The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1903-10-10

not obliged to fly. AS a matter of fact
Mr.. Haywood was cornered, against the
wall and in the corner of the steps. The
law says he may pursue his adversary
until he is no longer himself in danger.
The law says the party attacked must
himself consider the extent of the danger
in which he is placed, and if his life is
in danger or there is a design to commit
felony upon his person, he may slay his
adversary. The defendant is not required
to give his assailant the full opportunity
to kill him first The defendant must be
| judged by the facts and circumstances
as they appeared to him. In this way
| the jury must decide Even though the
defendant may have been mistaken. If his
apprehension had been reasonable. hc
would have the right to act in his own
defense.
Their theory was that every man and
every witness was a good man until the
contrary is proven. They did not be
| lieve that people rushed here to court to
swear to lies They hurled no Parthian
arrows, no poisoned darts, slung no
mud, or filth. All that had been done By
the prosecution. They were proud that
| they had made out a strong case without
the throwing of stinz-pots The prosecution
had actually wound up by casting a slur
upon the memory of the dead man, and
it became the duty of the defense to vim
dicate Ludlow SINNERS memory also.
They would have it believed that Ludlow
Skinner was coward, that he died run.
ming with a loaded pistol in his pocket.
He asked the jury, when they brought III
" verdict indicating Ernest Haywood,
that they would also vindicate poor Ludlow
Skinner
1t was twelve o'clock, and Mr.. Pou
closed after having spoken for nearly
three hours.
SENATOR wooDARD.
Senator Woodland followed Mr.. Pou He
began by dwelling upon the Importance
of the case, not only because of what il
involved for the defendant, but because
upon its right termination depended those
institutions that are most important in
our lives To their dying day these jurors
would never be called upon to serve Their
community in a more responsible posi-
ton
Mr.. Woodland then went on to speak Of
the security we all enjoyed by reason of
the respect and enforcement of the laws.
1t was this, the strength of the law, that
great barrier, that they stood for in this
prosecution 1t began almost before the
child was born, and from that time until
death it exerted its protecting influence,
even guarding the flowers planted on the
grave after death Such is the law that
Judge and jurors and attorneys are sol
EMMY sworn to obey. Thus it is that
this is the most important duty that these
iurymen will ever be called upon to per-
form. He felt that he was talking to a
representative North Carolina jury, men OF
North Carolina fit to SIT and decide for the
people in this important case.
Mr. Woodland said he had wished that
the counsel preceding him had omitted
certain of the things that he had sad,
which had occupied so large a portion OF
his speech that he felt constrained to re-
spond to them for fear that silence might
be taken for assent. If he had not known
that attorney better, he would have been
surprised at his manner of hoher than
thou. But he had approached the jury
with his accustomed holier-than- thou as
pect' Such persons were referred to in
Holy Writ, and it was recorded that the
hypocrite and the pharisee had been
judged severely But they knew that at
torney, and knew how to make allowance
for him. Mr.. Pou was very unfortunate
in his biblical illusions, and it was a pity
he had not devoted more time in his
youth to the study of the Bible. He would
have made an admirable preacher. He
had the affidavit face, and one would
think he was a minister if he did not
know him to be a lawyer.
AS to the scriptural law. it had been
| given to Noah that whose sheddeth man 5
blood, by man shall his blood be shed.
Later. when the law was Numbered from
Mt. Sinai to Moses. it was said 'Thcu
shalt not KILL Then Mr.. Woodland look
ed for the quotation as TO the cities of
refuge. You will find it in Genesis said
Mr. Pou, 80 no, it is in Numbers; l know
the Bible better than you, my dear broth
er Pou'' Then Mr.. Woodland said thai
the correct quotation here was that those
could take refuge in these cities who had
killed a man ''unawares.' 1t was pro-
vided that others should die, if they kill
ed otherwise than ''unawares.
Mr.. Pou had again with the holierthan
thou aspect, dwelt upon the fact that he
never had prosecuted a man for his life,
but he had not given any reason for this.
Perhaps, the other side had never offered
to employ him; perhaps his we'll known
| dDllly Dis all dClOE Ddu CldEiSSIC7
sors to fly to him in such cases as this.
As for him, he had no excuse to offer
for his part in the conduct of this case,
He had long since set his own standards
of professional conduct, and to him it WIS
a distinct decoration that he should be
criticised by such counsel. He had long
since come to disbelieve in capital pun
lshment, and as a member of the Legls-
| lature he had never lost an opportunity
to lend his weight toward the curtall-
ment of the severity of the law IN this
regard His reason for this was that so
many juries were slow to find any man
guilty Of a capital crime. He believed
that if the law were less severe, 1t would
be more justly administered.
| For good logician and astute reasoner,
| it was astonishing how many inconsisten-
cies counsel had been guilty of in the short
space of two and half hours. Had they
noticed how short time he had devoted
to the evidence, and how much time he
had devoted to things that were caiculat-
ed to confuse the minds of the jury, and
get them away from the question at u.s.
sue in this case. He would not care TO
take up some of the things dwelt upon
by Mr. Pou, for he did not care TO use