The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1898-03-24
oITICK WITTED PATSY
...v AZ SAVED THE DAY FOR HIM
SELF AND HIS LAWYER.

r..uvhtIcssly signed IN Amosv" WIN
v.m. He swors wss Not His own-But
-. won tho Judge and His Point by His
explanation.
NV first case came at Florence, Ala,
o., months after ] was licensed,
-,.as Attorney B. N. jackson. The
Viz there, Captain w. T. White,
now dead, gallant Confederate soldier
ana one of natures noblemen. met mo
S ,bs street and told me there was
IAN confined in the county jail who
wished to see me.
was then 81 years old, but would
..sd;lv have passed for IL. The clients
nsme was Patrick Donovan, but he was
commonly called Patsy Donovan. CO.
inc TO the Jail, / found man from 80
60 "a wears old, an intelligent, nice
locking, devil may care Irishman.
when | entered, he greeted me with
"Good evening, miss" Pretending not
20 have heard him address me as miss"
and assuming much dignity, told him
was the lawyer whom the sheriff had
promised to send him. For answer he
Exclaimed, well, I'll be ID" and
hurst out laughing-laughing uproar-
;ously. was irritated to degree by
this reception. II beg pardon, judge.
lisa 20. You do look pretty young.
INIT Tom (the sheriff. says you are
daisy. Get me out Of here, and my
folks, who've got plenty, will pay you
we'll for your trouble.
He told me his story. He was skill
ed mechanic from Keokuk, Ia, and had
been employed by the government in
constructing lock on the Mussel Shoals
canal. near Florence. He had shot the
MUSICIAN in charge Of those works.
This physician was brother Of the
United States engineer in control OF the
canal construction, and 1t was evident
that the prosecution would be bitter,
sparing no pains or expense to secure a
conviction, entailing long penitentiary
sentence. The doctor and my client
were both men Of reckless courage and
overbearing temper, both sometimes
looked on the wine when it was red,
and both, I inferred, were striving for
the favor Of the same woman. A clash
between them soon came. They had a
savage quarrel at their boarding house
at dinner. The doctor being armed and
my client unarmed, the latter had to
submit to unlimited abuse and would
have been shot but for the interference
of several men who were present. Soon
after nightfall of the same day my
client went to the doctors Office and
sleeping room, about mile distant and
in secluded place, and, knocking on
the door, was hidden by the doctor to
come in. Entering, he found the doctor
putting on a shirt, and thus for the
moment disabled, and, remarking, "You
had the drop on me this morning, but
I've got it ON you now," fired, striking
the doctor in the neck and inflicting a
dangerous but not fatal wound.
The case soon came on for trial.
While the defendants version of the
occurrence as he had given it to me was
very different from the one in the fore
going, yet it was so improbable in itself
and SO inconsistent with the attendant
circumstances that it looked as if SEN
tence of ten years was inevitable if the
case was then tried. To gain post
ponement an objection was interposed
to the competency of the court on the
ground that he was related by affinity
q to the prosecutor. This failed. Next an
earnest effort was made for a continu.
ance. The state fought this aggressive.
ly, thus giving warning OF what was to
come, and it, too, failed.
In sheer desperation then whispered
to my client, "Your real name is Pat
rick, not Patsy, isn't it?" The indict
ment named him Patsy Donovan. Then,
moving to quash the indictment for the
misnomer, l wrote out the defendant
affidavit in support. The affidavit stated
that the defendants name was Patrick
and that he was commonly known and
called by this name and not by the
name of Patsy Donovan. He took the
affidavit and read, or seemed to read, II
carefully and, going to the clerks desk
swore to it and signed it PATSY Done
van." This, of course, was the way hi
usually signed his name, but he never
reflected that to sign it Patsy this time
''e' w ohOiu tuo stTOuScsJ CNiuohSo W
the falsity of the affidavit.
Arguing the case without looking a
the affidavit, didn't see how he hat
signed it, but the state attorney hat
noticed the signature and in his repl.
called the courts attention to it. Thi
disclosure raised storm of laughte
ana 1eering in the courtroom. wa
confounded and at the end of my re
sources. Not so was Patsy. Realizing
his peril, that the slip was his own ant
that he alone could retrieve it, he spok
out, not whit abashed ~ signed /
Patsy out Of pure respect for your honor
its not for me to give the lie to you
honor's court papers. Your honor
court paper says I'm Patsy, and I'll sigl
II Patsy until your honor gives me leav
W write my own true name.
The court sustained the motion from
pure admiration for Patsy. We nov
MAD time to look about us. A few
months later the case was tried, tn
L. L..