The herald., 1898-01-11
Pat Savage Goes Up for
Twenty-Five Years
HOFFMAN WAS FOUND GUILTY
CLAIMS FOR DAMAGES IN THE
CIRCUIT COURT
A New Rule of Court-A Divorce Epi-
sode-List of Teachers VINO
Passed Examination

Patrick II. Savage, convicted IN De-
partment one last week of murder IN
the second degree, in having shot VIII
Roche at San Pedro, was sentenced by
Judge Smith yesterday
The aunt, cousin and nieces OF the de-
PENDANT were in court and formed sad
faced group as they sat around him. I'M
potent to save him from the conse-
quences of his rash act.
Ben Goodrich, leading counsel for the
defense, made a motion for new trial
on statutory grounds, which was over
ruled. The court ordered savage TO
stand up, but his counsel again inter-
posed to ask for the mercy of the court.
He reminded the court that the DEFEND
ants reputation as a peace1ul, quiet
and orderly man had been established
and that the crime for which he was
about to be sentenced had been COM
mitted without malice or premeditatlon.
Under these circumstances counsel
urged that as much leniency be shown
as consistent with the gravity of the
offense, and that the defendant be sent
to San Quentin rather than to Folsom.
In proceeding to pass sentence, the
court said he sometimes doubted If 1t was
profitable for the court to make any re-
marks in cases of this kind, and yet
some words might possibly do some
good.
"It is a terrible situation in which you
find yourself said Judge Smith, after
a lengthy pause, "the most serious in
which man can be placed-convicted of
murder. And it is all chargeable to
whisky. If you had left whisky alone
Will Roche would be alive today and
you would have been going about your
business. 1t was shown in court that
you are a peaceful man, but given to
taking a night off and going on spree.
While the court feels inclined to be
lenient, as far as the case will permit,
I can't shut my eyes to the fact that
you sent a young man into eternity in
a cruel-I can't say cold-blooded for
there was nothing to stir mans blood
manner. / accept the evidence that
you called Roche out on the porch and
shot him with a Colts revolver The
Jury dealt leniently with you in finding
you guilty in the second degree. What
ever you may think, the court is of the
opinion that it is dealing mercifully
with you. 1t Is the judgment of this
court that you be confined at San Quen-
tin for the period of twenty-five years"
An outcry from Savage's aunt broke
the stiffness that had prevailed while
the court was speaking, and, throwing
herself on her daughters neck, the poor
woman sobbed out her grief. The others
of the little party were also in tears
and as the deputy sheriff removed the
defendant from the court room and
brought the painful scene to a close,
they followed tearfully in his train.
At the Jail the scene as the relatives
took leave Of Savage was heart-rending.
His aunt and cousins hung about his
neck as they bade farewell to the one
who had gone wrong. The last words
to him were: "Be a good boy, my dear"
and if Savage follows this advice he will
be able to cut down his sentence by
good credits to about seventeen years,
and this term may be still further short
ened by the prison commissioners re-
leasing Savage on parole. The parole
system has been found to work we'll
and robs the administration of law of any
spirit Of vindictiveness. When it ap-
pears that a prisoner by his behavior
shows signs of pentence, he is paroled
and allowed to lead his own life, subject
only to monthly reports to the author
tiles. Any lapse from rectitude, however.
relegates him at once back to prison to
complete his uneXnired term