The herald., 1898-11-19

Mr.. Williams made speech asserting
his right to read the evidence of Mr.. Gle
ment previously given, in order to show
that the question regarding Clark explana-
tion of the presence of the blood had never
before been asked the witness.
Justice Young suggested that the exam
ination of Clement be deferred until the as
sistant distri%t attorney could examine
the transcript of Mr.. Clements previous
evidence and then recall the witness for
examination thereon. With this under
standing the matter was allowed to remain
in allegiance.
Sheriff Burr at this point came forward
and asked the court for liberty to deny
statement made, he understood, by the as
sistant district attorney, that he had been
unduly interested in the case and had tried
to prevent Detective Brighton from gather
ing evidence tending to implicate Hunter
He said he hoped Hunter would be prose
cuted if guilty, and be let off ii innocent.
AL Barrel was recalled and failed to iden-
tify pair of gold cuff buttons, which Harry
Clark had said were his, as the buttons he
had seen in the pair of blood stained cuffs
He said this pair he had never seen before.
The district attorney then called Deputy
Sheriff White, for the purpose of inqmring
further about the cuff buttons, saying that
with such evidence he would rest the prose
cution. Mr.. White did not Immediately
appear and Mr.. Jones declined to proceed
until the state had got entirely through, but
at last admitted that Joe Hunter took he
cuff buttons from pair of cuffs and delivered
them to Mr.. White With such admission
Mr.. Williams closed the case for the prose
cution.
MOTION FOR DISCHARGE
Mr. Jones then moved that the defendant
be discharged because there was not
sufficient cause to believe the defendant
guilty of the offense mentioned in the COM
plant; second, that there had been no evil
dence connecting Joe Hunter with the m,Ir-
der of Wong Sing Hay to justify the court
in putting him ON his defense. In support
of such motion, he made most earnest ap-
peal, declaring If his client were held it
must be on the testimony of Harry Clark,
who had admitted without blush that he
had perjured himself over and over again.
Justice Young denied the motion, and
Mr.. Jones said, with some heat, that it be-
ing apparent that the court believed the
testimony of Clark to be true, it would be
useless to controvert it by the evidence of
other witnesses. He would, therefore, rest
the defendants case at that point without
the offer of any testimony.
The court intimated that counsel for the
defense had been too hasty in inferring that
he had been won over to belief in the alb
soIute truthfulness of Clark, and urged that
any evidence favorable to Hunter be pre-
sented; but Jones was determined not to
prolong the fight, and Justice Young was
compelled to make his ruling in the case
wholly on the testimony adduced by the
prosecution. He said that it would be the
judgment of the court that Hunter be held
to answer to the superior court, without
bonds
BASIS OF OPINION
| In support of his action in ordering the
| detention of the defendant, Justice Young
said the story told by Clark, if uncorrobor-
| ated, would be unworthy of credit at all.
Clark's perjured statements had been many,
and by his absolute disregard of the truth
he had forfeited all claim to credence, save
when corroborated by other witnesses. His
statement had been corroborated in many
essential details and, in the main, he be-
leved his latest story of the tragedy to be
truthful. Clark had been subjected to a
most searching cross examination, the most
ingenious he had ever heard, yet he had not
1
deviated in any material sense from the
statements made by him during his examina-
tion in chief.
If Clark had killed the Chinaman, it would
have been necessary for him, between the
hours of and p. M. on that fated Tuesday
to carry the body out of the house, along
to the little door in the basement, and to
drag it far within, where it was found, all
of which would, in his opinion, have
been almost a physical impossibility for
Clark in his bodily condition. The court had
been experienced during the civil war in
carrying dead bodies, and he could not con-
ceive that in the limited time intervening
between the hour of the Chinaman's arrival
at the Hunter house and the return of Joe
Hunter at s o'clock so great task could have
been performed alone by Clark.