The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-10-19
JUDGE TUTHILL's CHARGE.
Impartial Instructions to the jury
The Law as to the Corpus Deficit.

The Law as to the Corpus Deficit.
In ten minutes the jury had returned and
court was again in order Judge Tuthill
swung around in his chair until he faced
the jury, and, deliberately picking up his
notes on the charge, he began the reading.
The charge follows
Before a conviction can be had in this
case the state must prove beyond a rea-
sonable doubt and to a moral certainty
first, that Louisa Luetgert is dead; second,
that she came to her death on the 1st OF
May, 1897, in the county of Cook, State of
Illinois; third, that Adolph l.. Luetgert, the
defendant, willfully, mallciously, feloniously
and of malice aforethought killed and muir
dered the said Louisa Luetgert by some of
the various means charged in the indictment
or by means unknown.
THE burden of proof rests upon the
prosecution to make out and prove to the
satisfaction of the jury beyond all reason
able doubt every material allegation in the
indictment and unless that mas been done
the jury should find the defendant not gull
ty. 1t is not incumbent on the defendant
to prove that Louisa Luetgert Is alive or
her whereabouts or what became of her.
If it is possible for you to reconcile the facts
in this case upon any reasonable theory
consistent with the innocence of the de-
fendant it is your duty to do so and find him
not guilty.
IL at If you believe from the evidence
beyond a reasonable doubt that the de-
fendant assaulted and killed Louisa Luet-
L.
ing no considerable proVocation, but show
ing an abandoned and malignant hatred on
the part of defendant and a total disregard
of human life then the law pronounces
such killing to be murder, and a jury must
so find 1t matters not that such evidence
is circumstantial or made up from facts and
circumstances, provided the jury believes
that such facts and circumstances pointing
to the defendants guilt have been proved,
so that from a consideration of all the evil
dence in the case there Is no reasonable
doubt in the mind of the jury as TO the
guilt of the defendant Direct and positive
testimony is not necessary to prove the in
tent II NAV he inferred from facts and
circumstances shown by the evidence.
mo man may be convicted of a crime
until what is known as the corpus deficit
has been established by the prosecution, and
unless you are convinced by the evidence in
this case beyond a reasonable doubt that
Louisa Luetgert died az tne tlme charged in
the indictment, and also that she came to
her death in manner and form as charged
in the Indictment in such case 1t is YOUR
duty to acQuit the defendant. To prove the
corpus deficit the state is required to pro-
duce only such legal evidence as establishes
able doubt a conviction that the murder
charged in the indictment has been in fact
committed in manner and form as charged
and that the defendant is guilty Of it's com
mission: and il matters not that the proof
of such corpus deficit Consists in whole or
ii is sufficient 10 satisfy the minds of the
jurors beyond a reasonable doubt of the
commission Of the offense charged
while the statute of the State provides
that person charged with crime may testi-
fy I'm his own behalf, he Is not under any
obligations TO do so, and the statute ex-
Continued ON second Pase1