The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1900-08-28
THE WEEPING LAWYER.
aye That Have Tears to Shed" May
Shed Them Legally Now.
(Washington PoSt)

kH aSnlnSlOH HOStt
The capacity to weep in a fetching
manner is an item of no small value in
the assets of a lawyer whose speciality
is defense of persons accused of muir
der or any other infamous crime. The
possession of that asset in large meas
ure has made the fame and fortune of
many a shining light of the bar; its
artistic use has averted the hemp from
many a fope-deservinS neck and re-
stored to society a man who else would
have done the state some years Of ser
vice within penitentiary walls. Add TO
graceful delivery and fine rhetorical
finish the tact to know when and how
TO weep and the ability to produce the
tears and regulate the output so as TO
blend with and supplement vocal and
manual effects, and you have an attor-
ney who is equally equipped to serve
society by defending the innocent or to
be a curse to his fellow men by stay
ing the arm of justice.
There have been lawyers of great re-
pute-and possibly their kind has not
! persisted from the earth-who really
| felt the heart-rending agony their tears
/ indicated. Like the most eminent
/ tragedians of the past they identified
! themselves with their client and felt
! the grief that rent the souls of his wife
and children, his mother and sister
Again there have been those-and this
kind may still be eXtant-who pos
sessed a genius for crocodile tears
! While believing their client to be
| guilty as indicted" and feeling that
! the ends of justice could be answered
/ only by his conviction, they could, for
/ a sufficient consideration. do the weep
| ing act so we'll that the jury and the
1
the court would join in the lachrymal
! exhibition.
/ Both of these varieties of the weep
/ ing attorney are far less dangerous
now than they were some years ago.
Changes in the mode of criminal prac-
tice in numerous states have detracted
from the commercial value of tears,
! whether genuine or stimulated, and
have, also, strengthened the safeguards
of society. Formerly it was the widely
prevalent custom to give the defense
the closing speech, the last chance foI
an appeal to the jury. But frequent
miscarriages of justice, due to tear
soaked appeals to the twelve good and
true men on whose word the fate OF
the prisoner rested, caused legislatures
to reverse that rule and put the public
prosecutor down behind the defend
ants counsel. The effect has been sal
utary.
Still there is a cash value in lawyers
tears and il is interesting to know that
their right to shed them has recently
been indicated by a decision of the
| supreme court of Tennessee An at
tempt had been made 10 have a verdict
set aside and a new trial ordered or
the ground of undue influence upon the
jury through the tears of counsel. The
opinion of the court was delivered by
Justice Wilkes. Tears have always
been considered legitimate argument!
before the jury" he said, and W.
know Of no power or jurisdiction il
the trial judge to check them. Indeed
if counsel has tears at command i
may be seriously questioned whethe
it is not his professional duty to shet
them whenever proper occasion arises.
Since the trial judge has no author
ity to check tears it follows that tn
counsel may determine when TIL
proper occasion arises" And we trus
that the profession, especially tn
younger members, whose habits are no
: fixed and in whom a latent capacit,
may yet be developed. will particularly
. note what the court says as to pro
fessional duty" To have tears a
command and not to shed them whei
and where they win do the most goo
may yet come to be regarded as goo
cause for disbarment. In view of sue
a possibility may we not confidentl
expect that the faculties of law school
will find room in their curricula for
few lectures and perhaps a small tex
book on the subject on which Justic
Wilkes discourses so convincingly
Such lectures. illustrated by object les
sons. would be novel and an attrac
tive feature of either the undergrad
} uate or postgraduate. By all mean
let it be tried