The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1898-02-18


Name He swore Wa Not His Own-Bu
He Won the Judge and hi. Point by nj
h, ,,I.nation.
My first case came at Florence. Ala.
few months after l was licensed
writes Attorney b. NJ. jackson. Tn,
sheriff there, Captain w. L. White
now dead. gallant Confederate soldier
and one Of natures noblemen. met m,
on the street and told me there was
man confined in the county Jail who
. wished To see me-
was then 2 years old. but would
!. readily have passed for IL The client.
] name was Patrick Donovan. but he was
I commonly called Patsy Donovan. Go.
ing 10 the Jail, found man from 80
10 35 years old, an intelligent. nice
looking, devil may care Irishman.
When l entered, he greeted me with
Good evening, miss. :" Pretending not
TO 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. III be id" and
burst out MISUNDERSTANDING uproar
iously. | was irritated to "A degree by
this reception Il beg pardon, Judge,
it's go You do look pretty young,
but Tom tthe sheriff. says you are
daisy. Get me out of here. and my
folks. who've got plenty. will pay you
well for your trouble.
He told me his story. He was a 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
physician in charge Of those works.
This physician was brother of the
United States engineer in control of the
canal construction, and il was evident
that the prosecution would be bitter,
sparlng 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 il was red.
and both, i inferred, were striving for
the favor of the same woman A clash
between them soon came. They had
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 a mile distant and
In secluded place, and, knocking on
the door, was hidden by the doctor to
come III. Entering, he found the doctor ,,
putting ON shirt, and thus for the
moment disabled. and. remarking, lyon
had the drop on me this morning, but
We got ii on you now" fired, striking
the doctor in the neck and inficting 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
gong yet IL was so improbable in itself 4
and so inconsistent with the attendant
that it looked as if a SEN
tence of ten years was inevitable il the
ponement an objection was interposed
to the competency Of the court ON the
ground that he was related by affinity
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 ii, too, failed.
In shaar dac,arat,,, 49,.
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
misnoner, l wrote out the defendants
in support. The affidavit stated
that the defendant 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, it
and, going to the clerks desk,
swore to it ana signed it PATSY Done
van. This. of course, was the way he
usually signed his name, but he never
reflected that to sign it Patsy this time
was to afford the strongest evidence OF
he falsity of the affidavit.
Arguing the case without looking at
the affidavit, | didn't see how he had
signed IL, but the state attorney had
noticed the signature and in his reply
allied tho courts attention to it. This
disclosure raised storm Of laughter
md Jeering in the courtroom. / was
and at the end Of my re-
sources. Not so was Patsy. Realizing
lis peril, that the slip was his own and
hat he alone could retrieve il, be spoke I
lut, not whit abashed: Il signed it .
Patsy out Of pure respect for your honor.
It's not for me to give the lie to your
ionor's court papers. Your honor's
curt paper says m Patsy, and I'll sign .
I Patsy until your honor gives me leave ,
o write my own true name.
The court sustained the motion from
)ure admiration for Patsy. We now
lad time to look about u.s. A few
months later the case was tried, the
ury failing to agree. The bail bond,
which had been fixed at high figure,
a