The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1904-06-09

Mr.. Hayden, you have been indicted
by the grand jury of this county for the
crime of murder in the first degree.
You have, under the laws of our state,
been furnished Immediately with copy
Of the indictment containing the charges
against you, and you have been inform
ed of the testimony and the names of
the witnesses who would testify against
you. You have had the benefit of
trial jury of citizens-a jury, the court
may say, of your own selection. You
have been defended by three of the
ablesI lawyers in southern Iowa, and
they have done all for you that human
ingenuity and personal interest in your
welfare could suggest. They have
brought to bear in your favor every ele-
ment of defensive matter that is known
to the law or that could be produced as
a matter of fact. The jury selected
was, as the court believes, fair and
impartial one. lhe court does not be-
lieve that there was single nan upon
that jury who was actuated by malice
or by prejudice or who had formed an
unqualified opinion in regard to your
guilt or innocence. The court exercised
all of his intelligence and all of his ex-
perience in Your behalf in endeavoring
to see to it that no juror was allowed to
sit in your case who was in any manner
disqualified. In the rulings that have
been made by the court throughout the
trial of this case he has had your inter-
ests in mind at all times and has en-
deavored to the very nest of his ability
to see to it that in every instance, in
every particular, great or small, your
rights as guaranteed you by the law
should be protected. The verdict rem
dered against you by the jury was that
of murder in the second degree. The
court feels that that verdict was sus-
tained by the evidence in the case.
The jury had the option of finding you
guilty of either murder in the first de-
gree, murder in the second degree, or
manslaughter. They found you guilty
OF murder in the second degree, and the
mature deliberation of the court in his
endeavor to think this matter over and
to ARRIVE at absolute justice in your
behalf, is that the verdict of the jury
was right under the evidence in the
case. The court feels that you have
had fair and impartial trial. If the
court did not feel SO he would grant you
a new trial instanter. This court could
not have upon his conscience as an in
dividual the thought that you had been
sentenced to the penitentiary after hav-
ing an unfair and biased trial. So there
remains at this time nothing for the
court to do except to inf1ict upon you
the penalty of the law. And it has been
a serious study, and / may also say,
prayerful study, on the part of the
court to do by you as he would under
like circumstances be done by, and also
to do by you justly and to temper JUS
.tlce, even with mercy, and to deal with
the matter for your interests as we'll as
for the interests of society. Now, Mr..
Hayden, you have committed most
serious and grave ohense.s You have
deprived fellow being of MS life in tile
prime OF his manhood; you have taken
him from his family; you have removed
him from society; you have caused him
to be buried in the ground before his
day had arrived. This you had no right
to do under the law, The facts do not
sustain you in having done it. You
have committed the gravest crime. You
have transgressed the civil law; you
have transgressed the laws of your
state, and you have transgressed the
law of your God. The way Of the trans
gressor is hard, Mr.. Hayden. The court
realizes that this is hard time for you.
The court realizes that it is. a hard time
for your family, for your wife and your
children. But can not undo what you
have done. l can not make rules other
than those the law lays down. All that
[ can do is to see to it that you have the
benefit OF every presumption in your
favor so far as l an aware. This court
is not infalible. We are human beings,
like you are. We are weak and imper-
feet as you are. We sympathize with
you in your misfortune and in the mis-
fortune Of your family; and in inflicting
the penalty that you are to suffer the
court desires you to feel that he regards
it as the most oppressive, the most
upon him. But it will not do for the
court to shrink in the performance of
that duty. 1t must be done in your be-
half, as in the behalf Of society. The
court will sentence you, Mr.. Hayden, to
a term in the penitentiary, and during
the time that you are there you will
have the opportunity, by good behavior,
if you serve that term, to reduce the
pSAAoN u AZ ~ ~ NSAJ iudOCIAut OSSoiOCs
The court hopes that you will avail
yourself of that opportunity
yourself of the good time that is allow
ed by the statute. The court hopes
also that during every hour and every
moment OF your confinement in the peni-
tentiary you will reflect upon the great
wrong that you have done, and deter
mine in your mind and before your God
hat you will make reparation for that
wrong and that you will live down the
wr ng that you have committed and the
sin that is charged against you. In
other words, Mr.. Hayden, set to, if you
possibly can, converting yourself into
man Of milder passions, a man who can
keep his passions under control. Re-
member, Mr.. Hayden, that it is far bet
ter to suffer wrong and indignity your
self than it is to deprive your fellow
being Of life or limb. You have been a
man, as take it, who would rather take
the life Of your fellow being than to
suffer an assault upon you. In that the
court cannot sympathize with you. The
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