The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-08-27
PROVING AN ALIBI
THIS HAS BEEN A FAVORITE DE-
 FENCE OF CRIMINALS.
Some Notable Instances-Cases in Which Lives Have Depended Upon the Accuracy or Inac-
 curmcy of Clocks,

The proof that an accused person is somewhere else at the time that crime is committed, says Answers, has al- ways been defence in which advocates have taken special delight Nothing can be more satisfactory, provided that the alibi Is good one. If I prove to you, gentlemen" said a young barrister. addressing the jury in a case before Mir. Justice Hawkins. that my unfortunate and estimable client was one hundred miles away from | the scene of the burglary at the time | that that foul deed was committed then, I presume, that fact will be sufficient | for you"
 "of course. cannot speak for the jury" Mir. Justice Hawkins broke in In gentle tones. addressing the advocate, | "but I can assure you that I myself shall not be particular to a mile or two. | If you can show that the prisoner was even a mile, or half a mile away. at the time I will give him the benefit of the doubt"
 The alibi has always been a favorite defence with calculating criminals. It has. on the other hand. in hundreds of cases extficated the innocent from the meshes of net of circumstantiai evi- dence which must otherwise have in- evitably dragged them to unmerited doom.
 The Famous Rush Case. In the famous case of Rush. executed for the murder of Mir. and Mrs. Jermy and their son at Stanfield Hall, the as- sassin endeavored to establish an aiibi my means of his housekeeper Upon , the night of the murder Rush slipped out of the house in disguise, effected his horrible design, and returned. His housekeeper declared at first upon ex- animation that Rush had come home to tea at 6 o'clock. and had then taken off his boots for the night. About o'clock he had left the room in which they had been sitting and was absent about ten minutes. After that he went out no more Under a severe cross examina- tion she broke down and admitted that the statement she had made had been
 dictated to her by Rush himself The aIfbi was false. She burst Into tears and, sobbing, described to the Court how Rush had been absent from the 1 farmhouse just at the time of the mur- der.
 Testimony of Clocks. Clocks have played an important part | in these defences. Lives have depend- | ed on their accuracy and inaccuracy. In | the case of a man named Hardy, who was accused of having taken part In | a murder with others. one of the mur- derers, after the crime was committed, made his way home as fast as possible. | It was night and there was no one in | clock in the hall back two hours, the man went to bed, and rising shortly | afterward awoke the servant and or | dered her to go downstairs and see what was the time. The girl did SD, | and once more retired to her room, | when the murderer, stealing softly | downstairs in his bare feet, once more put the clock right. The unsuspecting girls evidence that the prisoner was In bed at the time when the crime was | committed secured his acquittal on his | trial. The truth was made known by deathbed conf sssion some years later. | Witnesses who come forward to prove alibis by the clock sometimes prove tvery unsatisfactory. In murder case
 at the Central Criminal Court two wit | nesses swore most positively to the prisoner having been in their company at the hour when the prosecution con- tended he was engaged in the crime.
 Are you quite certain of the exSct
 timer" asked the counsel for the pros- | ecution.
 "Certain,' replied the first witness.
 How are you so sure ahout?" ask
 ed the barrister.
 we were in the Bear public house
 and saw the time by the clock in the
 bar" replied the witness. Tt was 27 minutes past g."
 
 | ''Yes." @
 "One of the detectives engaged in the case here whispered something to the barrister, and he turned to the witness once more.
 You see that clock" he said pointing to the clock in the court. What IS the time by it?'
 The witness turned ghastly pale. scratched his head, gasped and was si- lent. He could not tell the time. The alibi bubble was burst. The prisoner
 was condemned.
 Innocent Man Vindicated.
 A remarkable case of innocence be-
 ing vindicated was shown some few
 years ago when a young naval officer
 was charged with having presented at
 A Plmouth bank a forged order for
 payment in the name of the paymaster
 general The order was cashed and
 the presenter disappeared
 From the description of the man
 given by three of the bank clerks sus- picion attached to the accused. the son of an admiral, and the clerks identified him out of other naval officers as the