The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1898-12-22
Judge Hazen Today Insructs Jury Collins Case

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I issue for you to try according to the law
as given you by the court and the facts
as you have learned them from the wit
| nesses.
| 1t will be seen from the foregoing
| statement that the information charged
| that on the 18th of May, 1898, at Shaw
| nee county, in this state. the said John
! Henry Collins did unlawfuly, felOniOus-
| ly, Wilfully, deliberately, premeditately
| and of his malice aforethought kill and
| murder the said James 5. Collins and
/ the OffenSe so described in the infOrma-
| gree.
In a trial where the charge is one of
! murder in the first degree the instruc-
tiOnS of the court are necessarily long.
| This follows from the Importance and
! gravity of the case itself and from GER
| tain provisions of our law which re-
! quire the court to state to the jury all
| matters of law necessary for their
| guidance in arriving al their verdict.
( In view of these facts I trust that the
| instructions in this case are as concise
! as they reasonably can be, and that
/ they will receive your careful consider
! alton. The duty resting upon you is an
| important one and feel confident tina t
you Will perform it with a. full sense
| of your responsibility. In deciding
/ questions of fact you are to be guided
/ by the law and the evidence alOne-by
! the evidence which was given during
| the trial, and not from any supposed
| knowledge of facts or appearances de-
rived from any source other than the
| testimony given before you in open
! court; and the law as announced to you
! by the court must be your only guide
| in that respect.
! 1t is your duty to see that the law is
| vindfcated. and that if the crime
] charged against the defendant is clear
/ iN proven Nonr verdict oe returned &C
cotdinyiy- On the other hand, the
nights on t2-e defendant aIe sacred to
1 him and YOU should be especially care
/ ful that an innocent person shall not
| be punished, and that the defendant
| have the benefit of every reasOna BILE
| doubt, and of the presumption of in
! nocence which the law has wisely and
! justly thrown around him.
In your deliberations in the jury room
| you must not allow passion, prejudice
| or partiality to influence you in the
] slightest degree, in deciding upon your
| verdict, but you must be guided alone
/ by the law as given you by the court
and the evidence of the witness given
/ in your presence. You are not author
/ lied by law to presume anything
| against the defendant nor are you to
! assume that he is guilty of any Offense
/ whatever, simply from the fact of his
| being charged with crime. Upon the
| contrary, every just presumption and
! every reasonable doubt, should be re-
| solved in his favor.
| The law preSumeS the defendant to be
1 innocent of the charge made against
| him, innocent of every other degree of
! crime included in such crime, innocent
( innocent of any guilty intent, and in
nOcent of every material fact necessary
| to be proven by the state in order to
| eSta bliSh his guilt of any OffenSe what
/ ever: and this PRESUMPTION of in
/ nOcence continues to operate in his
| favor until the contrary is proven by
/ the evidence, and until each and every
| ingredient necessary to constitute the
| offense charged against him, is proven
| by the evidence beyond reasonable
| doubt.
further instruct you that you can
! not convict or acQuit the defendant
! upon any unfair or illegal or illogical
conclusions drawn from the facts
| proved, and you have no right to draw
| conclusions against the defendant be-
cause of any failure on his part to
! offer any particular kind of proof. You
must try him alone upon the facts
proven, and not upon conclusions or in
| ferenceS from facts not proven
The burden of proof does not shift
from the state to the defendant at any
stage of the case, but the presumption
of innocence continues through the en-
tire case.
In your deliberations in the jury room,
it is your duty to reconcile all apparent
Iy eonfiicting testimony upon a basis of
truth. If It be possible, and upon the
theory of the defendants innocence if
you can reasonably do So
You are the exclusive judges of the
evidence in this case, of it's weight,
credit and value; and you are likewise
the exclusive judges of the credibility
of the witnesses, and it is for you to
determine the force and effect to be
given to the testimony of each of them.
In determining this question, you may
take into consideration any bias, preju-
dice or unfairness that may have been
manifested by any of the witnesses in
giving their testimony; also any in
tereSt that any witness may appear to
have in this action, as we'll as the
means and opportunities of the wit
nesses of knowing of the matters about
which they have testified
You are not authorized by law to
arbitrarily reject without cause or rea-
son the testimony of any witness, but
it is your duty to carefully examine all
the evidence in the case, and if it be
| reasonably possible to harmonic it
| upon a basis OF truth it is your duty to
do so; but if you are unable to do this.
then you are authorized, and it is your
! duty, to reject such of it as YOU may
/ think not entitled to credit.
If you believe from the evidence that
any witness has knowingly and viii
fully testified falsely to any material
fact in the case, you may wholly disre-
! gard the testimony of such witness, but
you are not bound to do so; you may
still give the testimony of such witness
/ such weight as you may think it en-
! titled to receive.
1 further instruct you that you can
/ not convict the defendant of the crime