The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1898-04-04

One of the books from which Judge
Vincent read to the first jury in the
Luetgert case is the volume called IA
nous Cases of Circumstantial Evil
dence." written by 5. NJ. Phillips. the
celebrated English jurist. and the au-
thor of Phillips on Evidence"
This work is now out of print, and
! even a secondhand copy can be pro-
cured only with great difficulty 1t is
said that it first appeared anonymously
but the authorship soon became known.
and it was eventually added, in the
shape of an appendix, TO the second
London edition and first American edi-
ton of the authors great work on evil
| dence.
This book was written by a lawyer.
the subject is law. it is bound in sheep.
like a law book, and yet it is not q law
book. 1t is more properly a lawyers
story book. The principles of circum-
stantial evidence are discussed in the
Introduction, but the rest of the book is
devoted TO II narratives OF crimi-
nal trials in which circumstantial
evidence was relied on to convict. AS
the decisions of courts are not given, it
is clear that these stories have no legal
value, and if Judge Tuthill should allow
them 10 be read TO the jury it will be
ali astonishing innovation.
These stories relate not to murder
Only, but TO robbery, forgery and sew
eral other crimes. Conviction resulted
in most of them, but not all. In the
murder cases executions are frequent,
but sometimes the charge was exploded
at the last moment. Many of them in
volve mysterious disappearance. They
are gathered from many different coun-
tries, and the dates extend from %
years back to two centuries back.
Some of the cases are from the United
states, and one from Illinois. Many of
them are anonymous.
POSSIBLE EFFECT ON A JURY.
Z These stories are among the most
fascinating narratives in the English
language. They are written in the most
perfect style and skill imagina BILE, and
overflow with pathos and sadness. They
make an unfair impression, because
while they cover many lands and CEN
tLries of time, they are generally swal-
lowed by the reader in a few hours In
this way all prospective is lost, and such
judicial mishaDs are made to appear
much more frequent than they really
are. They give one the most con-
temptuous opinion of legal tribunals of
any book in existence, and lower his
opinion of human nature almost to the
level of the brutes. After reading these
stories it takes a person a full week to |
recover his cheerfulness. 1t is doubtful |
II jury that had read them after re-
firing TO the jury room to deliberate on /
its verdict would convict anybody of I
anything on any evidence whatever
A fair idea of the character of these i
stories may be obtained from the fol- /
lowing epitOmes, taken purpOsely from
the fatal murder trials, as being most
appropriate in Chicago at the present
time:
THREW SUSPICION ON ANOTHER
BOY.
More than a century ago a boy was
executed in Paris for the alleged muir
der of a rich old woman, who kept a
shop near the place st. Michael, and
who was known to keep money in her
place. She was found dead in her bed
room IL the rear of the shop, and had
been stabbed to death with
| knife, covered with blood, which lay
oy her side. One hand of the corpse
'lutched a neckerchief, and the
'ther a lock of hair. For this crime
he boy. who was her only
servant. was first tortured, then
Executed 1t was proved that the neck
rchief, the knife and the hair were all
lis. When put to the torture he con-
essed that he committed the crime.
Sut a short time after he was exc
uted boy in neighboring wine shop
onfessed that he committed the muir
er. He had taken wax impression
f the first boys keys and made KEY
nth which he entered the house. He
ad stolen the first boys neckerchief ,
nd knife and saved up the cOmbings
the first boys hair until he had a |
mall lock of his hair, and then used !
hese articles to throw suspicion on the J
rst boy and divert it from himself. ,
IANGED FOR A MURDER NOT :
COMMITTED. :
Near York, England. in the last CEN
Try James Harris, who left a public !
ouse, was executed for the alleged :
lurder of a guest named Grey His :
named Morgan, swore that ;
saw Harris strangling Grey. in his
ed. Morgan said he retreated out of r
ght, but looking through the keyhOle c
iw Harris rifiing Grey's pockets. :
arris' maid servant swOre that she o
ad seen Harris soon afterward, in the q
ight. take a lot of gold coin from his I
Ocket and bury it under a tree. A :
Unstable dug for the gold, and found .
80 in gold wrapped in a paper. Harris h
'nfessed that he buried the money for g
ifety, but betrayed great confusion I
his manner. He was hanged, pro- c
sting his innocence.
It happened afterward that Morgan p
nd the maid servant, who were low q
s. had falling out, and then made E
confession. Harris was in the habit h
burying his savings under the tree Z
Id the maid servant had discovered b
and had agreed with Morgan that o
hen the amount got large enough o
icy would steal it and set up bust I
SIS. But when Morgan accused Har-
5 of murder Harris made such q
reats of prosecution for perjury as n
brighten the two lovers out of their n
its. The result was that they agreed o
use the money burying incident as e
oof against Harris. As for Grey, it k
as found that he died of apoplexy. h
MYSELF CONVICTED BY HIS Il
GUILT. \
century ago, Soren Qvist, a Dan it
4 farmer and minister. and the n
stor of the village of Veilby, in Jut- Ii
nd. was beheaded for the alleged h
urder of his servant man. Neils "
rms. Soren was a man of quick Il
mper, and often administered a | d.
rashing to Neils. who was rather II
~.
One day Neils disappeared. A woman in
med Korsten testified that she over a
ard through a fence a violent quar- o.
between Soren and Neils, and then N
number of blows struck, after which fl
was still The pastor said: L Will v
at thee. dog. until thou Hest dead III
my feet" A man named Larsen ST
;tified that passing that way that b
sht he heard some one digging in the III
rden, and looking over the hedge he OF
W the pastor in his dressing gown &C
d night cap leveling the earth with k;
spade. The magistrate, directed by II
rsen, dug in the garden and found do
corpse that was dressed in NeiIs' II
'thes, had his earrings. and was uni
rsally believed to be his BODY. &c
)ugh the face and head had been "