The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1909-06-21
JURY FAILED TO
REACH VERDICT
Only Two Out of WeIVe Jurors
Willing to Convict Patrick
Calhoun.
STATEMENT OF DEFENDANT
SAYS RECORD PROVES THAT HIS
TRIAL WAS UNFAIR.
STATEMENT OF DEFENDANT

San Francisco June DISCRIMINATING in
d disagreement of the jury, with ten men
determined on acquittal and two stead
tasty resolved upon conviction, the trial
Of President Patrick Calhoun of the
United Railroads came to an end at noon
today Five months and a week had
transpired since the wealthy street car
magnate, a descendant Of Patrick Henry.
made his first appearance in court 10 an
swer to the charge of offering Il bride of
Loco to a corporation to obtain prlVu-
eye for his corporation, and period or
twenty-fOur hours had been consumed in
fruitless elaboration.
Not until each juror had pronounced as
hopeless the prospect of verdict was the
order for their liberation made by Judge
William p. Lawlor. Prosecution and de
Tense gave assent to the discharge, and
fifteen minutes.
No Demonstration.
The trial. which will stand on record in
the history of western litigation for many
a year, ended quietly and without demon
stTstiOn. The court room in Carpenter
hall WIS well filled. but the sudden eli
max did not permit of an attendance
gathered from far and near, such as char
acteriZed the five days of argument and
the vigil of last night. The defendant
and his attorneys. as well as the chief
officers of the prosecution, Tefrained from
comment upon the disagreement when il
was recorded. and quickly departed from
the court room.
But five ballots were taken. as it devel-
open, and three of these were within the
first few hours after elaboration had
commenced Upon the first vote the jury
stood eight for acquittal and four for con-
ViCtion.
Two Of these joined the majority upon
the second ballot and one of the remain
ing two announced his intention to re-
main out a month if necessary.
HopeIessIy Divided.
Noon was the hour fixed for the jury's
appearance in court, and all the principals
were in their places when the session
convened. Judge Lawlor announced that
ne ascertained, before coming to court
that the jury appeared to be hOpelessly
divided. Asked by the court if there was
any hope of d verdict, each juror replied
/ No as his name was called.
After ordering the discharge Of the jury.
Judge LaWlor drew his chair to the edge
of the platform nearest the jury box AMI
addressed to the twelve men some in
formal remarks. criticising severely the
laws and usages that made possible the
expenditure of three months I'm impanel-
ment of a jury and congratulating and
thanking them upon their worth as citi-
zens. He declared that the courts were
utterly helpless to prevent such occur
renCes and recommended that the legisla-
ture be Influenced by the people to make
alterations in the laws that governed
court procedure regulating the empanei-
ment Of juries
/ Under the order of the court. the at
I tOrneys viii be expected to fix a date
for another trial upon the same indict-
ment at tomorrow mornings session of
court
I am ready to try this case again. and
I will go ahead tomorrow if necessary -
said Mr.. Heney, an hour after the ad-
[ journment.
Statement by Calhoun.
In a long statement issued by Mr.. Cal
/ hOun tonight he said:
of course, ] am disappointed at the
I failure OF the jury to acquit me Of the
| unjust charges which have been brought
against me l should have liked my vim
olcatlon by the jury to have been abso-
| Lutte And yet, when all circumstances
are considered, from the fact that ten
members of the jury We're in favor of
acquittal, 1t must be recognized that 7
/ nave won a substantial victory. The rec
| ord OF the case demonstrates that my
| trial was most unfair-unparalleled in the
annals of American Jurisprudence The
judge was hostile, the assistant district
attorney bribed and the administration of
I the criminal law Of this state dsgracad. I
propose at the proper time and in A
proper manner to submit formal charges
against Assistant District Attorney Fran
L CTS j. 6eueE Tor receiving brides as Il
{ public officer, and against Rudolph
/ SpreCkels and James D. Phelan. who
/ financed the prosecution. for having paid
them"
Where the Law Is Lame.
/ In closing his remarks to the Jury
l prior to their discharge, Judge IawlOr
I paid attention to the length of time re-
! quiTed to secure jury in this state He
I said in part:
There is another thing I think Jurors
ought to keep in mind. because the sub
/ jeCt is becoming a serious one, and it is
| that the hardship does not arise so much
| from the necessity. which the law recOg-
nizes, that jurors shall be withdrawn from
I their activities and kept in confinement.
| but it is the extraordinary duration of
| judicial proceedings. The courts are ut
| terly helpless to obviate that very great
I and growing evil.
! There must be something wrong in the
/ laws of a state where il takes three
months to empanel a jury TO try any is
l sue, and 1 think that the necessity of
the hour is that the people should take
! some steps toward the simplification of
/ judicial procedure so that instead of oc-
cupying three months to procure Jury
/ it could be secured in as many days If
| that be done, and If the rules which are
/ so lavishly followed today because they
/ have been adopted in the remote past
/ were modified there would be less occa-
sion to complain of the hardships incident
/ to the discharge of jury service and the
duration of judicial proceedings"