Idaho County free press. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho Territory) 1886-current, 1899-08-25
He tore to shreds the argument of

the prisoner in his opening state e
ment as to why the child failed to X
cry out, and showed that the youth
OF the child and her inexperience 4
justified her every action. He re- t
viewed the revolving phases of the /
case as related by Dorothea Chase, 1
and asked the court to recollect 8
how she testified and see if he :
could not reconcile in his own mind I
the evident intention of the de- ,
Tense to prove that the girl had
been trained by her mother to tell
the story.
Reconsidering the entire testi-
mony of the defense and its wit
nesses he said that in all their
testimony they showed how much
they were attached to the defend
ant, and showed that they were all
members Of the Shearer family, or,
if not, they were dependent on him
for their support. He returned to
the fact of the little girls testi-
mony and compared it with the
mature testimony of the Shearer
family, and how the Shearer's had
appealed to the child's sympathies
by telling her how good "Charlie"
had been to her, to try to get her to
commit herself, and notwithstand-
ing how there was not a flaw in
the entire fabric.
He then went on to describe how
palpably inconsistent the testimony
of the Shearer family was and how
little all the statements correspond
ed. He disregarded Duvars testi-
mony in toto as something unworthy
of consideration. In closing he
called the attention of the court to
the fact that the mother of the
child was working at the Palace in
the mental position of chamber
maid to earn livelihood, and
showed that she was not the. kind
of woman that would bargain for
5 her child's chastity. The county
attorneys speech was an eloquent
g appeal; it was most spirited and
t logical in every particular, and was
e a perfect arraignment Of the colored
}, man of the crime of which he was
n charged. Court then adjourned
for the noon hour, and Watkins
0 asked the Court to have him taker
o to his private room at the hotel il
n order that he might have quiet tt
l prepare his speech, but this was re
l. fused, and he was given the option
e to either use the Jail or the cour
le room; he elected the latter.
1t Not since Othello made his ple'
l. has more soulstirring speech beel
4 made than the one made today il
ID Justice Hartman's court, by a col
rs ored man. After the noon recess
le court re convened. The court
l. room was crowded to it's fullest Ca
c. pacity, and every available spac
was occupied to listen to Watkin
ge making his closing statement i
H. his own behalf. He opened with
v very pretty compliment to til
at speech made by the county attol
IT. ney prior to lunch, which he tern
It. ed Every elegant. He the
e. showed that the evidence as pre-
he duced by the State was incomplete
,e. and made mistake common
l laymen in drawing conclusions
er to what seemed to him should |
a the law. Continuing, he place
ed great stress on the fact that IL
'e- child did not cry out and call ft
/ help, charging on the matter
,e. quite an extent. He then said tn;
he had he had money to employ coul
sci evidence would not have gol
es in which did, but that he did n
use know how to keep it out. II
De- voice rose and he said, 81 am
". prosecuted victim Of black-mailer
lat this is black mailing scheme fro
ICE start to finish. And why did
nd not expose it? I am a black ma
)re and a niger. :"
lO, lie lucu COuluuCuCOu VII lhO tSs'
his mony, and primarily took that
of the mother, and quoted the alleg
~ words, eff / do not get money
he will expose YOU" He elaborat
es. on these words and asked VIII
aid kind of mother this could be W
de- would be willing to sell the Writ
her of her child for money. He call
tie on God Almighty to see that he
YER Justice in this court, and said If
hat did not get it here, he would
hat Judgment day. He then elat
her rately related the facts in the ca
we'd as they had been drawn out by t
ms State, and his sarcasm was to S
he. the least pointed. He told why
ed. had agreed to pay the mott
{ it money, and said it was because
her cases like this a colored man col
ion not get justice. He then co
ase mented on the fact that he b
ple talked of the matter to the cour
!, / attorney prior to the case havi
the been brought; What did he say
,er- me 2" he said: "Vinegar, do
It'll cross bridge until you get to il
title "Well," he continued, "1'm at
as and don't know how Pm going
o.e, Ha cnnla IF