New Britain herald., 1927-05-05
SACCO.VANzETTI
 PLEA WITH FULLER
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UuSt DelOFe IeCelElnS the 1dtel LII sentence.
 "We deem the faculty of com passion to be one of the highest of the human attributes" the petition went on, but here we are asking not for mercy but for justice. and this is the reason why we have not used the printed form provided for petitions Of this nature. It contains the word pardon which we are un- willing to use, although our counsel has assured us that 1t does not necessarily mean forgiveness or con- vey the idea of confession of guilt. But we wish the utmost pos sible clearness and precision on this point and are unwilling to risk being misunderstood"
 The radicals stated the personal appeal was being made first and foremost on the ground of our inno- cence. They denied having had any connection with the crimes, declar- ing that their instincts make us abhor and our principles condemn such crime"
 We call your attention to the un- disputed facts that at the time of the crime, after it. and ever since we had come to this country, We had earned our living with hard work i; that one of us was able to make large wages and to accumulate a substantial savings bank deposit; hat the other could easily have done the same were it not that be- ing single and of well-to-do family he thought more to give than to save; and that both of us could have had an independent position in Italy regardless of our earnings here.
 We pray you to consider also that robbers make away with their booty and do not finger about the scene Of the crime in order to ad- dress public meetings in behalf of the persecuted radicals, which is exactly what we were preparing to do at the time of our arrest: that when the motive claimed for mur- der is robbery, some evidence is us- Hally offered that the accused were found in possession of some of the stolen money, or that their condi- 1ion in life had changed after the robbery. Not the least evidence of that sort was offered against us, and there is no such evidence"
 The petitioners pointed to the fact that eye witnesses of the crime had failed to identify them as the rob- bers, and stated that these witnesses greatly outnumbered those who did establish identifications.
 Attacks Gun Testimony
 The appeal attacked the govern ment's claim that one of the con- demned men was found in posses sion of the revolver of Alexander Berardelli, one of the victims, fol- lowing the crime. It also criticised the prosecutions contention that Berardelli was killed by a bullet from Sacco's gun.
 In this connection, the petition quoted the sworn statement of a gun expert made after the trial, as fol- lows:
 At no time was I able to find any evidence whatever which tend ed to convince me that the particu. lar model bullet found in Berardel- lis body, which came from a Colt automatic pistol, which I think was numbered 3 and had some other exhibit number. came from Sacco's pistol. and I so informed the district attorney and his assistant before the trial. XXX Although I repeatedly talked over with Captain Van Am burgh (Boston gun experD the scratch or scratches which he claim ed tended to identify this bullet as one that must have gone through Sacco's pistol, his statements con- cerning the identifying marks seem- ed to me entirely unconvincing."
 After declaring that a cap found near the murder scene and alleged to have been that of Sacco had not been positively identified as such, the appeal said:
 Consciousness of Guilt
 He bTedkuOWH OL dll eNlQenCe left nothing against us but what the judge called consciousness oi guilt which he says is what con- victed us."
 The only guilt of which they were conscious, Sacco and Vanzetti said was the guilt of being radicals in danger of arrest, detention, and tor ture or death.
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