The Washington herald., 1908-03-29
BY GEORGE c. HENNING.

journment- He said he had tried a man
that day and the jury had found him
guilty Of murder while he thought the
verdict should have been manslaughter.
] told him would rather have the opln-
ion OF a Judge than that Of the average
jury; that the Judge could distinguish
between the irrelevant and the. revelant.
between the immaterial and the material.
where the jurymen often failed For
that reason We ought TO have profes-
sional jurymen just as we have profess
sional judges and professional counsel
Rather to my surprise he agreed with
me. as the judges were always insist
ing on having business men as jurors
The qualities necessary TO success IN
business are the executive qualities, while
that Of the jurors are the judicial. Jur-
ors often take the arguments Of counsel
as evidence in the case In cases lasting
from day 10 day, business men are apt to
forget the testimony Of the day before,
their own business having intervened.
! will mention some cases that came
under my observation A man was tried
for arson, setting on FIRE a fodder house
belonging 10 Fred Douglass. The pris-
oner set up an alibL One Of his witnesses
swore that the accused was at her house
a mile away at the hour Of the FIRE Be
ing asked how she knew the hour Of the
fire, she said she looked at the clock.
Asked if she could tell the tine by look
ing at the clock. replied that she could.
Being asked by the district attorney 10
tell the time by the clock on the wall. she
was dumb Counsel for the prisoner. got
IN his work by saying that no one could
tell the time by that clock. as Il had
stopped. Looking at the clock is standard
testimony in establishing an abb.
II developed in the trial that neither
judge nor counsel nor, apparently, any
Of the jury, knew what a fodder house
was So testimony was given as 10 its
construction. Perhaps not one man in a
thousand OF the present generation knows
what fodder house is or was Il was
made by two or more upright poles. with
crotehes az the tops planted in the
ground on the tops OF these poles were
laid fence rails Iengthwise. and fence
rails placed at short intervals leaning on
the ridge poles sIantwise 10 the ground.
on these slanting rails were laid corn
fodder tops from the ridge pole to the
ground, the ridge pole thatched with the
tops. One end was left open to the south.
and the other end closed Ike the sides.
This made dry. warm. and comfortable
house. in which the snapped corn was
placed At some convenient time the corn
was husked in the fodder house. and the
occasion was one Of jolIity, in which the
neighbOrs shared. The man who found a
red ear had the privilege Of kissing all the
girls.
Once I saw TWO men convicted OF arson
for burning an unoccupied house. The in
dictment charged that the house belonged
70 one DuvaL The United States failed
10 prove The ownership. 50 they got a
new trial On the second trial Mr.. Du-
vail swore that he did not own the house.
nor any other; so a juror was withdrawn
and the case went over. The men were
again tried. under another indictment. in
which ownership was omitted A plea IN
abatement was offered on the ground
thai under the common law IL was no
cffense for man TO burn his own house:
and so far as court and jury might know.
the house belonged TO the prisoners. The
court overruled the plea and proceeded
with the trial Upon the same evidence
by which the men were found guilty in
the first trial they were acquitted in the
last.
I was, on the jury that tried Lafayette
c. Baker for false imprisonment and ex-
tortiOn in the case OF Mr.. and Mrs. Cobb
whom he had arrested for the purpose Of
diseredit On President johnson.
Some OF the men on that jury expressed
themselves as being desirous Of convict
ing him OF horse stealing. or any other
crime. so odious had he become to the
people Of the District. There were others.
gain. who wished 10 acQuit. I would
not agree to convict him OF extortion. as
one coulc only be legally guilty OF extor-
ton II he held q legal position. and that
would not admit. So we made a COM
promise verdict and found him guilty Of
false Imprisonment only.
I was on a jury onee-the case 7 fail TO
remember-where three OF Us hung the
jury for two days and nights for a YER
dict OF guilty
Judge Macarthur sent for Us and gave
Us a lecture TO the effect that a few men
on a jury should not set up their judg-
ment in opposition to the rest. ! knew
the judges mind and still hung out. Very
soon after he found out the real situation
and sent for Us and discharged US. met
the judge outside a few days subsequent
~ and said 10 him.
Judge. you gave me a very severe lee
ture the other day
He said: Yes. / was mistaken;
thought it was the other way
Once we tried two pure negroes. man
and wife, neither Of whom could read or
write. for forgery. On taking the vote
eleven voted guilty and I voted not guilty.
We had six white and six black men on
the panel. why. Mr.. H" said one
or the blacks, I can't understand why
you voted for acquittal in this case. as
you always vote for guilty" I showed
them that there was no evidence that a
forgery had ever been committed. except
the confession of the prisoners. and that
the rule OF law was that the corpus de-
Iicti must be proven by other evidence,
and quoted the language OF the judges
charge. The district attorney had neg
Iected 10 prove the body Of the crime.
We then went into court with a verdict
Of not guilty much 10 the surprise of the
district attorney and more TO the surprise
Of the counsel for the prisoners. no.
ticed when the judge - Judge Wylie -
charged US he said; IF you find that the
corpus delicti has been proven you VIII
the prisoners" The judge had
seen the failure and when asked by one
Of our jurymen afterward what he
Thought cf the verdict, he said Il was
right. I was satisfied that these people
had been used by others as tools. though
IT did not appear in the testimony.
Another case showing the uncertainty