The Detroit times., 1909-07-16

kills>the despoiler of his home and tn
man who is contemplating such
thing will hesitate.
Stands by the Law.
But gentlemen. don't ask you q
40 outside of the law I'm this case.
tell you these things because they hap
pence To come To my mind. We have
defense here, a good defense. and OF
that we will rely absolutely"
Bumps waxed eloquent In telling .
DIR. Boyajian's efforts To build up |
home-"the sweetest word In an,
language"
And now the prosecution makes
fun of this man because his min,
snapped when that home was broker
up. Oh. Gostanian, worm that you are
would that you had never been born
There Is no place on Gods footstoo
for such as you. And I don't care
gentlemen whether this home wa!
wrecked by infidelity or by criinina
assault. the effect on the doctor wa,
the same, SO what Is the use of split
/ ting hairs In this case
Mr.. Bumps address was followed b,
the closing talk to the jury by Prose
cutting Attorney Van Zile. wGo mar
shaded the testimony for the peopi'
until IL seemed to weave great, stou
chain about the defendant.
Judge Connolly's charge to the jur.
followed. He said In part:
Was this homicide Justifiable?
| charge you. gentlemen. that de-
PENDANTS killing OF Gostanian
was not a justifiaDle homicide.
This | say TO you as emphatically
as words permit. A Justifiable
homicide is one which, In contem-
plation of law. Is committed &C.
cording to a strict legal right.
| Under the testimony here pro-
duced. the defendant had no right
| to Kill Gostanian, absolutely no
| right whatever. No mar can
| take another mans life 10 avenge
his private wrong. This Is the law
of the state OF Michigan. You
must heed and follow that law
without reservation. Any other
rule would put a premium upon
assassination; II would permit
any and every man who considers
| himself injured by another. to be
his own judge, jury and execu-
| TONER Under such rule any
| man COuIu utttTII1lut iTOu the
| facts and without a hearing the
guilt OF his enemy; he could pass
sentence upon him. he could ex-
ecute nina grotesQue situation
which makes a lie Of the law Of
| the land, and Of justice. cheat. a
peril and a misnomer. Hence, |
charge you as the law. that this
| homicide was not Just fable IN
der the facts In testimony.
Was this homicide excusable?
| This homicide Is excusahle only
on the ground that the defendant
| was insane at the time Of commit
| ting the homicidal act; The de-
PENDANT being over the age Of IA
years, in the first instance Is pre-
sumed by the law to have been
| sane at the time OF the killing.
This Is a REPUTABLE presumption;
but unless il is rebutted, 1t stands
for all the purposes OF the case.
! When a defendants sanity Is at
tackled or questioned seriously. 50
as TO rebut this legal presumption
of sanity, It becomes the duty OF
the prosecution to make II appear
in this case that the defendant
| was a man of sound mind. Now,
by sound mind" Is not meant a
mind which Is the equal OF any
mind possessed by any mortal In
the world. We all know that
there is difference in the minds
OF our acquaintances. Some men
are very bright; others are very
dull; but they are held account
able. Perhaps IL would De enough
1 ~ u
! that Is, by reason Of disease, the
defendant was not capable OF
| knowing he was doing wrong In
the particular act, or II he had not
the power to resist the impulse TO
do the act by reason Of disease or
| insanity. that would be an I'M
sound mind. But 1t must be an
unsoundness which affected the
act in question, and not me when
did not affect It,
You have heard the evidence In
the case; you know what the cir
cumstances are and you can Judge
from all the evidence in the case
Including the transaction itself,
and his conduct at The time
whether or not he exhibited evil
dences which leave a reasonable
| doubt In your minds of the sound
| ness OF his mind In that transac-
ton. Did he know what he was
doing. whether Ii was right or
wrong? And II he did. then did
he have the power, the will pow
er, 10 resist the impulse occa-
stoned? You are not to draw the
inference because man acts fran
tically mad and angry. very angry.
that he does not resist the i'm
pulse, that that Is unsoundness or
mind
The unsoundness Of mind to
he considered by you rs an ex- =,
cuse for this homicide must be !
the result OF a disease-and not
the result Of his having allowed
his passions to run until they have
become uncomfortable. We fire.
guently meet men In courts OF JUS
tice who claim that they have
committed a crime because they
were drunk. The law holds th-m
responsible because they should
not have got drunk; they should
| not have formed the habit. SO the
I law requires Of a man that he will
curb his passions and restrain
himself: and II he does not do 1t.
holds him accountable. unless II
Is by reason OF disease which
renders him unable to do 1t.
Case Closes Unexpectedly.
Quite Unexpectedly the case was