The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1906-04-09

III q VIZ I ~ FfI'h Jul VI WHAT HIS DuSi-
| ness was. what his political opinions
were, what newspapers he usually read
and why. who his neighbors were. with
what persons he usually conversei.
| what reports he had heard and from
whom and when and where what re-
marks about the case he had made. and
| to whom and when and where, and how
| many times-a hundred times? fitry
! times? twenty times? etc, etc.; all this
| interspersed with sprightly sallies of
| courtroom wit, welcomed by responsive
| laughter from the delighted crowd in
| attendance, until the unhappy man is
reduced to the desired condition of
| plastic imbecility, and what should be a
| dignifed and serious investigation is
| transformed into an unseemly farce.
| Undoubtedly, this process can be, nav,
| it often is, made to extend through sew
eral days, but not in the community of
which | am speaking.
| Second: The department of counsel.
| As between themselves, they maintained
| throughout the manners of gentlemen.
Whatever resources they may have had
| of attack and repartee. of bitter
taunt and savage rejoinder, were kept
scrupulously in the back ground. There
was no want of earnestness on the part
of the prosecution, or of zeal on the
part of the defense, but adequate ear
nestness and zeal were shown not to
be inconsistent with high standard of
| professional courtesy. The court was
| never disguised, nor the jury wearied,
nor the audience entertained with acri-
monlous encounter or frivolous jest.
Not less praiseworthy was the treat
ment of witnesses. From first to last,
no witness was bullied or badgered on
cajoled or leased or ridiculed or made
in any way to feel that the chief end of
cross-examination was to render him
laughing stock or an object of con-
tempt. There was absolutely nothing
to indicate that he was suspected in
advance of a desire to conceal or to
distort the truth, and therefore deserv-
ing to be treated as culprit or crimi-
nal. AS a rule, the narrative was
Straightforward, coherent and intelligi
BILE. Positively, the aim of court and
counsel alike seemed to be to ascertain
the real facts in the case.
Third: The moral atmosphere of the
trial. AS ] have already intimated one
of the actual dramatis personae was a
dissolute woman. She had been the
mistress of the deceased before she be-
came the wife of the prisoner, and her
illicit relations with the deceased sur
vlved her marriage. There was some
reason to believe that the last-men-
toned complication was within the
knowledge, If not with the clearly i'm
piled consent. of her husband At all
events, below the surface, the case was
saturated with unholy passion and I'M
bridled lust lola would have reveled
In the repulsive details of a story
which, without help from his exuber-
antly filthy imagination, would have
satisfied the salacious appetite of
Partisan public. And to think that a
single incautious inquiry, single def
ant challenge, single coarse joke,
might have let loose upon the court
room and the community this flood of
unspeakable vileness
But so dexterouslv was the case con
Quoted in the interests of decency and
good morals, so vigilantly watched was
every possible loophole of escape, that
no hint of all this reached the audi
ence. A single incident will illustrate
my meaning. A letter from the de-
ceased to the wife of the prisoner and
discovered in her trunk, having been
offered in evidence by the defense as
containing matter material and peril
nent to the issue, was first by agree
ment, submitted to the presiding Judge
for his decision, which was to be final,
as to whether it ought to go before the
jury. The Court having come to the
conclusion that, on the whole, it ought
not be excluded, directed the sheriff
to clear the room of all who were not
present in an official or professional
capacity. The letter was then read to
the jury
Can | hope to be believed when | as
sert that this precious document was
not subsequently surrendered to re-
porters, and was not Extensively promi-
nent iN the closing arguments of coun-
SELF And so it came to pass that the
spectators who had been attracted to
the courtroom by the hope of hearing
some particularly disgraceful scandal,
went away disappointed and crestfallen,
while the newspapers contained nothing
which could pander to a vicious taste,
or sully the purity of an innocent mind |
The pestilent theory that the public has
a right to know everything that is dis |
closed in the courtroom, and that those |
who can not be present may demand |
that they shall find it all in their news |
papers, received no favor at the hands |
of this tribunal. / afterwards learned |
that, before the commencement of the
trial, the presiding judge, knowing how
much harm might result from a wanton
or careless handling of the case, had
requested the counsel to re-
frain from all demoralizing details, so
far as this could be done without COM
promising the interests of the state or
the accused. Certainly this most rea-
sonable request was conscientiously
needed, with no injury to the prisoner
or the prosecution, and vastly to the
advantage of the public morals. 1t may
not be irrelevant in this connection to
state that the members of this court are
appointed for life or during good beha-
vior, enjoying meanwhile a sufficient
salary, aud that the Attorney General
is not elected by the people
Fourth: The verdict Under the
laws of the land, this was accepted, re-
corded and followed by the sentence of
the accused, although it represented the