The times., 1898-06-12

quent appeal 20 the jury, beseeching them
to Vindicate the majesty of the law,
and, while they were remembering the
distressed wife and old mother and father
OF the defendant, 10 also remember the
lone woman in Texas, whose husband
would never return 10 her. 1t was then
that Mr.. Davis rose TO the highest point
OF his eloquent appeal and said that
though Rye was not here 10 aid them in
forecasting their verdict, his dying words.
Murder! Murder! Murder" were still
crying out for vengeance To this he ad-
ded the words from Macbeth: Death,
like angels trumpet tongues, argues
gainst the deep damnation of his TAX
ing off"
He closed his argument at Ass p. m,
! having spoken for three hours and fifty
four minutes.
Judge Cole Immediately commenced his
charge to the jury, during which he ex-
plained the various ways they could ar
rive al a verdict. He then read TO them
/ the prayers of the counsel of either side
which had been granted, concluding at
5:37 o'clock.
/ The jury retired at once and as It was
| expected that they might arrive at a YER
dict in a very short while. the court said
/ 1t would call them in half an hour. At
/ the expiration Of that time, however
word was received that they had not
/ agreed. They were then informed that
I they would be called again at o'clock
! and, as stated above, very shortly after
/ that time they returned a verdict of not
guilty.
As soon as Crier Joyce announced that
| the court was in session yesterday
morning Judge Cole, speaking to Mr.. VIII
son, said: Whenever you are ready, Judge
you can go ahead
Mr.. Wilson arose and walking slowly
/ in front of the jury began speaking
/ In low tone of voice. Before entering
! upon the discussion of the testimony he
said that the evidence had been so thor
! oughly gone over that it was nearly i'm
possible to say anything new; in fact he
| would be inclined to keep quiet only for
the fact that the Importance of the case
and his obligation to his client made il
necessary.
The whole case, he said, turned upon
a single point He referred to Mr.. ShiI-
lington, who. he said had ignored it
when he must have known 1t was the
vital question under consideration. He
next called the attention of the jury
to their duty. 1t was not the province.
he said, to totally disregard any evil
dence they had heard, but If they found
discrepancies, it was their duty to recon
cile them. He then spoke of the part
reasonable doubt had TO play in all
such circumstances. He then commented
on the relative worth of a knife and pis-
tol in such an encounter as that which
resulted in the death of Rye. conceding
that the former was more to be de-
sired than 100 revolvers. During his ar
gument on this point Mr.. Wilson brand.
ished the knife in evidence before the
jury. and asked them to consider with
what deadly effect 1t could be used al
close quarters. He next commented or
the fact that Mr.. Shillington never men.
toned or discussed the testimony of any
of the witnesses who testified to the knife
in the case.
Continuing, Mr.. Wilson laid great stres:
on the fact that dozen or more wit
nesses had testified that immediately
before the shooting the principals, Canty
and Rye, were facing each other no
three feet apart, and that none of thes,
witnesses had been contradicted In con
nection with this he commented on til,
state of Canty's mind at the moment h,
set eyes on Rye, arguing that from wha
had taken place the day before he hat
every reason to believe that the latte
would attempt 10 take his life there an,
then. He also stated that on the day o
the alteration Canty had just cause t
fear his life was in danger not becaus
Rye had a small pen-knife in his hand
but because he did not know how lon;
the blade was, for it was carefully KEEP
concealed.
Along this line Mr.. Wilson commente
on the threats which had come to Canty'
ear, made by Rye as to what he woul
do in case he did not get his money. H
also spoke of the horrible language use
by Rye in emphasizing these threats. A
this, he said, must be remembered by tn
: jury in coming TO a conclusion as t