The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1903-06-16

whose purpose seemed tn have so fixed the
rule Of legal procedure that the r7ch and
the poor. the powerful and the weak. could
have recourse 20 a hearing before - n1sn
selected from the hundred. wlth four mag
I~i>tratcs 81 the town. that It was made a
matter Of impossieihty for the strong -
acquire any advantage over the weak. CT
the rich over the poor. i was not only
for the prisoner 1t tue bar that tins laR
was made operative, but also FOR those
who might not BE- able Ia se the IT ,oaer
brought 10 justice that the jury trial was
lnaugurated. For instance. take a man
Of power or influence n his domain. he
could not at that time select a single
magistrate or Justice whom he thought ne
might influence with the hope OF getting
of on bail. II j. we'll 70 note that re
cognition of the rights OF the people under
the Magma Charter was forced upon King
John. ! only state this 10 show that ri
the inception Of the VII, - hahcas corpus,
which | believe was perfected 81 Charles
End, 1t could not have been entertained
nor can Il ever be entertained. that any
judge or magistrate would invade tho
province Of the jury IN order TO pass upon
matters OF fact IN regard to any case.
but slmpy 70 say, a. propositions of law,
whether or not. upon the hearing of he
return OF the writ OF habeas corpus. there
be sufficient testimony upon which a
jury could base lis findings. and have
their verdict stand upon appeal 10 either
the Superior or Supreme Court. our state
Constitution recognizes this proposition
for while It says that the privileges 81
the writ of habeas corpus shall not &c
suspended it also says that no person
shall be convicted OF any crime but by
the unanimous verdict or a jury of good
and lawful men in open court" There
lore. | MAINTAIN that 1t takes the same
method to convict a man OF any crime as
Int docs TO acQuit him OF that crime. for
If the courts by the writ OF habeas corpus
should go into the findings of the facts. I
maintain that any one charged with CRIME
would have the right to apply to any
judge In the State and have him pass upon
his innocence or guilt giving the powe~
and compelling such judge. with whom he
may have had personal relationships Of
the most pleasant character, or for whom
he may have done some favor, to say
whether or not he shall be discharged, and
thus anticipate the actions Of the jury. I
contend. that all that this court has to do
with this case is to say whether or not
there is more than a ~scintilla of evidence
against the prisoner in favor OF murder
IN the first degree, that 1T is a purely
legal proposition, and that the court
WOULD not permit pail II Il jury cOuld
find under the law that the prisoner i
guilty of murder in the first degree; for
while your Honors may nave the power
to release the prisoner, even though hc
were guilty OF murder in the first de
gree, it has never been the practice of the
court to do so.
Now let US look at the history of this
case. The defendant had the right to be
heard before the justice of the peace, who
bound him over to the Superior court, and
. he simply pleaded not guilty. without IN
PRODUCING any evidence at all. After he
had been in the Wake county Jail for
perhaps a month or a little more, and n
which time he had ample opportunity TO
prepare his defense. he was brought into
court after a true bill was found against
him by the Grand Jury, an resisted trial.
The continuance of the case was granted
at his request, and since that time he
has continued in Wake county jail with
all avenues open to him for the prepara-
ton for the application for bail under the
writ Of habeas corpus, and 1T IS now,
when his trial is about six weeks off, that
the court is called upon to say whether
he shah be liberated upon bail. l know
that the experience of your Honors is
far greater than my own but, as for my
self, l can say that | have never known
d case similar 10 ililS, ana Iilclc HlllSJ Dc
some reason for this application that does
not appear on record in these proceedings.
What are these reasons? Perhaps they
may be gathered from the nature of the
! affidavit which was filed IN tins court
when the prisoner asked for a continuance
of this case. In that affidavit there was
a great cry raised as to unjust popular
feelings and prejudice. l do not assume
to say what his Interior motive is, but
should it be an effort on the part of the
defense to have your Honors virtually
charge the public as to what they should
think in this case, thereby anticipating
something which may not exist, and the
unbiased trial by jury, l respectfully main
tain that your Honors should not, and I
believe your Honors will not, lend your
selves to anything of the sort.
| have already argued that, according to
nv view of the case, your HOnOrs should
not admit the defendant to bail if there Is
more than a s~cintilla OF evidence upon
which the jury, sitting in this case, could
find q verdict against the defendant; or,
in other words, if this case should come
to the Supreme court on appeal the court
would say there was enough Of evidence
to sustain a verdict adverse to the defend
ant. As we have seen, the grand jury
has found a true bill in this case. Upon
IHIS punt "Ouli Jul ~ O.
tention to the case of State vs.. Herndon
in 1O7 North Carolina, page 938. l read
from the report OF the case: Where the
charge is of a capital felony, which is
prima facie not bailable, the courts are
very slow to admit to bail, for there Is
shrewd authority that All that a man
hath Will he give in exchange for his life
and after Indictment Is found 1t Is only IN
a clear case, and with great caution, that
a Judge Will admit to bail. Tor while the
Indictment is no presumption OF guilt on
the trial before the petit jury, 1t Is other
: wise in the application for bail. The pre-
sumption then is in favor Of the correct
ness of the action of the grand jury, and
2 it may be that testimony was before them
which is not produced before the Judge.
I desire now to take but one phase Ct
this case III I1y argument, and which COW
ers very .ttle Of the evidence. ! wish To
do so with as little sting for anyone as
possible. and indeed such has been my eff
fort through everything that l have al
ready said. The phase OF the case that