Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1909-03-31
Partridge Case Comment.

Partridge Case Comment
Three years for manslaughter for
the man and three years for adultery
for the woman; well-timed so that {
husband and wife in that Glover
domestic tragedy can emerge from
prison and begin life. not where they
left off, but where they ought to
have been.-Barre Times.
It was expected that Levi Partridge.
who killed Ray Coomer at Glover.
Dec. 5, would come to trial this week,
but Mrs. Partridge, who recently
skipped to parts unknown rather than
be present at the trial, put in an
appearance under guaranty of safety
from the states attorney and for the
sake of lessening her husbands SEN
tence, pleaded guilty to adultery.
/ Partridge was allowed to enter plea
of manslaughter, and Judge Miles
sentenced both respondents to the
state prison at Windsor for not less
than two nor more than three years. |
Partridge was bound over at the hear
ing in December for murder in the
second degree; the grand jury found
an indictment for murder in the flrst
degree. The final disposition of the
the magnitude of the crime of taking
human life.-Express and Standard.
Notice that the authorities in Orleans
county accepted plea of guilty OF
manslaughter in the case against Levi
Partridge and the man that killed Kay
Coomer at Glover December 5, 1908,
; was sentenced to not more than three
or less than two years in the state
J prison.
Now The Messenger does not pre-
tend to question the wisdom or good
faith of the court authorities in this
' business. The Vermont bench is
! above reproach and would not know
f ingly sanction such grlevous mlscar-
riage of justice as might be involved in
> practically setting a murderer free.
r But this case simply affords another
e example of the tendency to avoid
g convictions for the first degree ever
since the condemnation of Mary
o Rogers. Very likely the Rogers execu.
d ton in and Of itself was not the cause
It of any such popular sentiment against
o capital punishment here, but it GER
talnly was the means Of bringing out
u a very decided manifestation since
n that such sentiment does exist anc
it is growing every day.
- Men nowadays shrink from the
awful responsibility of sitting on {
Z jury upon whose verdict the life o.
er some fellow mortal depends. There
f. is an increasing reluctance upon tn
-, part of iuries in capital cases to brinl
in a verdict that means the dealt
s. penalty, and courts readily accept ane
7e the public readily approves what some
n times appear to be pretty nearly com
10 promises with the facts in order t
avoid this dreadful duty. Once upo
time our fathers would no NOR
ge hesitate to f;nd~a man worthy of deaf
of and then execute him than we woul
~ to-day to send burglar to prison. Blu
NV their sons here in Vermont are balkin
ne at the death penalty and are quick
in find some way to avoid inficting
se whenever they can.
= The Messengers contention is thu
&c it is better to have law that tn
I'd, people stand back of and approx
ga and that popular will demands sha
ar be speedily and impartially enforce
=. than to have law that the whole ski
~ and ingenuity of the legal profession
as with the sympathy of the laity, is en-
IS pIoyed on every occasion to circun
700 vent. 1t is better for society tn
penalties for crime be so reasonab
lCy and moderate that justice is swift al
md certain with the full weight of publ
g opinion behind it's ministers than tn
;od the continuance of a medieval pc
'oN atty over into the twentieth centu
ION should be but the unacknowledged b
his. none the less certain cause of vex
in tons and expensive delay of jUsti
,r+ through long and hard fought tri
'0' with the probability that in the e
me the Jury will avoid verdict for tn
BILE medieval penalty if it can find t
he frailest hair upon which to hang
tial reasonable doubt of guilt. st.
If bans Messenger.
an The Messenger does not want
axe think for a minute that "popul
far sentiment" is behind the Partrid
,ro. sentence.
IN The Herald may be entirely wro
: about 1t but it believes that the CT
ber duct of the Partridge case in Orles
- county marks an epoch in the condl
AIRY of murder trials in this state.
'es. In the first place. it was perha
SSH the shortest murder trial on recol
70 In the second place. spectators WE
excluded from the courtroom duri
lies it's progress. In the third place, t
ing attorney general offered TO accept q
ne. did accept plea of manslaught
40 which took all the news" out of |
0No case from sensational standpoint.
on Here was a case, crowded to