Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1902-10-03
Mr.. oaton's Defense of the Jury.

In the Circuit Court for the city tins
morning Mr.. J. R. Cation, attorney for
George Sutton VS.. j. w. Hammond, a
suit for damages, arose for the purpose
of making a statement to the court and
jury in reference to an article in paper
rejecting upon the jurymen who brought
in the verdict for the defendant in that
case. Mr.. Cation read the article and
said:
81 wish to say, your honor, that this
criticism is unjust in the extreme; that,
as one of the attorneys representing the
plaintiff in this case, no such article has
ever been justified by any remark which
has fallen from my lips, or from the lips
of any other of the counsel in this case.
The jury are respectable citizens Of the
community of Alexandria, men of high
character, and have high regard for
their obligations in the discharge of
their public functions as jurors. / know
of no gentlemen who stand higher in the
community than the members of this
jury; no gentlemen who would be fairer
in the determination of the rights of
their fellow citizens, which might be sub
mitted to them for arbitration, and Iwish
to say that the jury was justified in the
verdict which they reached, both upon
the facts and the law of the case; that
on the facts, and the law as expounded
to the jury by his honor (and that is
the law of the case, the correct law of
the case, they could not have found any
other verdict. 1t would have been i'm
possible. And had they done SO, it
would have been the duty of his honor,
in my opinion as lawyer representing
the plaintiff in this case, TO have set the
verdict aside and granted the defendant
a new trial. Your verdict was accord
ing to the law and the evidence. You
had no right to be influenced by any
sympathy that might touch your hearts
because of the unfortunate condition of
the man who was before you. You
were not here to try the case on SYM
pathy, but you were compelled, under
your oath as jurors, to dissever your
selves from all sympathetic feelings, or
emotions, toward the plaintiff, and pass
upon the matter according to the
evidence in the case. l will state
further. in defense of counsel for the
plaintiff, that one of the members of
counsel for the plaintiff, visited the
plant and examined, with the jury, the
premises before the case was submitted to
the jury, and he said that he could not
see how any jury of twelve men could
hold the plaintiff not guilty of contribu-
tory negligence after such repeated
warnings of the danger in which he
placed himself by working the machine
in the position where he was injured. |
think this statement is due to the court,
due to the jury, due to the counsel for
the defence, and due to the counsel f0S
the plaintiff, and / make the statement
that it may go to the public in justifica-
ton of your actions. 1t is true that the |
condition of this man is unfortunate; it
is true that lie is poor; it is true that he
has met with an accident that will pro-
badly cripple him and impair his abili-
ties for life; it is true that he has family |
of dependent children; but that was not
a matter for you to consider; you could
consider only the law and the evidence
as presented to you
Judge Nicol, after Mr.. Cation had
taken his seat, said he had read the az
ticle in question, and had been deiber-
ating whether or not to issue a rule
the offender to show cause why
he should not be punished for contempt,
not that he regarded the matter himself
seriously, but in defense of the jury who
had returned the verdict. Mr.. Caton's
statement, however, was all, he thought,
necessary at this time, and so far as he
was personally concerned and being
averse to Identifying the article by any
action on his part, he was willing to let
the matter drop.