The Mathews journal. (Mathews C.H. [Court House]) 1903-1937, 1911-09-14

Il
the same sentiment and the same feel
ing animateS the bosom of each mem
Der OF this jury. This mans whole
lie mas been barred before you. II has
been narrated to you not only by mem
berS OF his family, but by others.
say, without fear of contradiction
challenge contradiction-that there is
anything i'm his life that would indicate
that he was cold-biooded, cruel, or
brutal; man who would commit such
crime as this. L do not say that his
character is perfect, but his character
I is not an issue"
| Here the speaker alluded to the
| testimony of Beattie's character wit.
] nesses, who had pictured him as an
Z amiable, kindly man. In this connec-
ton Mr.. Carter read instruction No. rs.
| which bears on this point. He also
recalled the evidence showing that the
accused lived happily with his wife.
| ApropoS OF this the lawyer said, 1.-The
| worst that can be said about him is EN-.
bodied in the testimony that on one
occasion his wife fretted with him and
would not kiss him."
| a little later. Mr.. Carter added. "You
are not trying free negro for stealing
a chicken, but a man who has been
raised in your midst and whose life
! has been laid before YOU, upon the
charge of cold-blooded, fiendish muir.
| der. You cannot convict him unless
the evidence is overwhelming, and
such as removes all reasonable doubt
! LambaStcd The Detectives.
= This case" continued Mr.. Carter,
has been groomed, nursed, manipu-
lated and made out by detectives.
| They commenced on the morning
| after the murder and then got into
| their heads the theory they have been
! moving Heaven and earth to sustain.
Early in the game they turned every
| effort Of the skill and experience they
| possess TO work out their theory
which would stamp him as the guilty
man. L tell you. gentlemen of the
jury. of all suspicious people under
GODS Heaven, the most suspicious Is
a detective" daughter in court.)
a little later, touching on the pris-
oner'S alleged lack of grief on the
night of the crime, the lawyer said
that the widow who wept the loudest
at husbands funeral was she who
first married afterward.
( Paul Beattie then came in for a Bit
ter scathing at the hands Of Mr.. Car
| ter. He asserted that Paul Beatties
| statements had been shown to be UNI
true.
He proceeded:
And there is no living being who
saw that gun in the hands of Henry
beattie. except Paul. II Paul is to be
believed-and Paul by his own word
has shown that he is utterly unworthy
OF 6ehef-not living person heard
Paul say word about that gun until
the police were on the eve OF tracing
1t back to the pawnShop."
| Reading from Pauls testimony, Mr..
Carter asked the jurymen IL they
could possibly put faith in a man who
nitted when first put on the stand
he had not told the whole truth.
Clearing His Own Skirt.
| Did not Paul Beattie's testimony
| before the coroner stamp him with
the stain Of guilt and brand him as a
n to hn half
trusted Mr.. Carter shouted, and was
not that baby collie, that catnip and
taking fit sufficient to show him UP
as false to the core, telling only
enough to clear his own soiled skirt"
| Covered like NesSus in a burning
shirt, Paul is scorched with the fires
OF untruth, Mr.. Carter declared.
Paul admitted, he said. he was in a
terrible fix. The gun was about to be
traced to him. He was put in Jail.
Four days afterwards he blossoms out
| with statement which he said is the
| whole truth, but which he subse-
Quently amended with q remarkable
| confession, said to have been whisper
ed TO him by Henry.
/ Dare you convict an innocent man
on the palsied word of such a person. "
the attorney cried. Verify If YOU do
such thing his spirit will rise like
Banquo's ghost and haunt you to your
dying day"
Paul, the faker, had the gun,
gentlemen; there is the end of the
case.
The Commonwealth vainIy at.
tempted to bolster UP PauI's
story, but could do no better than
call witnesses who either knew
Paul but slightly, or knew him
several years ago I'm New Kent"
I Mr.. Carter pointed out, "while
some of the best people I'm Rich
mOnd swOre that PauI's reputa.
ton was worse than bad. their
testimony being SubStantiated by
Paufs own grandfather, who,
without hesitation, came at the
call OF his conscience and told
how bad his grandsOn's reputa.
ton really was"
Doubts If Ii Is Fatal Weapon.
Refusing, he said, to believe that
Paul gave the gun to his cousin, At
torney Carter asked the jury to look
at the weapon, indicating the ancient
and dilapidated shooting iron, held by
the sheriff. He continued by asking
who knows that Mrs. Beattie was kill
ed with that gun. Henry has not
Identified IT, he said. Who has iden-
tined it? Only Paul, the catnip fakir
who has been discredited and who is
to be believed by no man.
Take Advantage of an Omission.
| Mr.. Carter reviewed the story told
by the accused when he reached
Thomas ovens home that fatal night
with his wife's dead body in the car
showing how probably every detail
appeared. In the opening speech
Judge Gregory made no mention OF
the fact that dirt was found in the
dead woman's hair. Mr.. Carter call
p ed attention to the fact that Judge
Gregory had not mentioned il and de.
: clared that he supposed it would be
used in the closing argument and con.
sequently wished to answer it before
The dirt, he said, could easily have
gotten in her head from the dusty
! ride up the pike, especially as sew.
eral cars passed the Beattie car anC
! naturally stirred up dirt and dust.
OF all the people at Mr. Ovens
/: home that night watching this poor
boy with the eyes of a lynx, one ha:
said, and only one. that he staggered
; from the effects of the whiskey ht
had taken to steady his nerves, and
yet, declared that attorney the fac
that he took the whiSkey to strength
en- his shattered nerves is brought for
: ward by the prosecution in its effort.
to show that the grief-stricken yOune
man was a brute and a hideous muir
derer.
Remarking then upon the relation,
which existed hafWnan tho ooc,Say