The San Francisco call., 1898-12-08

given the defense its first slippery foothold on the ground of technicality
 The trial of Mrs. Botkin promises to rival that of Durrant in sensational in terest. When court was about to open yesterday morning the corridors of the second floor of the City Hall were black with a surging, jostling, eager crowd. greedy for the morbid satisfac- tion of glimpse of the accused woman. Men and worre- struggled for positions near the entrance to Judge Cooks court. They swayed, and moved, and muttered coarse words of diScontent at each others incivility.
 When the doors of the courtroom were opened these men and women rushed pell- mell for seats as animals might have done for bone. Women scrambled over the backs of benches, perched them selves on seats and made their nasty, of- fenSive way to places of advantage. Men almost fought their progress into the court of justice to positions where they could feast their morbid eyes upon the leading actors in the case. The spectacle was not pleasant.
 The trial has already assumed a tinge
 of the theatrical The lawyers for the
 ready posing. They seem to feel ana
 seek the value of notoriety that asso-
 citation with a sensational case inevita-
 ply brings. mus dar neither CT siae sh ,,,ta has
 issue of the trial. Mrs. Botkin's attor- neys appear to be in no way concerned over the terr1Dle cnaln or clrCu1nSLdnCldl
 evidence around her. They have indica- ted nothing of her claim of innocence eX- cept a general plea of not guilty. They have created the impression that the wo- man will escape punishment for a crime for the simple reason that under certain
 conditions the laws of this State and of
 others are powerless to punish even mur- dererS.
 There is in the attitude of the attorneys
 for the defense an air of defiance and of
 almost careless confidence. The horrify- ing story of the cruel murder of two
 women has been forgotten in the new in- terest created by an effort to prove the
 laws of the nation inadequate for the pur-
 poses for which they were made. Every endeavOr has been made to give prOmi-
 hence to the idea that a woman accused of murder will not seek to combat the testimony against her but will try only
 to show that the guilty cannot always be punished.
 This fact resulted yesterday in an ex- ceptionally dramatic scene. Twelve jurors had been sworn and chosen. They were l acceptable both to the prosecution and the defense Even the stock questions of the legal examiner had not been asked. When a talesman was rejected 1t was
 because he was palpaoly disqualiiied to try any one for murder. Jurors were in consequence accepted quickly-almost un- precedently so in case where circum- stantial evidence will be the major part of the testimony.
 After the twelfth juror had been sworr the clerk of the court arose to read the indictment against Mrs. Botkin. The read ing was suddenly and most unexpectedly | interrupted by one of the jurors who had been sworn to try the case. Colonel J. s. Young arose in the jurybox and declared | that he could not conscientiously act as a | juror. He had satisfactorily answered | the questions of the defense and the | prosecution. He had been accepted under | the conditions of the loose examination
 of both sides, but he assured the court | that not enough questions had been asked | of him.
 Neither the defense nor the prosecution
 had taken the pains to inquire If he knew i any of the witnesses in the case. He is | lessee of the Russ House, where Detect | i've McVey, the State detective of Dela- ware, has resided since his arrival in the
 city. MT. Young has frequently con-
 versed with McVey in reference to the | Botkin case Opinions were naturally | created by these conversations, but
 neither the prosecutors nor the defenders
 of Mrs. Botkin saw fit to ask the ordinary questions that would elicit the informa- | ton. AS MT Young understood legal pro- l cedure he did not feel at liberty to vol
 unteer. When he was finally presented with the issue, however, he declared that | he did not believe conscientiously that he could serve as a juror.
 Young was at once excused by consent l and the jury, which had already been | completed, lacked one member It Is now claimed that the release of Young was
 made after the trial of Mrs. Botkin had