The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1909-03-12
NINE HOURS AND
DID NOT FINISH
Long-Winded Attorney for the
Defense in Cooper Muir
der Trial.
MISTAKE OF THE LAWYER
ARMED HIMSELF.
MISTAKE OF THE LAWYER

Nashville, Tenn, March 11-AttoTney
Washington, defending the Coopers and
Sharp, on trial charged with numbering
former Senator E. w. Carmack, spoke
nine hours today, and then did not get
through. When court adjourned. he an
nounced that he would conclude some
time tomorrow"
The jury will be obliged to listen to
tduCh more southern OratOry before Il
can consider the verdict as Attorney
Washington's long speech is only a pre-
hminary affair for the defense.
He will be followed by Judge Ander
son, who will make the main argument
for the defense. Then Assistant Attor
ney General McCarn will close for the
state.
The attendance today at the opening of
the trial showed a decrease, and when
General Washington resumed his argu-
ment for the defense there were many
vacant seats. Mrs. Lucas Burch, Robin
Cooper's sister, who collapsed yesterday.
was in court today pale and wan, but
bravely attempted to cheer and encour-
age her brother. Mrs Carmack did not
appear and it was stated that she was
too Ill to leave her ROOM
Frenzy of oratory.
Working himself into frenzy Of ora
tory, General Washington devoted nearly
an hour to a wild denunciatiOn of the
Carmack editorial of Oct. II. This edi
torial calls attention to a statement i'm
the American from Ripley. which said
that Patterson men were advocating
trading Bryan for Patterson votes Then
the editorial called ''the attention of the
Honorable Ban Murray. the Honorable
Dune. Cooper, the Honorable Max Hart
man and the Honorable Sol Cohen" TO
this report.
Washington vigorously explained that
TWO of the honOTables named were dis
reputables and that when Carmack as
ISOLATED Colonel COopers name with
theirs he committed the gravest offense
a man could commit and affronted and
insulted Cooper beyond endurance.
But the state says no editorial ever
written justified killing man. We agree
that this is true. But we are only trying
10 show how they aroused Colonel Coop
er's anger and to explain his mental con-
ditiop.
THE state says this is only a ridiculing
editorial. Well. what Of il? You can
drive man insane with ridicule. You
can send a mans son into a frenzy by
ridicule and ridicuIe is iibelous and pun
ishable with Imprisonment"
Cooper Like Wild Bull.
General Washington asked the jurors
II they had ever seen q bullfight. None
intimated that he had, so the speaker de
scribed one. He compared Colonel Coop
or with the bull. and declared that Car
mack's editorials were the banderillos
which maddened the bull into a charge.
We'll, Carmack wrote The Diplomat
or the Zweibund-' and he thus declared
open war. He did it TO declare open war
and to compel Colonel Cooper either to
let him alone or to approach him on the
street. He knew that with those crum-
pied fingers Colonel Cooper could not pull
aATRgeT. He knew he was safe.
1COlonel Cooper saw that Carmack was
in an ugly mood. So he armed himself
and IL he had not done so he would be in
his grave today"
Washington saw the error here-the
defenses contention being that Colonel
Cooper never even drew his gun until the
shooting was over-so he said IF Robin
Cooper had not armed himself. they
would be both dead today