The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-12-23

| Excluded from the corridors of the court building. several score or persons stood outside the main entrance m tns slush and snow and cold tonisnt, vat l ing for word that the jury had at last agreed. Ii was quiet crowd, but needed onIy the news of verdict to | start into a frenzy of excitement and 1 cheering.
 | In the corridors of the building near | iudre Dayis's court wereN hundred newspaper men and women, keeping a
 constant vigil and picking up here and there scraps of information which fil- tered from no one knew where. cor earning jury, defendant and attorne,
 Miss patterson, after the jury retired this noon, spent the afternoon and | evening between her cell in the Tombs
 and what is known as the pen" on the third floor of the court building.
 Most of the afternoon was spent in
 the Tombs. As she was led from the
 court after the jury retired, she wit
 messed marriage ceremony between 1 two prisoners and congratulated them.
 For a moment her face brightened as
 though she had forgotten her own | troubles. but soon after resumed the look of sad calm. While she was in the Tombs this afternoon she opened nu- merous telegrams and letters from I relatives and friends congratulating her upon her defence and expressing the hope and wish that her freedom l was near at hand. One of the mes- sages was from her mother. who has not been able to attend the trial. It said she hoped to have her daughter home for Christmas.
 This evening after her dinner she was taken to the pen" where she was joined by her father. who has been constant in his support of his daugh- ter since she was first accused of the crime and who has been her faithful ally and companion every day in court. No one else saw Miss Patterson during the evening, and the fact that she was taken from the jail to the court indi- cated that verdict was expected to- night.
 Even with the verdict of the jury to come yet. Miss Patterson, who for more than six months has ben locked up in the Tombs prison charged with mur- der. felt today that the hardest part of her ordeal was past. To the ver- dict. she aaid. she has all the time looked forward only with pleasure. On that point she has had no fear. It was the long wait, the disheartening raclSing strain of the long trial that in- 1 spired her with dread.
 The merciliess arraigments of Pro- secutor Rand which she knew would come before the end. she had feared, would be the hardest to bear Today with all that behind her, she said she felt perfectly at case and awaited with out fear the word of the jury which she knew would set her free.
 T have passed through so much" that feel that I can face another day without flinching. The Judge. I know 1 will not be cruel to me. and the tones of his voice will never rise to the harsh pitch of accusation. His charge. as I understand it will be as much for as against me, and when he has finished it will only remain for the twelve grim faced men in the jury box to determine whether I am guilty or innocent. I feel that they will give me freedom
 Rand's Words Riax.
 Even with the terrible words of MT.
 Rand ringing in nay ears cannot be-
 lieve that they could set their wills
 against me. and send me condemned
 to death to one of .those little cells with the iron door that I read of in
 Roland Molineux's book. Black as !
 have been pictured, I cannot think that
 they will take my life for a crime !
 never committed"
 Before leaving her cell in the
 Tombs prison today. Nan Patterson
 packed up all their belongings in-
 cluding the many little ick-knacks
 which had accumulated there during
 her long occupancy, Grips and suit
 cases locked and ready for removal
 stood by the door as she started on
 what she believed would be her last l journey across the bridge of signs. "J
 know, I know I will be free before night" she said. T wanted every
 single thing to be packed and ready
 I don't want to have to come back here
 for a thing"
 There was a slight delay in the be- l ginning of the trial today but when
 the prisoner was brought in final de-
 tails were arranged quickly and Judge Davis at once began his charge to the 1 jury.
 Justice Davis in his charge informed
 the jury that 1t was not his duty to interpret the evidence which had been presented before them. He would in | struct them only as to the rule of the law to the end that they might arrive at a careful and just conclusion. Any opinion they might have formed eith- | CT before or during the trial should not be allowed to weigh unless 1t was based entirely on the evidence. Prejudice either for or against the 1 prisoner should be entirely dismissed. Referring to the alleged failure of the | prosecution to show that Miss Patter- | son had any motive which might lead her to kill Young. Justice Davis in- structed the jury that while 1t Is not always necessary for the prosecution to prove a motive, 1t is important in connection with the other facts. 'In circumstantial evidence" he said, the question of motive often becomes inn portant but it must not be a motive that is imagined; 1t must be proved |" Justice Davis defined the various de- grees of murder and told the jury that although the defense claimed the pris- oner was guilty of murder in the first degree or was innocent. 1t was for them to determine. They could find her guilty of murder in the first de- gree in the second degree, of man. slaughter; or they could render a ver- dict of not guilty.
 Referring to the several letters which have appeared in the case. knowledge 1 of which was denied by the defendant, he said that the testimony of the wit nesses must be carefully weighed. If Miss Patterson was believed. these let | ters must be excluded entirely from 1 their considerations: if not, they must | be taken at their face value. In this connection, he said the jury must give 1 careful consideration to the question whether 1t is possible that the wit nesses for the prosecution may have ! lied for the purpose of aiding the pros | ecution of the defendant. On the other l hand again, you must consider whether ! the defendant was influenced by any motive to tell an untruth about the let | ters."
 OH r