The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1908-06-05
CLEARED HIS CLIENT,
Episode In the Legal Career Of
Senator Stewart.
HIS LAST CRIMINAL CASE.

! ENcEy true iuNscT VIII ut lushl w
his client above all things" said for.
mer Senator Stewart OF Nevada Il
once heard that great lawyer, Senator
I Davis OF Minnesota, say, When man
1 places his life In my hands there IL
some danger that may go TO the pen.
ItentIary. but there is no danger that
he viii hang
Senator Davis meant to convey the
/ idea that he would resort to every
conceivable means to save the life OF
any client who placed that life In his
keeping, That was the principle which
encompassed me when was In Grim.
inal practice. Because went TO ex.
tremes in saving man from the gal
lows ! quit criminal practice,
my last criminal case was singu-
lar one. was practIclug law In Ne
yada and had achieved quite reputa-
tion as a criminal lawyer by reason OF
several almost phenomenal successes,
as luck would have It. The rougher
element seemed 10 have confidence In
me and to feel safe In placing their In
terests In my charge, Thus II hap.
pened that when a man named Ellis
was arrested for killing man named
O'Brien. on a mining claim, friend
OF Ellis came to me and paid me re.
talner TO defend Ellis. | accepted the
retainer without making any inquiries
as TO details or particulars. was
busy with other matters.
Just before the case came to trial
| looked into it and found that the
case against Ellis was a strong one.
In fact, did not see how Ellis was TO
have a ghost Of show for his life.
| could find no plea on which to de-
fend him. The community was preju-
diced against him, and some Of my
best friends came TO me and begged
me not to defend him. But that made
no difference TO me had accepted
the retainer. and | was Ellis lawyer
1t was my duty to save him, II posi-
Bile. Consequently | told my friends
that | was Ellis lawyer and that |
intended to clear him. For the life OF
me, didn't know how, though.
las trial day drew nigh, Ellis grew
more and more nervous. He sent for
me again and again to come and see
him, but | persistently refused to do
so. ! felt that he was guilty. ! be-
lieved that he would lie to me and
confuse me. | stayed away from him
and sent word that | would be on
hand to defend him. He was obliged
to be satisfied No other lawyer would
take his case. But made bluff OF
telling all over town that was going
to clear Ellis. Meantime | had been
making desperate plans for my client.
"Only one year previous to the trial
of Ellis a popular young Irishman
named Barney had been convicted of
murder on circumstantial evidence.
Subsequently the real murderer was
found and lynched. The case Of poor
unfortunate Barney was fresh In the
minds Of all, and the man who had
been his attorney and had earnestly
pleaded for his life was now the pre-
siding judge Moreover, the principal
witness against my man Ellis had been
the principal witness against poor Bar
ney.
"There was another witness, who
vas afflicted with an impediment in
his speech. When excited he would
stutter and go through such contortions
that nobody could understand anything
that he said, and his gestures were the
writings Of an insane man. had no
witness for the defense and had to
clear my man with the witnesses for
the prosecution.
"There had been a row on the noun
tain side, and the evidence showed that
Ellis had murdered a man named
O'Brlen without proyocation except |
that O'Brien had claimed prior right |
to the mine of which Ellis had taken |
possession. O'Brien had gone into the |
to assert his claim and Ellis !
had killed him in the presence Of two
witnesses ;
"Well when the time came for trial |
Ellis sent word to me that he wanted |
to talk to me in the courtroom, but
sent back word for him to keep his
mouth shut and see me Immediately |
after the trial was over. The poor
devil sat in the dock and eyed me wist-
fully. | could see that he had conf
1ence in me as a criminal lawyer who
had never lost case, but his life was
ut stake, and he was guessing hard.
allowed the prosecution to make out It's
case with its witnesses and offered no
objection Of any kind. | told them that
was busy and wanted to get through
he trial as soon as possible and as
soon as my client was acquitted must
AXE up another case, involving great
leal Of property. 1t was Il bluff, of
curse, but bluff sometimes beats a
hull hand.
when my turn came l took the
principal witness for the prosecution,
md | went after him in this fashion:
You are the man that swore away the
life Of poor Barney last year. His
'lood cries aloud for vengeance. We
ii know, everybody here knows, Judge
md jury and all the people know, that
.Ou sWOre away the life Of that moor