St. Tammany farmer., 1905-12-30

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in the face Of it l.he knew she was in
nocent-else he would not be there, ant
his faith in human nature was so gread
that he was willing to give her case intt
the Keeping of that jury-each man tt
judge her rs his heart might dictate.
The jury retired. It was not neces
sary, but it looked better. In quarter
| Of an hour the jurors filed in, handed q
paper to the clerk, who read: I'VE, thu
jury, find the defendant not guilty." and
the little woman followed her attorney
out of the courtroom and into the street
On the very same day New York pa
per published the following special tele.
| gram:
"Snringfeld, Mass.-Mrs. Ethel Ken.
nedy, the young Brooklyn woman
forger, whose smiles and bushes and
faultless attire made a deep impression
upon the authorities, to-day was re.
leased upon probation by the superior
court. Her husband, destitute of good
looks and possessing only a moderate
wardrobe, was sentenced to the Massa-
chusetts reformatory."
These two cases are types that have
been of unwritten interest to lawyers the
world over ever since the law came to be
a science-or art. They are types OF
what London paper recently called
dressed for damages"
While there is no chair" in any we'll.
regulated law school set apart to dis.
cuss millinery or tears, or fair, sad
faces, yet every lawyer recognizes the
potency of these little incidentals in q
law court, and while every good lawyer
would far rather lean on "the law and
the evidence there are times like
those quoted when appearances have got
to count against testimony, and it has
come to be an unwritten law that an at
torney's duty extends to his clients
wardrobe and makeup in court.
ut used to be rule, - said one of Chi
cago's great criminal lawyers, when
questioned about this matter of "dress-
ing for damages, - t'that lawyer should
take the case of anyone who wished to
employ him, even if the client confessed
his guilt, and do the very best to clear
him. Now, however, many attorneys
will not take a case unless they are as
sured Of the clients innocence. You
know the advice the old law professor
gave his class: IT you have the law on
your side, stick to that. If you have the
evidence, harp on that; and if you have
neither law nor evidence, holler like
- Well, it's the same about this
thing of appearances in court. It's the
duty Of lawyer to make the most of
every detail he can command, and
have no doubt that many lawyers on oc-
casion coach their clients about dress
ing for the jury as it might be called.
But there Is almost always the dan
ger Of a faux-pas in making up for the
part. Once, recall, man sued cor
poration that I was representing for
damages for the loss Of his wife in a
wreck. On the crucial day the plaintiff
came into court dressed most solemnly |
n black, with even a crepe band on his |
hat. His face, too, was dressed in a
most woe-begone style, mouth down at |
The corners, eyes sad, with far-away |
[ook and real or we'll gotten-up pallor. |
But he neglected his necktie, which was
! most vivid and aggressive red was |
able to completely spoil his whole /
get-up by pointing to his gay
secktie, and exposing his shallow at
Tempt to work upon the sympathy of the
hry,, got verdict which threw him out
# court
But there is less danger of break
when the client is a woman. Women
Ire better actors than men, and they are
strong on tears. Now, if that little wom-
IN the other day had been a man, the
1eliotrope boutonniere would have been
orazen and impudent-no matter what
arb he wore-but with the little wom-
n every juror would say to himself:
Poor little thing, she is trying to brave
out with that little f1ower!' No law
er ever got her up. 1t was woman's
git that did that. It was too subtle for
man. or If a man he was drawing on
ONE experience he had had with q
Voman. Chicago Record-Herald.