The Weekly Tallahasseean., 1901-09-27
CzOLGOSZ GUILTY
OF MURDER
Jury Out Thirty-fOur Minutes
Tuesday
TRIAL ENDED SUDDENLY
Speeches of Counsel on Both Sides
of Noted Case.

Buffalo, N. Y, Sept 24-LeOn F.
CzolgOsz, alias Fred Nieman, was found
guilty to-day of murder in the first de-
gree by jury in part of the Supreme
Court, in having on the 9Th day of
| September shot President William Nc
| Kinley, the wounds inflicted afterygard
resulting in the death of the President.
The wheels of justice moved swiftly.
The trial of the assassin consumed
eight hours and tWenty-six minutes,
and covered a period of only two days.
| Practically all Of this time was Occu-
pied by the prosecution presenting a
case so clear, so conclusive that, even
| had the prisoner entered a plea Of in
sanity, it is doubtful if the jury would
have returned verdict different from
the one rendered to-day.
| The announcement made this after
noon by the, attorneys for CzOlgOsz.
that the eminent alienistS summoned
| by the Erie County Bar Association
and by the District Attorney to exam
! inc .CzOlgOSz, and to determine his eX-
! act mental condition, had declared him
| to be perfectly sane, destroyed the
only stage Of a defense that Juuges.
/ Lewis and Titus could have put to-
| gether.
At 2.44 this afternoon District Attor-
ney Penney abruptly announced that
| the case of the prosecution was ended.
Judge Lewis arose slowly, and, ad-
dressing the court, said that the sud
/ den close of the case against CzOlgOs;
was a surprise to him and his coll
| league. They had no witnesses to call
| for the defense He asked the court
| that he be allowed to address the jury
at once. The court consented, and the
venerable jurist began an address mat
will long be remembered by those who
! heard it. Judge Lewis said:
Gentlemen of the Jury: A calamity
/ has fallen upon this nation through
| the act of this man, Uut the question is
whether his act was the act of an in
sane man. If an insane man, it is not
murder, and he should be acquitted OF
that charge. He would then, OF course,
| he transferred to an insane asylum
Much discussion has occurred in
our midst, and it has been called to
my attention as to the prOpriety of any
! defense being !interpOSed in this case
Many letters have been received by
me since | waS assigned with my as
sociate to defend this man, questioning
the prOpriety of defense being at
tempted. You gentlemen know, per
hapS, how Judge Titus and myself
came into this case. The position was
not sought by US, but we appear here
IN performance of a duty we thought
devOlved upOB us, notwithstanding it
was an exceedingly disagreeable one.
1.-The defendants counsel appear here
because, under our system of juris-
| prudence, nOs man can be placed on
trial for the Eigh crime of murder, the
penalty Of Wthich, under the law, is
death, without he has the assistance of
| counsel. The court has the power to
designate cOu hsel and it is the duty Of
the counsel thus designated to appear
in the case, unless they can make some
reasonable excuse and succeed in being
relieved of the 0uty.
1.-The defendant, no matter how SER
iOuS crime the has committed, is en-
titled, under the laws, to the benefit
of trial. In the case of murder, he
must have trial. You sat there and
! listened to the defendants plea of
| guilty when be was araigned at lie
opening of this term, but the law of
our State will not permit him to plead
! guilty to such crime as this. Tie
| law is so careful of the rights of it's
! citizens that it will not permit a man
to plead guilty to this crime of muir
der, so that even after he had cOnced-
ed his guilt in this case, it was incum-
bent upon the court to insist that he
| Trio1 chnn16 hot hn
/ pie should establish beyond a reason
able doubt that the defendant was
| guilty of the crime charged against
| hip
There are in our country indiVidu-
ais rot. I hope, in any very large
numbers, but we know they are scat
| tered all over our sOuntry-wLc think
| that in a case like this or even in
charges of much less degree, it is en-
tirely proper that the case should be
disposed Of by lynch or mob law. We
can hardly take up a paper without
we learn that in some part of this free
and independent country some man
| has been murdered on the suspicion or
belief that he was guilty of some crime
! This state of Things does not exist in
our community, but it does appear in
some parts of our State, as every in
telligent man knows.
1T is charged here that our client
| is an anarchist,a a man VINO does not be-
lieFe in any law or in any form OF
| government. And there are, so we are
told, other individuals who entertain
that opinion. We all feel that such
doctrines are dangerous and criminal
are doctrines that will subVert our
government in time, if they are al
lowed to prevail.
Gentlemen of the jury, While be-
Iieve firmly in that, do not believe it
creates danger to this country equal
! to the belief, becoming SO common,