Arizona republican., 1900-07-25
PLEA FOR TWO LIVES
HaIderman Case Before Acting
 Governor AkerS
Presentation of Startling Afidavits by Attorney S. H. Hopkins of Texas Aided by Hon. M. A. Smith and Delegate Wilson.


 liam and Thomas Halderman, sen fenced to death at Tombstone on Au- gust 10, was made before Acting Gov ernor Akers yesterday afternoon by Attorney s. H. Hopkins of Gonzalez, Tex MT. Hopkins had been intrc- tuced by Delegate Wilson on the af- ternoon before. He press nted at that time a large volume of affidavits intro ducing evidence which had been gath cred, not only since the trial of the case at Tombstone. but since the hearing of it in the supreme court. Mir Hopkins formally presented these affidavits yes terday afternoon in strong speech of an hour and a half. The Texas attor- ney is quite young man, his youth heightened by a small figure. a smooth face and light hair.
 MT. Hopkins began with a statement that a plea for the life of a condemned man was an unusual occupation for lawyer. He said that a reputable law yer would not become n advocate for q doomed man for a mere fee and in no circums tance until he had been con vinced of his innocence or that an ir- reparable injustice had been done his 
 Hopkins said he was receiving no fee. nothing beyond his actual expenses, for though there were no more respectable people in all Texas than the relatives of the Halderman boys, thsy were ex-- l tremely poor.
 The attorney next spoke of the inter- est their fate had aroused in the Lone Star state, calling forth earnest pro | tests from Governor Savers, Hon. R. B. 1 Hawley. the only republican congress l man from Texas, and Hon. w. s. Ely an associate justice of the court of ap- | peals. All these men knew and r3 | spected the Haldermans of Texas. | These condemned boys. MT Hopkins | said, were left orphans at a tender aga and conducted themselves sr that they 1 enjoyed the respect which had always attached to their family. They were moral, and the younger, Thomas. was a devout Sunday school boy when he left l Texas for Arizona seven months before ! the unfortunate occurrence for which he has been condemned. to die. His el- der brother had preceded him to this | territory by elev5 months.
 Of their life in Cochise county Mir. i Hopkins said he could speak only by hearsay. and of their trial at Tombstone only by the record which he presented. a bulky volume to which he referred from time to time. The attorney, how ever, confined himself mainly to the af- fidavits, frequently reminding the act ing governor of his duty and responsi- 1 bility for the rlghting of a wrong un- willingly and, perhaps, unavoidably done by the judiciary. which could not have been accessible to the facts since adduced.
 In passing, MT. Hopkins criticized the part taken in the prosecution by Attorney-G Ainsworth. thougi, he said that if his own brother had been slain he, too. would have assisted in the prosecution of his accused mur- Gercrs. But the presence of the attor- n-y-general, d represG ntatiVe of the | executive department of the territory, must have had an influential effect upon a jury already innamed agains. the defendants.
 The killing of Constable Ainsworth and Ted Moore, Mir Hopkins said ! could not have been Wanton, for there was the fatal absence of a motive Thlre was no ill feeling against Aims worth. and while an animosity amount- ing to hatreP existed between Will ! Halderman and Citizen Moore, it could not have impelled the former to niur- der in the circumstances under which 1 the killing occurred. The lawyer in- | troduced the apparently less important affidavits first. The first was by A. G Curry, a cattleman of Cochise county who swore that the trial was unfair by reason of the prejudice against the de fendants. threatening them with lynch ! law. There was an affidavit by Harry Emerson who said he had been told by John Rath. a ju"yman. that the jury did not understand the judges ccarge and that it was decided in the jury room to hang both defendants in order Co save the county the expense of 2 rCW trial.
 $. A. D. Upton, who was associated III the defense, made affidavit that be had been approached by J. J. Riggs. a cattleman and an eX-legislator of Ari- zona. who said to him: Let up or your def nse; you may acquit them but they wouldn't get fifty yards iron the court\ house. A mob has already been formed to hang them"
 The next affidavit was an important
 
 by MT. Hopkins himself. Chandler said that he had heard Ted Moore say he was going to kill Will Haldermar and three days before the arrest of the Haldermans by Constable Ainswersh Moore had told him that they were tC be arrested and he was going to assist He added: And it won't cost thu county anything to try them.' Chandler further testified that he was scared out of the country by Moore's friends after the killing. Chandler, by the way, i: the missing witness on account ot whom continuance was asked by the defense and denied by the court.
 At this point MT. Hopkins introduce the theory of the defense. After Con. sta ble Ainsworth read the warrant O arrest to the Ealdermans and permit ted them to go into the house, they re- membered what Chandler had tolC them of MoOre's threat. Suspectins that he would try to kill them as the, rode down the canyon, they armed themselves and as they reappeareC ! hoo -l,