Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1901-01-01

The Stain and Cromwell case and the
opinions of the court; in fact,fsI WAS
somewhat familiar with it Aurt2g the
time of the trial. My acqisamta18 c e In
Dexter was such that rjpeaeSsariN
knew Mr.. Barron and others who h&d,
to do with it from that town. ~ 3
Il never felt fully satisfied with ne
identifications of the witnesses after
so many years, or with the unnatural
testimony of Charles Stain, which he
how admits2to. b. false. The Sanborn
receipt, if = cry and in the hand
writing of Sta seemed to corroborate
Charles on = tcrial point and to
show that Sta / Cromwell were in
the State. Th ,eipt is admitted now
to have been uine and not a for
gerry by Stain or more o. he jury
men swear ~ 'thOut it cere never
would have been Il lion. Besides,
these men do not b. that class
that generally rob i,.,..As 1t is in evil
dence that Stain as cobbler and
that was his common vocation most of
the time. l d. not recall what Crom-
well did for a living.
The Council have unanimously vOt-
ed in favor of pardon, and notwith-
standing l recognize the ability and in
tegrity of the court and have as much
respect for it as any one, and especially
for Chief Justice Peters, who tried the
case, yet under all the circumstances,
and in view of the new evidence that
has been submitted, l feel constrained
to act upon the advice of my Council
believing that in this or any other case,
it is better for me to err on the side of
mercy than to retain who ha
innocent longer in prison.
GOvernOr-elect Hill said: Il could not
help arriving at the conclusion | did
after hearing the strong evidence 60
ing to prove an alibi. l felt it my duty
to vote to advise the Governor to
pardon the men. When the testimony
of Charlie Stain was eliminated from
the case l had nothing to stand upon"
Lewis a. Barker, attorney for the pc
titiOners, said. tonight: Il can only say
that from boy l believed the men in
nocent and am more than delighted
that they are at last set free" He re-
ceived hundreds of congratulatory tele-
grams, this evening.
County Attorney Smith of Penobscot.
who represented the States interest at
the pardon hearing, said: Until within
of the case except what was known
publicly. The view that | gave it
which l was officially required to do
led me to a conclusion in harmony with
the verdict of the jury and the con-
illusions of the court. From a legal
standpoint there was nothing in the al
legged newly discovered evidence to
change that conclusion. Much of the
new testimony was heresay and mad
missable and much of it weak and in
consequential. From my point of view
nothing was adduced at the hearing
which would weaken the case of the
government as originally presented to
the jury and the courts. l acted in OPP
position to the pardon as required by
the statutes and | have done my duty
as l understood it and have nothing
to regret. No doubt the Governor and
Council basA their findings upon rea-
sons satisfactory to them. and the law
yer of experience rarely criticiZes re-
suits. l once heard a distinguished
jurist say that the lawyer had a con-
Stitutional right to swear at the court
Theoretically. this may be all right
Practically we don't do it,