Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1901-12-26
',rr LAW TAKE IT'S COURSE

ne~p ,.. y resorted to by ol''g's
ing y. D't tor he purpose q eS'or'p y "a
'ne , 'av' n rom peter Mortensen az . y
.sni 'saol,, ',y' Il the murder Of Inms'
n'' u ,s''l Ssye met with very sen,, ,., q.
s na, l'v attorneys IN have spoken empAau
ns,'v AGAINST the means adopted ,,,. "y :,
cslls 1s y ,he protest Of the News
s s,1 declared Il that The action Of the on,
az o. p So moi only Illegal, but useless
os d is availability for evidence :" =
trial ,.od IN this
,.s, & seems to have been ml'ana sa,
a.. s,o'a , u many persons 50 much naa
s,ySr published Il about It as a method o. ;,
" "s,@ Seo, down. the prisoner that !,
wa. imagined he was put into a ll'era'
sweat.box and physically 1or'u's''
Naming Of that kind has been az
,empted. II would not have been per-
mItlsd. We DO not think any 0pcei'
however Jealous IN endeavorlns =
ols,r 10 the mystery 0; the murder ana
boveyer satisfied Of the guilt Of the ac-
ous,d would take such an extreme s'ep'
The Sweating" was simply question
mo cross examining, narratlng 70 'he
prisoner what had been learned against
him. working upon bis fears MS con- o.,
science and his sense Of duty 70 nlS
family and other similar measures NO
physical force Of any kind was used q
attempted. The public may be assured
i that and The officers should not Dc
untastly charged with any such thlng'
Attempts to draw from accused per-
soma confessions Of their alleged crimes,
appoar to be common In some parts Oh
This country III France they are Ylewea
rs legitimate and necessary. In Eng
lana they would not be tolerated FOR
moment. Courts there would be very
severe on any officer adopting sucn
methods. Even when an accused per-
son desires to make a voluntary con-
fesslon officers are required to caution
him and inform him that anything he
might say would be used against him,
al Ms trial. Anything extorted from a
prisoner or obtained by threat or in
ducement Of any kind, 10 void, when
brought before Judge or a jury. 1t Is
barred out Of court at once,
A similar view Is held by the higher
courts OF this country, Under The Con-
stltution Of the United States, no per,
son may "be compelled in any criminal
Gaze 10 be a witness against himself"
A wife cannot be required to testify
against her husband, In this State the
consent OF the husband must he OBJ
tanned before her evidence, for or
against him, can be admitted. As we
have stated the worst criminal has cor
tain rights under the law which must
be respected Il appears to the public
that Mortensen has been treated more
like a condenned criminal, than a per-
son arrested simply on suspicion and
without any formal charge against him
No court had taken action concerning
him n any way while he was belnf
subjected to the so.called sweating
process All that appears to have beer
extreme, to say the least.
The public mind has been much in.
famed over this case by exaggerated
descriptions Of the condition OF The &C
cused, and the methods resorted to 70
the purpose Of inducing him to ten al
he knew about the tragedy which La
50 excited the community, The mos
lurid portrayal Of events that did no
occur except in the Wild Imagination @
verbose reporters, have been pieturel
TO create sensations that do no good
but reflect lnjuriously upon the officer
who we have no doubt, thought the
were justified IN their endeayors to "a
at the root Of the matter Those hlghl
colored stories SAVIOR more Of the din
noyel'style Of literature than Of legit
mate journalism.
The accused does not complain at Il
has reached its readers, Peter Mouenst
the city or the county officers. He Wa
treated kindly, his daily wants we
Wen supplied He was kept in a sui
able but pleasant and convenient roo
while under the charge Of the polio
and such pressure as was brought
bear upon him dli not injurs him
any way II has been the same since
was placed in the county JAIL He IN
been subjected to no horrors al
speaks very highly Of the conduct Of /
custodians The idea that he has be
put through series Of soul-scarinc q
perlments to wiring from him expr,
slons that could be used to his dlscred
Is all wrong and without any found
'lon in fact The only objection II
can be reasonably raised In this mat
Is The questioning process which
have denounced as outside OF the IA,
We have been surprised and render
Indignant at the shameless curIos
and lack of decency exhibited by p
sons who invaded the grounds q
homo of fhp afo,t.