife fifteen inches long.
AFTER the jurymen had been sworn, I learned
that one of them. a big handsome fellow, was .
Texan. When ! found this out l became satis-
fled that | would have n hard job getting Q
conviction, for when you get a full-ficdgcd, raw
Texan on n jury in n murder trial, he'll simply
decide the case according to his own judgment,
regardless of law. He has only TO be convinced
as TO whether the murdered man ought TO have
been killed. The actual crime has nothing to do
with the case. The Texan has his own ideas
about such matters, and, knowing this, l was
sorry to think l had n full.fledged, raw Texan on
the jury trying Ladierre.
THE story that the jury got from the wit
nesses was that Ladierrc met 1allaz on 1874
street; that the men had II wordy quarrel; that
Ladierre slapped the face OF Iallaz: that Iallas
drew n big knife from his belt and then cnsued
a scuffle, the knife falling to the sidewalk; that
both men fought TO get II, and that ladierre.
knife and plunged 1t into IallaZ. who died from
the effects of the stabbing. These were the un-
we all believed that Ladicrrc would be con-
yicted Of at least manslaughter, But the jury
showed them on the witness stand the way in
which he did the killing,
Giegerich was unable to understand such
F Rs,lSn tS Ss s .1s juT y !, Ds sfI: an aui 10 i , ssliSyed nv 1
resulted in my learnin. that was right in my
first belief. The handsome man from Texas
just gave the other jurymen to understand that
he was there. He was not to be bullied. lie was
not 70 be ontvoted, either. II the jurymon
trihipg cutting scraPes in Texas, he would
4 knife into "a mans heart-that was nothing,
The question to be decided was. did the deceased
did, or the live man wouldn't be alive. II La
DEERE had not killed lallaz, probably Iallaz
and quicEness should be rewarded, not ccnsurcd.
Ladief res simply got n first stab; argued !ho
mentcd on his %stabblng speed.
There were two little men on that jury, and
the first degree. The Texan just roared at them
md they skunk away ioa corner OF the room.
The big Texan then made speech, telling the
jurors how they ran things down in my State
and the other eleven jurors stood open mUuthcd.
gazing In wonderment. He recalled shooting
bees, aud ~stabbing parties, and hanging picnirs.
and gave graphic Illustrations OF how Sim
Gardner cut tn damned gizzard ont'n Budd
Allen, when Budd Jest said he'd make
war eny man in IN room who'd 10
man enough to say this were a, lie but
there the ~, %eTnt a man theT" who didn't bG!isyf Z;
not guilty Then they all got in line, filed into
the court room, and the clerk recorded the YER
diet. Eight Of the Jurors were palr'flccd when
they came in. The faces OF three were very
red. The twelfth man WAS the Texan. Hi, face
appeared normal. and, as he warmly graspcd the
hand OF the man who did the decd. he remarked:
So Yer did right. pard. I'D or did IL nIcself il
Now, said Mr.. Bell, - you wouldn't believe
such a thing could happen in great New York.
but y did. and Ladierre 10 back homo in N.Y.
TiSRnia now"