La Junta tribune., 1912-01-06
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, TOO MUCH oRAroRY, I
, By Ebert Hubbard. Z

one nau Snot ner husband In the
back. and then shot him when he
was down. 1t was complete Job.
The woman pleaded. Not Guilty"
But yet she went on the witness
stand and acknowledged that she had
done the shooting.
Also, the prosecuting attorney fore.
ed her to admit that she did the
killing so she could be free to live
with the Other Man.
This Other Man she had lived with,
both before and after her marriage to
the victim. She rather liked him.
She admitted that the quarrel that
led up to the shooting was be-
cause her husband would not allow
her to leave and 20 to the man of
her choice
! Just here the prosecuting attorney
should have stopped. He had made
his points. But he was flushed
with success He had surprised him.
self with his skill and the ease with
which he had tied the witness up
He had tasted oratorical blood.
And so he BEGAN all over again. He
went back and traced the woman s
record step by step. He had found
where she had stumbled. and several
times had been mired In the mud. He
( fingered over these salatious points.
The woman sQuirmed. and. OF course.
threw up shield of falsehood.
The skilled cross-Qnes,ioncr WAS at
7 home. The woman was among strang.
ers, alone. She was surprised. abash.
ed, humiliated. undone by this in
innate knowledge OF her girlhood In
/ her efforts TO escape she incriminat-
ed herself necdlessly again and
again.
The attorney figuratively stripped
I her of all her clc thes, tied her to a
tree and danced about her. tomahawk
in hand. He shot arrows into her
Quiyerng flesh. by reference to her
falsity vanity. ayarice. jealousy. per
jury. treason-murder. Any way she
turned he had her. He convicted her
not only OF murder. but of a dozen
other crimes.
The attorneys for the defense. sens
ing that the tide OF sympathy was
setting toward their client, sat dumb
|. .,ad did not try to protect her.
the woman dropped. unable
to answer further. Her guilt was
supreme. her suffering abject The
judge lifted his hands In depreciation
and blew his nose. Her attorneys
looked out Of the window.
The cxultation Of the prosecutor
had become to the jury a more helm
Gus thing than murder. The crimes
OF this woman faded away into lap.
scs. She had been overcome by ma
tuT'-Dut tHis aWpfl wan uihHN WI
fame. ambition and oraiory. and his
punishment Of the woman was unna'-
ural. II really was none OF his AT
fair anyway. save In a professional
sense.
The manhood OF the jury was arous
ed. Not one OF the twelve but would
have jumped In and licked that at
torney II he had dared
Verdict: I'VE find the defendant
not guilty" All Of which has the
unique quality of being literally true.
A man who In perhaps the greatest
lawyer In New York once said that
the reason why II is almost impos-
sibie TO get jury To convict any
woman that possesses average come
linesx and modest behavior In court
u infidcliiy In THAT all jurios are
composed OF men and there are only
two kinds Of mcn-men who are
themselves unfai'hful and men who
are faithful to their wives. The first
no not think any prpeossessing
woman should be found guilty, and
the second do not believe that any
preposscssing. innocent looking
woman could be guilty. Both kinds
OF jurymen vote the same way-for
acquitial-but from opposite motives.
Now. while the analogy doesn't hold
all along the line. yet II ! do not
mistake the tendency Of the times.
the cxultant prosecution Of trust Of
tenders tactuaI. In print and mes
sagcsD has cnuscd "a tide Of sympathy
10 set In for the defendants.
The prosecution. cnltivniing the
ballyhoo spotlight for personal. party
and political ends. has ovcrdonc II.
ANNOUNCEMENT.