The San Francisco call., 1905-02-19
his cheek, fire to his eye, hope to /
lonely heart.
INTERESTS SPECTATORS.

INTERESTS SPECTATORS.
Johnson began his argument at about
IL o'clock this morning, shortly after
Attorney Tuttle, one of his assistants,
had addressed the jury, and made a
plea for the acQuittal of Weber. John
son was in fine voice and soon after
warming up to his subject won the un-
divided attention of the big crowd. He
spent some time in explaining to the
jurors the law on circumstantial evil
dence and its value where the life of a
fellow man was at stake. He declared
that the jury was not there to decide
whether the defendant had committed
the awful crime with which he is
charged, but to determine whether the
prosecution had established the guilt of
the defendant beyond a reasonab BILE
doubt. Johnson quoted literally from
the poets and at times was dramatic in
the extreme.
1t was whine Johnson attacked the
methods of the prosecution that his au-
dience began to display great interest.
When he first mentioned the name of
Mrs. Snowden his hearers pricked up
their ears. They were not disappointed
in their expectations that Johnson
would deal harshly with Mrs. Webers
sister. Johnson scored Mrs. Snowden
almost to the limit. declaring that it
was iildlllly lDIOQSn lcI lQle WOTQS
that the dreadful charge that he muir
dered his mother was placed against
Adolph Weber.
THE vindictiveness of this woman"
declared Johnson, 'is surprising.
From that awful night on the 10th of
last November up to this very hour she
has sought to harm him, her dead sis
ter's child. She has hired an attorney
to assist in the prosecution of her
1aJr na hoy t>o,.
lain, has not been allowed to publicly
appear in the prosecution of this boy,
but nevertheless it is fact that he has
been retained by this Mrs. Snowden
THE prosecution has commented on
the conduct of this defendant on the
night of the tragedy and on the days
following. They have not commented
on the conduct of this woman Mrs.
Snowden talked louder than any Of the
hundred or more witnesses summoned
to the stand by the prosecution. 1t is
she who seeks to hang the son of her
murdered sister. If the boy is convict
ed. who is the gamer? Who are the
heirs to the wealth of julius Weber?
You know as well as we do
EXCUSE FOR THREAT.
Johnson laid particular stress upon
Mrs. Snowden's statement that the day
after the fire Adolph Weber had said
TO H0T our turn Is coming next.
Johnson did not deny that Weber had
made the threat, and in explanation he
said:
''This boy did not mean that the fate
that befell his mother would be that of
Mrs. Snowden. He meant that she
would be branded in the columns of the
press as he had been branded In an ar
ticle he claimed had been suggested by
his aunt
In closing his argument for the day
Johnson said:
There is no testimony here that
warrants the conviction of this boy.
We want no compromise verdict. we
are not asking for mercy We want
you to abide by the law and render
your decision on the testimony YOU
have heard. If on this testimony YOU
find him guilty of this most horrible
crime he must hang. If the prosecu-
ton has failed to prove to you that
he has committed this crime, and you
must know that they have failed, then
the boy should go free. You can take
life; can you restore life? No. No.
The days of miracles have passed.
You may feel a moral certainty of the
defendants guilt, but that Is not
enough. You must be legally certain
of that guilt. You must not be con-
vinced as men; you must be convinced
as jurors.
There are many points In this evi-
dence that we dispute; we dispute the