The gold leaf., 1910-07-21
The Second Degree Verdict.
Charlotte Chronicle.


Editor Gray, of The Richmond Vir-
ginian, is a lawyer and one who is
familiar with the jury system in North
Carolina He takes the recent trial
of Powell as the occasion to pass a
few comments on the jury law in
North Carolina. The case in this
State is like that OF the majority OF
States, he says, in that sit gives the
defense practically the privilege of
selection by virtue of the fact that in
capital cases it has, in addition to
many outworn common law grounds
OF challenge, t.he privilege OF peremp-
torilly challenging no less than
twenty-four of the venireman. And
there is the seat OF the trouble. Nor
alizing on the vice of compromise in
the acceptance of second degree ver-
diets, The Virginian says that iuries
are permitted by the courts to return
such a verdict when there is not a
single phase of evidence logically to
suppot it. Prosecuting officers and
judges accept rendered plea OF Sec
ond degree murder. when all the ev-
idence indicates murder with malice
aforethought. In the broader view
this course is unfair both to society
and to the criminal On trial for his
life. In the case of society it spreads
the unfortunately true impression
that murder means, at most, impris-
Onment of the murderer. 1t there
fore gives the criminal a chance to
gamble with the life of another, stak-
ing that life not his own but an in
definite sacrifice of his liberty. In
the case OF the prisoner, it not infre-
quently puts him to the disadvantage
of conviction Of murder in the second
degree by jury which is confronted
with alternatives under the evidence
and the law of conviction or acquit-
ting or murder in the first degree. In
such case the jury, by compromising
| denies the State the benefit of its
theory and denies the prisoner the
right of his defense.
In this connection The Virginiar
notes the statement of Judge Holt
OF New York, that an habitual, incor
rigible enemy of society should be
solemnly adjudged to be put to death
1t is true that, like many Northern
men, he applied this statement chief
ly to lynchers, and Southern lynch
ers, forgetting it is not now, if it ever
was, a typical Sc uthern crime. That,
however, was merely injecting preiu
dice into common sense, and the fact
remains that what is needed is new
principle which will distinguish be
tween those mental maladies which
take pernicious homicidal form ant
those who merely incapacitate thei
victims. A snake is an egomaniat
concerning his own venom. 1t is sc
venomous in fact, he is an enemy o
society whom society should de
stroy. This is, perhaps, hard on the
snake, but it is a fair estimate o
values. Should the same principle bt
applied to the human snake, apt al
any time to strike the unsuspectinQ
from the grass, there would be less in
clination in the criminally inclined
population to kill first and develop 6
mania for killing afterwards.
We hardly pick up an eastern NORTH
Carolina exchange that does not men
tion something about fine peaches
The fact is this is q peach country
and we ought to ship two or three
millions of dollars worth Of peaches
every year to the Northern markets
Don't fail to put in peach orchard