The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-08-14
Your Lawyer Knows Hest.

Tell your lawyer everything, and aft
er that do as he says; he will work
Tor your best interests. for your best
interests are his. If he thinks it adj
Vlsable for you to take the witness
stand in your own behalf, do not hest
tate to do so. If he advises against
such course. abide by his decision
1t Is not always good policy for even
an innocent man to take the stand.
Then and only then the prosecution
mas any legal right whatever to ques-
uoh him. They are apt to exercise their
rlght vigorously, and If at any previ-
Gus period of his life the defendant has
committed any wrong the state will
undoubtedly bring it out. Knowledge
OF misdeeds committed previous to the
crime of which defendant stands
charged has frequently had some such
erect as this on the minds of a Jury:
Wen, he's been guilty of such and
such oitenses before. It's ten to one
mes guilty of the crime charged and
We'll bring in a verdict accordingly"
so an innocent man may bring about
MS own conviction by insisting on tes-
tltylng in his own behalf when his
previous history leads counsel to ad-
wise against such course AS a rule
obey your lawyers instructions in all
things, and when in doubt about how
TO act. or If you have recalled some
thing you forgot to tell him at a for
mer interview send for him. The law
gives you the right of seeing your
counsel alone at any hour and in any
place where you may be confined.
If, after all you and your counsel
have done, you are convicted, still keep
up the fight to have your good name
restored. There undoubtedly have
been cases where innocent men, de-
spairing of securing justice, have given
up the battle and gone to prison or
been hanged. Do not be one of them.
Fight as long as you have breath left
in your body, and ii is highly probable
that sooner or later the evidence will
be found which will restore to you both
freedom and your good name. Here is
a. case in point, taken from the chap
ter on Cases of Erroneous Convic-
tion," in Ram on Fact"
A Case from the Records.
"In the year 1864, a citizen of Liege
was found dead in his chamber, shot
in the head. Close to him lay dis
charged pistol, with which he had ap-
parently been his own executioner.
Firearms are the chief manufacture
of that city: and so common is the use
of pistols at that place, that every
peasant, who brings his goods to the
markets there, is seen armed with
them; so that the circumstances of
the pistol did not, at first, meet with
so much attention as it might have
done in places where those weapons
are not in such common use. But,
upon the researches of the proper Of
f1cer of that city, whose duty. like that
of our coroner, ii is to inquire into
all the circumstances of accidental
deaths, it appeared, that the ball.
which was found lodged in the head
. ttA sd -.
size, have been fired out of the pistol
which lay by him; thus it was clear
that he had been murdered: nor were
they long in deciding who was the
murderer! A girl, of about sixteen,
the niece of the deceased, had been
brought up by him, and he had always
been supposed to have intended to
| something considerable; but the girl
had then lately listened to the ad.
| dresses of a young man whom the
| uncle did not approve Of and he had
| upon that occasion, several times
| threatened to alter his will, and leave
his fortune to some other of his rela-
| tions. Upon these, and some other
concurrent circumstances, such as
| having been heard to wish her uncle S
| death, ETC., the girl was committed to
prison, and subjected to the torture,
but failing to confess was discharged
The writer has since learned, that
| some years afterwards, her inno-
cence became manifest, by the con-
fession of the real assassin who, being
sentenced to the wheel for other
crimes, confessed themselves the au-
thors of this of which the girl had been
suspected, and that, several pistols
having been discharged at the de-
ceased they had, intending that it
should appear a suicide, laid a pistol
near him, without adverting that it
was not the same by which he fell"
A Mayors Method.
This, then, in a general way is the
course for any one to pursue who IS
falsely accused before the law. 1t is
more difficult, for various reasons, to
prescribe the course to be taken when
a false accusation is brought by an
individual for the purpose of black
mail. Perhaps the method employed
by a former New York Mayor in such
an emergency is as good as any that
can be recommended for general use.
While the Mayor was still In office
he was requested by personal and
political friend to interest himself in
the welfare Of certain woman whose
property was said to be in danger
from litigation and who was practi-
cally alone in the world. He ac-
ceded to the request and from time to