The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1908-04-05
BENCH, BOX, AND BAR
Anecdotes Gathered in Courtrooms and
Judges Chambers.

verdict, for The judge can set it aside.
hence the jury must be governed bv the
law as well as By the evidence. mas
much as civfl causes are more or less
complicated by technicalities.
Under the old regime We had q very GAL
land Judge Of the Orphans Court In
those days suffers had free access to the
counsel OF the judge, who would advise
freely and without cost On one orca-
sion, widow was in court to get advice.
Her husband had died some months be-
fore and she had proceeded 10 collect the
rents from her husbands real estate and
apply them TO her own use. until she was
brought TO bay b. bis heirs. She told the
judge what she had been doing. as she
supposed she had Inherited ali her hus-
band property. a. he left no viii The
Judge rndeceiVed Der I'm that regard sai
told her that she was only entitled 80 4
third Of the rents during her natural life.
but II there were "a sale and distribution
the share IF the widow depended upon
her age IN case of an old widow ne
said her portion would be from one
ninth % one-tenth. but in tie case Of a
young widow Ike you. with a bow AMI
smirk, she would get une-sixth. AsI
have said. he was very gallant and on
one other occasion he insulted a young
widow. she told her uncle and ne kicked
the Judge He was arrested. tried before
Judge Crawford. and fined. The jury that
convicted him contributed and paid his
fine.
Mr.. Minor. once a favoriie Of the old
court and a privilege character. once
challenged the decision Of the court en-
banc. and told the judges that they made
mistake in the law Well said one
OF them. Mr. Minor YOU may know more
about the law than we do. I'm be
id if / don't" said Mr.. Minor, and
the Supreme Court wiz reverse you, see
if il don't The Supreme Court die.
The late Walter D. Dayidge. as law
yer. had no superior at our local bar.
The court always listened TO him with
attention and the jury with pleasure. He
had way Of compelling their attention
by putting himself in their places. as IL
he were one Of them. l first knew Mr..
Dayidge about 1880 soon after his entrance
at the bar. In after years, one day /
New York in his priase of the common
law which was his forte. That appealed
to noe at the time as I was an admirer
also of that Jurisprudence. Since then
have become a believer In some phases
of the civil law I asked Mr.. Davidge
once il he didn't want partner? mo.
my clients pay me good fees for personal
attendance TO their cases. and I can't
delegate. I make much money. but I
spend it, At another time I asked him
If he had noticed the tendency OF the
Equity Courts TO usurp jurisdiction. He
said he had and regretted it, hut that
Judge Cox was coming on the bench and
ne would remedy it, But he didn't
Ny first recollection Of Joseph II. Brad
ley, ST., was in 1910, in the 'Tippecanoe
and Tyler too" campaign. Ny father
took me TO the log cabin that stood about
Ninth street and Louisiana avenue, and
Mr. Bradley was on the platform and led
the meeting and the singing. That was
singing campaign. IN defending criminals.
Mr.. Bradley always had a fount OF tears
ready. Some persons seemed TO think
this was affectstion. But this was not so.
Mr. Bradley always identified himself
with his case. so that ne was sincere.
In spite OF all the eiticising elves
They who woslld make us feel must feel themselves
This is the secret OF all successful ad-
vocates at the bar.
1t is said OF Aaron Burr that he never
lost a case at the bar. for he would never
undertake a case unless it had righteous
ness. A story is told of him that on en-
tering a church in Philadelphia during
the sermon the preacher stopped his dis
course and said here comes that hoaFy
headed sinner. Aaron Burr. shall bear
testimony against al the day OF judg
ment" Mr. Burr Strengthened himself
with his military air and said: MIR.
Preacher. have had a long experience at
the bar. and 1 have usually found the
worst criminals were those who turned
state evidence
In the case Of Lafayette c. Baker. Mrs
Cobb was the star witness. Counsel tried
every way to get her TO contradict her
self. She was on the stand Two days.
I speak assuredly when I advise any
one having a woman witness against him
10 stay out Of court.
One OF the worst Witnesses I ever saw
was one Of our leading attorneys and
who had been United States District At
torney. He could not tell his story with
out interfering argument The court
stopped him several times. but TO no pur-
pose as he would have his way. and the
court finally had TO permit him 10 give
his testimony plus argument.
The prosecuting attorney labors under
the disadvantage Of addressing the same
panel day by day. and the jury takes
1t for granted that he will insist upon
a conviction even if no has not sufficient
evidence. ard that minimizes his sue
cess. But I believe that no prosecuting
attorney would press conviction unless
| he we're satisfied of guilt
With much experience and observation
In the criminal court. I have never seen
a case where the defendant was entire
Iiy innocent, nor have 7 known case
where an innocent man was convicted
The prosecuting attorney also labors
under the difficulty Of contending against
perjury, a crime much too frequent
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