The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-03-27

verdict would De agreed upon py tms evening.
 The addresses of counsel were finished yesterday and today Recorder Con began his charge to the jury. He said the de- fendant was not obliged to prove his in- nocence; it was for the prosecution to prove his guilt, and he was entitled to the benefit of every reasonable doubt. The jury, he said. was to judge for itself of the credibihty of any witness. The only | thing for them to decide was the guilt or innocence of the defendant of the charge of murder: they should not con- cern themselvs with any other charge made against him.
 The Recorder instructei the jurors to disregard all evidence stricken from the record even though such evidence might have made an impression upon them. He explained the degrees of homicide. and said reconciliation must be shown to justify verdict of murder In the first degree.
 There are three main propositions in this case" the Recorder said. "and unless they fail of satisfactory proof, the whole fabric of the prosecution falls. The prop ositions are. first. did Charles F. Jones. on September g. 1900. with the intent to kill, race a towel cone with sponge saturated with chloroform over the face of William M. Rice; second, did William
  and from no other cause; third. did the dc endant, with the intent to procure the death of William M. Rice. counsel and influence Jones to place the chloro- form over his face.
 If you find," he continued. that Pat rick did counsel Jones and that Jones did | kill Mr. Rice, the guilt of the defendant l is not lessened because Patrick was not present. Neither shall you deem 1t less- ened if you find that Jones was easily in- l duced to do the murder.
 "The fact that Jones Is a self-confessed | murderer" the court said, "does not | make him an incompetent witness. But the evidence of such an accompiice should be received with great caution. The law | says it shall not be accepted unless 1t Is | corroborated. This does not mean that there may have been eye-witnesses to the crime. It means that either direct or l circumstantial evidence pointing to the
 same end shall convince you of the truth l of the testimony You must take into consideration Jones's manner on the stand. his appa l rent capacity to remember details his | admission that he made previous state. ments that were untrue. and his apparent l frankness in telling of his own part in q | treacherous murder. Then will ask your, selves was he actuated by a motive to sacrifice Patrick to save himself. If so, why did he select Patrick?
 The prosecution claims. the Recorder went on. to have traced to the possess | sion of the defendant the general assign | ment and other alleged forged docu- ments. If you believed that has been | proved charge that you may hold that | the failure of the defendant to produce those papers may be taken as evidence,
 that if produced they would be harmful | to the defence"
 The Recorder said further, that If the | jury believed that mercury or other poi | son had been given to Mir. Rice for the | purpose of hastening his death. they might take into consideration his weak
 ened power of resisting the chloroform | If the charge" the Recorder summed up. points to one and only one end, If you cannot reconcile II to the defendant 5 | innocence. circumstatial though it may | be. you are bound by your oaths to find
 a verdict upon 1t as 0 It were direct evil dence."
 Touching upon the evidence given by | the handwriting experts the Recorder said the fact that 1t is recognized by the | law was sufficient to demand for just l and due consideration. He reminded the
 jury that the doctors who made the au- topsy on MT. Rice's body and the analy- | sis of the intestines had testified to what | they actually saw and found, while the | medical experts called by both sides only gave opinions on the facts described to | them
 Recorder Golf charged the jury to dis l regard the fact that Patrick was under
 indictment for sorgery.
 | When the Recorder finished his charge he took up forty-four requests to charge | presented to him by the defense. He | said he had covered many of them in his charge, and that he would charge fifteen | of the forty-four submitted. Most Oi | them referred to the credibility of wit nesses who had beep contra dicted. or who | were interested witnesses
 | Great stress was laid upon the contra | dlctory statements of Jones' The Re- corder charged as reqr2sted by the de- | fence, that even if the jury believed there
 was conspiracy they were were stil
 bound to receive Joness story of murder | with great precaution. He also charged | that If the jury found the will of 190l genuine they must find that the prosecu-
 tion had failed to show any motive for
 the crime. and that Short and Meyer
 who testified that the will was genuine, | must not be 6iscredited because they are | friends and business associates of Pat | rick When he was through with the re- quests he turned to the jury and again explained the legal meanings of reason
 able doubt"
 You are the men responsible" he said
 in conclusion. you are the judges of the
 facts. You are to reach judgment die
 tated by your conscience, no matter what
 results. I trust al the crucial moments
 you will remember the responsibilitie 2
 with which you are charged. If you be.
 lieye the defendant is guilty. say so. II
 you believe that guilt has not been prov
 ed. say So. regardless of what others
 may think"