Evening journal., 1898-05-18
THE COOPER VERDICT.

A Jury Of twelve men empaneled to
try the case Of the United States Gov
ernment VS.. Colonel Ezekiel T. Cooper,
in the United States Circuit Court for
the Delaware district, returned ver-
dict Of guilty last evening. The de-
fendant's attorneys have secured an
arrest of Judgment, and will, 1t is
said carry the case through all the
various stages of appeal before aban-
doning hope OF relieving their client
Of the punishment attending such a
verdict.
That the public may more fully un-
derstand the scope and effect Of the
verdict it may be well to say that of all
the counts in the Indictment prepared
by District Attorney Vandegrift only
one stood, and that was the forty-sixth,
which charged Colonel Cooper with
entering into a conspiracy with Will
liam N. Boggs to misap-
propriate and mlsapply the
funds Of the First National Bank of
Dover. Had the jury found Colonel
Cooper guilty in manner and form as
he stood indicted the maximum penal
ty would have been about fifteen years
imprisonment. AS the verdict stands
to-day the maximum PENALTY is two
years Imprisonment, and the minimum
penalty is discretionary with the court.
AS the jury coupled with its verdict
a recommendation of mercy, we fail to
see how Judge Bradford can ignore
that recommendation and inflict the
maximum penalty should the verdict
stand.
Probably the next step taken by Col
onel Cooper's lawyers will be TO en-
deavor to obtain a new trial. Should
Judge Bradford refuse this, an appeal
will doubtless be taken to the District
Court of Appeals, and thence, if nee
essary, to the United States Supreme
Court.
The verdict was in the nature Of a
surprise, and thousands of men i'm
Delaware and elsewhere will regret its
finding because they do not believe Col
onel Cooper guilty Of the offense al
legged. 1t is understood that ON the
first ballot there were six OF the jurors
who wished to return a verdict of
guilty in manner and form as the col
onel stood indicted, and six who wish
ed an uneQuivOcal verdict of not guilty
At no time did the prosecution have
more than seven of the jurors on its
side. The jury remained in this condi-
ton all OF Saturday night and part OF
Sunday, and on Sunday morning a dis
agreement was reported to the court
Judge Bradford sent them back to their
room, with the statement that the evil
dence was clear enough for them tc
reach a verdict. There they remained
all OF Sunday, all of Monday and all Oh
Tuesday up to about o'clock in the
evening. They slept on the floor and
on tables and benches, with nothing
but pillows and blankets for their com
fort Stress of confinement under sucf
conditions led them to sacrifice what
ever positive opinions they entertain
ed and to patch up a verdict which
would end their confinement. rhOs'
who favored a verdict carrying with Il
a maximum sentence of fifteen years
sacrificed their opinions to such de
gree as to make the maximum pen
atty two years, and to recommend thi
accused man to the mercy Of the court
Those who were fully convinced o
Colonel COOper's innocence, and wh'
had held strenuously to that conviction
for three days, sacrificed their opinion
to the extent Of cOnsentng to conver
into qualified guilt what they regards
as absolute innocence. We cannot Sc
how a verdict so obtained can serve tn
ends OF justice. Colonel Cooper wa
either guilty as indicted or he was al
together innocent. We believe that tn
verdict represents the physical" strai
and inconvenience of the jurors rathe
than their true opinion Of the guilt c
innocence of the defendant, and it is
serious question how far a court of jus
tice should permit itself to go in ell
deavoring to coerce jurors into abaI
doning convictions, honestly entertain
ed and agreeing upon a verdic, whiC
does not represent their true opinion
CT the extent of the guilt or innocen'
of the accused A juror who honest
believes that a defendant is innocel
and who sacrifices that belief in the Il
terest Of his own comfort and co
venience is as much menace to s
ciety as the man who believes that
defendant is guilty and yet sacrifices
compromises that belief to rid hims'
Of discomforts attending his service
a juror.
For sixty-One years the Baltimo
Sun has been occupying a credital