The San Francisco call., 1897-06-04
[Sketched from life by CAR artist.

! in San Francisco tonight, for she was
hoping against hope"
Ex-DIstrIct United States Attorney
Charles A. Garter and Attorney L. P.
Boardman, who lately came into the case
10 engineer the Federal eRl. deserve con-
siderable of the honor which lawyers
claim after every les al victory, irrespec-
tive OF the case.
Now that there is stay of proceedings
there are many speculations as to the pos
sIbIlity OF reversal of the rulings of the
State courts. While the Attorney General
and most lawyers place no confidence
whatever in the point shat an informa-
| ton by District Attorney is not legal
there is slight chance that the present
Supreme Court might agree with the dis
senting opinion of Justice Harlan in the
great Hutardo case from Sacramento.
Attorney General Fitzgerald has no fear
on this point. He says: Tine ruling by
| the Supreme Court on this point has been
affirmed and reatiirmed until il is now re.
ferred to by that court as one of the best
settled doctrines of the law
But there are some lawyers who say
Durrant still has a good chance on the
point that cruel ana unusual punishment
has been inflicted upon him.
A former Superior Judge said last night:
'They may hang a man for murder or they
may imp son him for life, but there is no
authority ior such sentence as Judge
Bahrs misunderstanding Durrant to a
felon's cell with striped clothes, a shaved
head and a convict's number and stigmain
addition to hanging.
Judge Bahrs' sentence ought TO have
been that Durrant be turned over into the
custody OF the Sheriff for execution and
not that he be confined in San Quention
in striped clothes and afterward hanged.
1 think that there are good chances that the
Supreme Court will inter iere with the case
on that around"
One of the chief evils OF the STAY of
execution in the Durrant case is that the
community will be afflicted for many
months with the Christopher Columbuses
of the world who insist upon exploiting
the seas of evidence for new witnesses to
confess that they are the murderers.
Mrs. John Martin is still in the field for
Durrant, and she feels sure she has dis
covered evidence that will aid her client.
There are many others who have entered
the lists and who say that before the case
marvellous arrays of evidence.
One of the new and I'm portant phases of
the case will be the urgent demanc of the
attoI neys for the defense for a speedy trial
in the Minnie Williams case. They claim
this as a cons Irrational right and will soon
make the District Attorney know their
demands. They say that trial of the
Williams case will logically clear Durrant
of the charge in the Lamont case and
leave him an acquitted man in the case of
the unfortunate girl whose body was last
discovered.
II was very much astonished," said ex-
Judge Robert Ferral last evening, ''to
hear of the action of the Federal court in
the Durrant and Worden cases. The mat
Ter of deciding on an application for ha-
beas corpus is left largely to the discretion
of the Judge. If no considerable showing
Is In lde in the application and it is evil
IDENTIFY only for the purpose of DELAY, the
Judge ord narily does not issue the writ.
"Of course / DO not know what showing
the attorneys made, but from my knowl-
/ edge of the case l should say that it pre-
sented no Federal question. The VALIDITY