Evening star., 1926-12-03
HALL,MILLS VERDICT
Continued from First Page.)

| Continued from First Page)
circumstantial," he said. 1.-THE direct
IS controverted and so, we think, /.
| much of the circumstantial."
Where proof Of motive is not suf
ficient, the justice went on, If yo,
| are unable to find a motive, you will
be entitled to consider that fact"
ION the motive phase. a great mas!
Of evidence has been adduced and yol
should be able to decide. The defend
ants are all charged actually ant
must all have been present.
Lists Degrees Of Murder.
He described degrees Of murder as
follows:
First degree, principal would be
one present and committing the
! crime"
| Second degree, present and acting
in concert.
| Third degree, principal present
but not approving or aiding or watch
aid companions.
IF the State failed to prove any OF
the defendants were there and parti
cipitating, such persons should be ac
quilted.
Presence must be proved beyond a
| reasonable doubt. he said, reviewing
| the claims Of each of the defendants
| of not being in De Russeys lane.
There Is more or less testimony in sup.
port and denial, he said, but the State
| remains under the burden Of proving
them at the crime. The duty Of the
| jury Is to consider the evidence, he
! said. Very often circumstantial evi
dence is persuasive evidence Of guilt
| but it must exclude every doubt of in
| aocence.
Discussing the calling card, he re.
| ferred to Detective Totten identifying
| it as the one found at the scene and
outlined the States contention Of the
history OF the card.
Refers to Pig Woman.
"If the print is William Stevens
and if the card is genuine, it Is a fair
| inference that William Stevens han.
died 1t at the scene of the crime,
| although not conclusive" he said.
| you are confronted with denial
on the card" he said, "and IL you are
not convinced beyond q reasonable
doubt. then the value of the card is
gone"
| The justice referred to Mrs. Jane
Gibson's testimony as the chief direct
| evidence. If her story was true, he
charged, 1t would appear conclusive
that the defendants were there, and
in corroboration the State refers to
cards resembling those owned by the
defendants.
you must assess the value Of this
! testimony" he said.
Basis for AcQuittal Verdict.
| "If, after consideration, you find
that the State has not proved that any
! one Of the defendants on trial fired
| the fatal shot or shots, all should be
acquitted" said the justice.
| But II, on the contrary, you find
that one Of them did fire them, that
one should be found guilty Of some
| degree of homicide within the srope
Of the Indictment, murder in the flfst
degree or second degree or perhalJ
manslaughter. 1t will then remain
to ascertain the guilt or innocence Of
| the others.
"All those that you find to have
| been there and participating in the
manner already described would be
principals in one degree or the other,
probably the second, and likewise
guilty Of the same grade Of homicide
as the actual killer"
He then defined the different de.
grees of murder, emphasizing that all
! murder which in effect was not com.
| mitted by poison, lying in wait or
other willful, deliberate or premedi.
| tated killing, was murder in the sec.
| ond degree.
He said that the indictment was
also broad enough to admit of convic-
ton Of manslaughter, but that he did
| not think that appertained to this
| case, although "the court does not
| undertake to exclude It,"
At the close he called the attention
Of the jurors to the law which. in
| the event Of a verdict Of murder in
the first degree, requires them to de-
eide whether the punishment shall be
death or Imprisonment at hard labor
Alexander Simpson, special prose
| cutor. completed his argument to the
| jury at 1906 and court recessed for
an hour.
Francis Bergen, prosecutor of
Somerset County. preceded Simpson
in summing up the case for the State.
Simpson, in beginning his sum-
| nation of the States case, termed it
the most trying of all trials" and
told the Jurors that the State would
owe them great debt-"that is, what
ever of you gentlemen keep your oath
! and weigh the evidence and do not
kick the case out in 20 minutes"
Pointing out that the trial came
four years after the crime, he asked,
Was any such thing ever heard of
| before in the civilized wor1d?" THE
prosecution of four years ago was mur.
dered in the case" Simpson declared.
Then, walking to the side Of Juror
Hope, Simpson said: II know Mr..
Hope Is a great friend Of Mr.. Cases;
I know he Is under obligations to him.
but I expect him to consider this case
on the evidence"
Senator Clarence e. Case IL a mem
ber. Of defense counsel and two days
ago Simpson attempted to obtain a
! mistrial. one Of his objections being
that members Of the jury were biased.
Justice Lynched," He Says.
Declaring again and again that
/ Justice was lynched" four years ago
when the invests ators yielded no in.
dictments. Simpson said that when the
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