The Monmouth inquirer. [volume] (Freehold, N.J.) 1865-1933, 1923-03-08

IN court WneK say that can prove
that this circumstantial evidence is false,
| mean that here, also, we have case
Of mistaken identity, and can prove
that the person who photographed here
Che took the photograph in his HANDY
(, is not, and cannot be, the accused. The
! proof is simple one, although must
confess that only an accident has en-
abled me to produce it. 1.-THE young
counsel here pulled out large magnify
ing glass from his pocket, and handed It,
together with the photograph. to the
/ judge.) VIII the court, and the gem
tlemen of the jury, and ] would ask
my colleague, the public prosecutor, to
do the same look at the photograph
through the magnifying glass1 You
will then, gentlemen, see that the person
who has been photographed wears a
ring on the ring finger of the left hand.
"Will you next examine the hand
of the accused1 When she was a lit
tie girl she broke the ring finger of
her left hand in a fall. The bone did
not set properly, so that there is now
protuberance, which prevents her from
wearing ring on that finger"
The counsel then raised the young
girls, hand so that all could see it,
to which she quietly submitted, but
without lifting her eyes from the floor
and without change of expression
on her waxen face.
"All will be able to convince them
selves of the truth of this. ! do not
think that any declaration from medi-
cal authority is necessary. AID, gen
tlemen, let the magnifying glass show
you yet another thing. You will at
once see on the left of the ladys head
an object on the shelf .above. 1t is
the little ivory elephant with the clock,
of which mention has already been made
in the course Of evidence. The glass.
gentlemen, will enable you not only to
see the clock in the forehead of the
elephant, but also to plainly discover
the position of the hands. What time
do the hands show? They show the
time to Be twenty minutes to six.
Where was my client at that timer
On this point we have full information
from the evidence before US. She had
not returned By this time. She only
came in through the garden gate at FIVE
minutes to six. And she could not, UNI
der any circumstance, be dressed at
twenty minutes to six in the jacket
which she only received from Miss Frick
at six o'clock, or shortly afterwardl
Gentlemen, when you have assured
yourselves as to the correctness OF what,
l have told you, you will perhaps re-
member what the witness, Mr.. Rodin.
the able photographer, said in court:
"'Thc photograph cannot lie I
with the permission of the court,
will postpone. any. further remarks till
the jury have convinced themselves that
everything is as have stated"
For the first minute or SO neither the
judges voice nor his hammer was of
any avail; he had to submit to the loud
applause which the public bestowed
upon the young counsel, who bowed and
smiled like an actor who 10 called be-
fore the curtain.
But the space of newspaper is linn
tied, and I must conclude my report ~
quickly as possible.
The examination of the photograph
took some time, as the judge and the
jury had personally to assure themselves
as to what the photograph could tell.
To all appearances, they seemed to be
satisfied with their investigations under
the magnifying glass
Mr.. Rodin and another well-known
photographer, both of whom had been
summoned as experts, declared with
the greatest confidence that the evil
dence of the photograph could be re-
lied upon, and when the medical wit
ness declared that no ring of the usual
dimension could be worn on the finger
of the accused, the AFFAIR was settled
The jury disappeared. only to return
at once, and the voice of the foreman
rang out clearly when he pronounced
the words mot guilty to the question,
Guilty or not guilty1"
.
Thus ends the account of the pro-
ecedings IN one OF OUT modern JUDICIAL
dramas. No one can doubt that we
shall hear Of sn epiiogue which win
! probably result in tragedy.
! Last night we received information
that as soon as the proceedings in
court were over, Miss Sigrid Prick was
arrested, and charged with the theft Of
her uncle's diamond.
e