Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1912-09-13
scotts" he sald.I III 50. it may b

-
was becoming familiar with the cease
less clutching of criminal lawyers al
every straw. He turned to the repre-
sentative of the government. MIR. Dis
trict Attorney" he said, do you wisl
to argue this notion"
No. said Stetheimer, 'let us ge,
on with the trial.
Then" said the judge, 81 presume
that it may be overruled"
The counsel for jeremiah Patton
was posing little for dramatic eff
feet. He held up his hand Just q
moment, your honor" he said; "thi:
question has already been decided in
Missouri" He walked over and laid
the open volume on the bench.
The judge glanced at the statement
of the case. then he turned to the
opinion. Apathy faded from his face;
the muscles of his jaw grew compact:
he settled down in his chair to read
the case carefully to the end. Finally
he rose and looked moment over
the courtroom; then he said,
Il sustain your motion, Mr.. Scott"
The great audience stirred with
profound, universal surprise. The dis
trict attorney was on his feet. ''YouI
honor" he cried, this prisoner cannot
be discharged. He is under indict
ment. He has not been tried. The
case has been merely continued
There must be an acquittal by jury,
A judge cannot turn criminal loose
on society by a royal edict."
The lines along the judges mouth
curled. Have you read this decis,
ion?" he said.
moi" shouted the district attor
ney, now angry and alarmed; "but il
cannot annul trial by jury; it cannot
unhinge the gates of our penal instf
buttons; it cannot transform presid
ing judge into Caesar, holding the is
sues Of life and death in the turn Of
his thumb. What court would pro
nounce a decision holding that a con.
tinuance of the cause should have the
effect Of trial by jury. verdict OF
not guilty and discharge of the
prisoner!"
''Sir," replied the judge, you in
quire what court would pronounce
such decree, and reply the United
States District Court for the Western
District of Missouri. 1t holds in the
case before me precisely what you say
it could not hold, namely that post.
ponement of case and the discharge
of jury, after the introduction OF
the governments evidence and over
the objection Of the prisoner. without
proper reasons therefor, Is, in effect.
an acquittal, precluding q Tetrial and
working the discharge Of the prisoner.
jeremiah Patton has been put to trial,
the evidence against him was intro
duced; then, upon the motion Of the
district attorney, without any reason
given on the record, and over the pris.
oner's protest, the case was contin-
ued and the jury discharged. These
facts here are in accordance with
those in the case cited. The decision
of the associate court is not to be
disregarded, and the prisoner must
be set at liberty"
The judge paused a moment, tool
up the volume of reports in his hand
and looked down at the packed sea
of faces. at would be folly he said,
''for me to do other than sustain this
motion. The United States Circuit
Court of Appeals would Immediately
reverse me- The government would
be put to the expense of a useless ap-
peal, and I would be subject to cen
sure as an arbitrary public servant,
disregarding the doctrine of law es-
tablished by an associate court. By
curious accident, this prisoner steps
outside the power Of the law through
one of the numerous safeguards which
our judicial system throws around
citizen charged with a crime. We do
not know whether or not jeremiah
Patton is guilty as charged in this
Indictment, no jury has decided that;
we know only that The law directs
that he be discharged from custody,
and I so order It."
On Monday morning after the ac-
quittal Of jeremiah Patton, Pietro
handed me cablegram for Randolph
Mason. tore 1t open and went into
Mason's office with it. He looked up
from the table as entered. Parks.
he said, II am ready to adjust the re-
naming feature of this bank prob
lem"
"Mr. Mason" answered, do you
know where jeremiah Patton and Bel
mont Lane are today?"
"Yes," he said, Patton arrived in
New York last Friday night and Bel
mont Lane is now in the custody OF
the United States consul at Berlin"
'Mr. Mason" replied, for once in
your life you are mistaken"
Mistaken" he said, Il mistaken"
eyes," 1 said; you are mistaken.
Jeremiah Patton is dead at the Dres-
den of pneumonia; came this mo-
ment from his bedside. Belmont
Lane shot himself In The entresoi oil
the hotel Gross Herzog Won Widen
helm in Berlin at seven o'clock Sun
day morning, when confronted with
your writ of extradition," and / handed
him the cablegram,