Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-06-21
TRIAL NEARS CLOSE
Arguments of Counsel in
Shaffer Murder Trial.
PRAYERS CONSIDERED
BELIEF THAT JURY WILL REACH
VERDICT THURSDAY.
Attorneys to Address the Jury Tomor-
row-The Order in Which They
Will Speak.
PRAYERS CONSIDERED

The prayers of counsel as to the instruc-
tons to be given to the jury occupied
the time of the court all Of today in the
trial Of Augustus L. Shaffer for the murder
of his wife. Catherine Ivey Shaffer. The
trial Is rapidly drawing to a close, and 1t Is
possible 1t will get to the jury Thursday.
The concluding argument to the jury will
probably be made tomorrow morning. Mr..
Keigwin will open for the government. Mr..
Baker to follow for the defense. and
Messrs. Lambert and Davis will succeed
their associate for the defense before the
jury In the order named. The closing argu-
ment will be made by Mr. Turner for the
government.
1t Is believed that counsel can finish argu-
ment by tomorrow evening, and that ver-
dict can be secured the day following.
Before proceeding with the consideration
of the governments prayers, Mr.. DAVIS
said he wished to acknowledge an error in
believing that the jurors would want to
stay in court. as he had for a moment for
gotten the fact that they had phono-
graph In the jury room, against with which
ne could not hope to compete. Justice
Wright said. with smile. he could not
take official cognizance of the photograph
resumed
Argument in support of the government
prayers was presented by Assistant District
Attorney Keigwin. The government pre-
SeHteu Twelve prayers ana the defense
ELEVEN They were taken up one at time
and each was discussed at length
The government prayers were presented
first. and. after full discussion. the defense
onered Its prayers The discussion Of the
prayers of the defense was in progress
when The Star report was closed
Exceptions to Answer Of Expert.
Mr.. Davis called the attention of the
court this morning to two Objectionable an
swers made by DR.. Jellefre. the expert
called by the government to hypothetical
questions put by Assistant District Attor-
ney Turner and asked that 1t be stricken
from the record. Mr.. Davis held that the
answers were not expert testimony and
that the witness usurped the Office of the
jury In making such an answer.
An effort was made to secure the attend
ance OF DR.. Jellefre this morning, but he
left the city last night. Mr.. Turner held
that the answers were competent and Mr.
Davis presented his arguments, backed by
numerous decisions in similar instances.
Judge Wright expressed surprise that the
court should be quicker than that of the
distinguished counsel in recognizing the I'M
responsive nature Of the answers of the
witness. The court had recognized the ma
ture of the answers and had allowed them
to pass because he believed counsel waived
the right to exclude or challenge them
The prerogative of the court to exclude
testimony in such instances should be very
carefully exercised, Justice Wright held.
Mr.. Davis then presented further argu-
ment and Mr. Turner spoke for the govern
ment against excluding the testimony. The
court held that one answer should be ruled
out, but the other answer objected was per-
mitted to remain.
A slight disagreement between counsel as
to whether or not the jury should be ex-
cused during the discussion was settled by
the members of the jury leaving voluntarily
on receiving permission to remain or leave,
as they pleased. The discussion of the
papers was then taken up. the defense OBJ
jecting to all of the papers Of the govern
ment.
Yesterday Afternoon.
The attorneys for the defense were I'M
able to make any material gain through
the cross-examination of DIR. Smith E. Jel-
Ieffe of New York. who was on the stand
when The Star report closed yesterday af-
ternoon. DR.. w. A. White. superintendent
Of the Government Hospital for the In
sane, was next called He testified to hav-
ing examined Shaffer in October and No
vember and stated that he believed the de-
PENDANT to be Of sound mind.
Dr. VIM. B. Hudson, the resident physi-
clan at the Jail. stated that he had formed
no opinion as to the defendants sanity, and
the further testimony OF the witness was
rejected. John F. Brian, an acquaintance
Of Shaffer, was next called and testified
that the defendant was sober on the We'd
nesday night before the murder. John B.
Norris was recalled by the defense in an
effort to show a discrepancy between the
witness testimony before the coroner's jury
and in the trial Of the case. The witness
was unable to recall his testimony before
the coroner's jury. Little Willie Shaffer
was the last witness examined He was
called by the defense to answer few I'M