The Sun. — 1851-03-10 (London, England)

ASSIZE INTELLIGENCE. HOME CI RCUlT.—Chelmsford, March 8. THE DODDINGHURST MURDeI R. The proceedings in this extraordinary case were resumed this morning at eight o'clock, at which hour iCe Lord Chief Justice Campbell took his sea: on the bench. The prisoner was then placed in the dock. He appeared very downcast throughout the day, and sat with his head buried in his chest, apparently absorbed in deep bought. yi Mr. E. James, Q.C., and Mr. Rodwell again attended as counsel for the Crown; and Mr. Clarkson, Mr. Bodkin, and Mr. Hawkins for the prisoner. Mr. CLARKSON then proceeded to address the jury fur the defence. Having expre,:sed the deep anxiety he felt ,14 upon the occasion, and entreated the rto dismiss krebjudieeo which r thimoatthis description,almost, he 31 fsraoidm, naturallyiheir mindbs aeiithe prejudice which must almost, he '4 said, naturally be created by a case 3 mbh eeee dpnircaoacdl edteuedeseet didmftoot yc t:hmehmpe er one stile teuruoptaitonundt. rnyrceetgowarlhodi octkho a httha edt tuft'. hetheWevijid. very carefully; and he said that, although no one could doubt the great experience and the extent of scientific 'l4 knowledge possessed by Dr. Taylor, still a good deal la of his evidence was purely theoretical, and it was '34 possible that he might be mistaken, and therefore he said, evidence of that description ought not to have such weight with a jury as testimony of a positive character. He called their attention to a case of poisoning disposed 134 of at the Central Criminal Court, in which upon the .0d medical evidence as to how long before the death arsenic 12 had been administered, that question was left to the 1% jury, and they returned a verdict of guilty; but it was afterwards discovered that the medical gentleman, although a man of great experience and knowledge of his profession, was certainly mistaken, and the woman was not convicted; and he urged upon the jury the possibility that the medieal witnesses were mistaken in the present instance. There had been a most excessive degree - of zeal imported into the case, and the police-officers had ice, evidently done all they could to hunt up evidence against the prisoner. A most aggravated and dreadful crime was suggested to have been committed, and of course he , could not complain that all proper endeavours should be ;71' made to detect the guilty party, if guilt really existed, but at the same time a prisoner ought to be dealt with fairly, and no evidence ought to be made use of but that '34 which was legitimate and legal. The Learned Counsel then commented at considerable length upon the evidence of Inspector Coulson, and p irticularly upon the fact of his having sworn originally that he had carefully compared the piece of rope found in the prisoner's box with that which was round the neck of the deceased, and that they entirely corresponded. He said that this statement turned out to be entirely false, and that it was perfectly clear that if the two pieces of rope had been examined, I it must have been seen immediately that they did not correspond, because they were twisted different ways, and 34 yet, if it had happened that Coulson had died between the first and second examination, his deposition would • have gone to the jury as a fact that the two pieces of ; rope corresponded, and the life of the prisoner might have been sacrificed upon evidence which was not true. With regard to the evidence of the constable Lerman, Ice. and the conversation he was represented to have had with the prisoner, be said it appeared to him rather fa- vourable to the prisoner than otherwise; for if he had really been the man who committed the dreadful crime lt6 there could have been no necessity for his inquiring how ; many times the rope was round her neck; and the observation that he afterwards made, " Well, I don't care, I did not do it," would seem to imply merely, that if a crime had been committed, he was not the guilty party, and nothing more. As to the letter regarding the child, it seemed to him that if it was to have any effect at all it was in favour of the prisoner. It was suggested that his object in destroying this poor girl was to relieve himself from the inconvenience of her being in the family way, but if he really believed that this letter would exonerate him from all liability, and the evidence went to show that this was the case, then there was an entire absence of motive far the commission of the crime. The Learned Counsel then proceeded to observe upon the et possibility of the deceased having destroyed herself, and while he admitted the extraordinary character of some of the circumstances, he contended that it was impossible for the jury to come to a positive conclusion upon their oaths that she did not commit suicide; and he said he should call medical witnesses, whose evidence he hoped would influence the jury, and induce them to be of opinion that, at all events, there was a doubt upon the subject, and that the prisoner ought to, fruive the benefit of that doubt. He should also, he believed, be able to show them, by positive testimony, how the prisoner employed his time on the night in question a'ter he had had his tea at his own house, and he should satisfy them that until past nine o'clock on that night the prisoner could not have committed the murder, if murder there wag, and if he did this he was certain the jury would not come to the conclusion that the murder was committed after that hour, in the absence of all evidence on the part of the prosecution to show how the deceased passed her time in the interval between leaving her mother's cottage and the period in question. The Learned Counsel concluded a very eloquent and able address by stating that he should call before the jury the witnesses for the prisoner, and his life would then be in their hands. He thanked God the responsibility was with them, and he trusted Providence would guide them to a righteous decision. _ The following witnesses were then examined for the prisoner:— John Thorpe, surgeon, of Malden, examined by Mr.