The river press. [volume] (Fort Benton, Mont.) 1880-current, 1907-10-16
A MISCARRIAGE OF JUSTICE.

The result of the Sherman murder
trial at White Sulphur Springs APP
pears to be a miscarriage of justice.
The circumstances connected with the
killing of the aged pawnbroker at
Lewistown indicate that it was pre-
meditated, and committed for the pur-
pose of robbery, but a minority of the
Meagher county jury were unwilling
to convict the defendant of murder
and forced q verdict which imposed a
~penitentiary sentence of only FIVE years
for the crime.
The court records of nearly every
county in Montana show that trial
juries frequently render verdicts that
appear to ignore the weight of evi.
dence, this result being due in most
cases to the refusal of q few jurors to
accept the views of a majority of their
associates. That was the situation in
the Sherman trial. The defects of the
law in this connection are the subject
of comment by the Great Falls Tri-
bune, which says in part:
While we have no sympathy with
those who seize on cases like this to
point an argument in favor of doing
away with jury trials and leaving de-
cisions in regard to life and liberty to
a single man in the person of the Judge
of the court, we think that something
might we'll be said at this time about
a reformation in court procedure that
surrounds a criminal with all sorts Of
legal and technical %defenses, to enable
him to escape the consequences of his
crime il he have sufficient cash to hire
skilled attorneys. To begin, with these
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES around the criminal
are peculiar to the Anglo-Saxon law.
They have their origin in a peculiar
state of society that has long since
passed away. There was q time when
the liberty of the citizen vas peculiarly
at the mercy of the crown, who APP
pointed all of the law officers from the
Judge down to the constable, and filled
these places with obsequious tools
always ready to do his bidding. 1t
vas an easy thing for the king in those
days to procure any sort Of charge he
wished against any citizen, and moi
unusual when that citizen had offended
the king or any Of his courtiers. To
guard jealousy the liberty of the citi'
zen all the rules of trial we're strained
to the uttermost to protect the mar
accused OF crime. He was to be pre-
sumed to be innocent until he wa:
proved guilty. He could refuse tt
testify. He had twice as much weigh
in selecting Il jury to try his case a
his accuser had. In many ways. tn
rules governing his trial were straine'
to the uttermost to give him the ad
vantage. Finally a reasonable doub
in the mind of a single one of tn
twelve men selected to try the case wa
sufficient to prevent conviction.
The danger that men innocent of al
wrongdoing may be maliciously pro
secuted by the governing power ha
almost passed away with the comm
of democratic power. The main dar
ger of this sort that confronts an il
noceut man accused of crime arise
from a false pride in some prosecutin
officers to make a record OF many COZ
victions. That arises partly from tt
recognized difficulty of convicting
guilty 1t seems as though son
of the safeguards thrown around Il
accused criminal might now sufely |
withdrawn. For instance there is l
good reason why he should have twi'
as much voice in selecting the jury
the state has. He would still have
fair show if eight iurymen could co
Wet. There seems no good reas'
why he should not be compelled to
on the stand and tell his own story
the jury.
These are revolutionary ideas, it
true, among Anglo-SaNon people
but it seems to us that in view Of t
growing tendency toward lynch II
something ought to be done to ma
the punishment of crime O certa
at the hands of the law, and We wou
rather see jury trial strengthened
reform than to see it come into disl
pute.
HILLS TALE OF WOE.