The record-union. [volume] (Sacramento, Calif.) 1891-1903, 1898-11-06

then meetings at the theaters are re-
called, and so thoroughly has the alibi
been fixed that the witnesses for the
accused will describe the play, give the
names of the principal actors, and even
the names of some of the regular the
ater-goers. Should the prosecution
seek to disprove their testimony and
place these regular theater-g oers on
the stand, the latter had been to so
many plays within the past few
months that they cannot tell as to
whether or not they saw the play on
particular night, or, in fact, whether
or not they were at the theater at all
on that night, but may have been.
mot infrequently are hotel registers
introduced with the name of the GRIM
inaI made to appear on the page or
the hotel register as having slept in a
particular hotel on the night on which
the accused is charged with having
committed the crime at some distant
town.
1.-The prisoner. while testifying in his
own behalf, will give the names OF
some bonafide guests at the hotel-his
| friends having copied them previously
and possibly knowing some of them.
The defendant will recall an alleged
conversation with one Of these guests
on some topic of which the accused or
his friends know their guest is in the
habit of conversing.
| When it is sought to show by the
prosecution that the defendant was not
conversing with the bonafide guest on
! that particular night, and the guest
| is placed on the stand for that purpose,
he may testify that he cannot recall
/ having seen the witness before or that
he has had any conversation with him
at that or any other time; yet, when
| the defendants lawyer takes him in
hand he soon gets the guest to say
| that while he cannot recall the CONVEX
sation at all he cannot positively swear
/ that he did not see the defendant at
the hotel that night, Or that the con-
versation did not occur, and in that
manner the defense scores a point.
Diaries supposed to have been kept
| by friends of the accused. sometimes
consisting of several hundred pages,
are brought forth, and, perhaps, in the
! center of the book an entry appears:
John Doe called and spent the after
noon and evening, and games were in
dulged in: John Doe lost every game,
and John Doe was determined to play
another game and missed the last car,
| which the time table shows left at l.
o'clock Then, when John Doe is
charged with having robbed a man
or burglarizing a house at 9 or 10
O'Clock that night the diary has been
| located at the house or room Of his
| friends, playing cards at that very
| time.
IF, for instance. criminal turns a
trick in an interior town, and being a
stranger there cannot very well fix an
alibi for himself in that locality, and
it should happen that his arrest should
not follow for some time after. he will
rely on his friends to fix the alibi in
the city where they reside. If this
should be in San Francisco or some
| other large community, his friends,
having learned of the day and time
when the crime was committed, will
at once peruse the back files of the
| daily newspapers, and will carefully
note everything of any Importance that
| occurred on that day, and especially
such events by which they can-appar-
| entity in all truthfulness-recall posi-
lively when placed on the stand by the
defendants attorney that John Doe on
such and such a day was in their COM
pany in the city of San Francisco Cor
other place., and could not have been
in another city many miles distant.
They will recall apparently from ac-
tual facts, that there was fire on that
day. or funeral. an auction, a fatal