A CASE OF CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE.

Press, Volume LIX, Issue 11245, 10 April 1902, Page 2

A CASE OF CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE.

Bt Jamb Ksapp Rrbtb. Whsa the Judge talked, particularly v.hen he could be induced to give up bits of the stranfe experiences that had come •K-ithin hm professional ken, he was certain of interested auditors. '■Do I believe ia convicting a man on circumstantial evidence?" It was by repeating this query, which had been put to him by a member of our group that the Judge, paved the wav for his story. '• I think I can "answer that best by tolling you a little incident." he said, after a moment's hesitation. "Your question is one of thoee to which a man who iias dealt much with criminals hesitates to reply to with, a word. Crime must be punished. It is the foundation upon which the safety of society rests. It is true that justice is blind." and so sometimes errs. But what would you aave—that the half of all guilty men slioulu escajve?

" This happened a good many years ago, when I Lad Dot been long on the bench. A murder had been committed, of which I will tell you as briefly as I can. Two brothers were walking together in a lonely place at night. Common report had it that they were united by unusual bonds of affection. One, the elder, was a handsome, stalwart fellow. The other somewhat of a •weakling, accustomed to depend on his brother for all the little kindly offices which a strong man can give to a weaker one when love prompts tha service. " It- was about nine o'clock in the evening. The night was lighted by a full moon, which made it almost as brilliant as day. The road upon which they were, lay partly in the shadow of a wood. This gave the assassin his opportunity. Without warnine he sprang suddenly upon the elder man and struck 'him three times in rapid succession, with a long dagger. Two of the blows were needless, for the first had reached his iheart. ,' "The suddenness of the attack, the loneliness of the situation, the more than brotherly affection which had united them, perhaps, too, the realisation of his own defencelessness, should the assassin turn upon him, were, too much for the physical and mental resources of the other to stand up against, and he ran from the spot— a gibbering idiot. "Of course, you will ccc that from the start tbere was but one possibility of direct evidence, should the murderer be apprehended. The brother was the only witness of the tragedy. "Detectives soon arrested a man, whom they had at least some grounds for suspecting of the crime. He.had been a rival of the elder brother in love. They had afterward had business disagreements!. He was known to be of secret and revengeful disposition. At the preliminaiTy examination he could not satisfactorily account for his whereabouts on that night. Hβ was fcno'wn to be the possessor of a curious collection of knives, daggers, and other edged weapons, brought luxme long foreign residence, and the physician who examined the body said the wounds must have been made with some very peculiar weapon indeed. "The shock threw the younger brother into a long and serious fever, which was followed by «. condition of partial syncope, accompanied by total loss of speech, and by the inability to nnderstand or reply to any question. The physicians stated that this would pass away, but it was weeks before his mental condition had cleared sufficiently to permit of his being examined, and, meantime, the accused man was held to await the day when this witness should be able to testify. "So certain was tihe attorney for the State that he had the real criminal secured, so certain was he that the circumstantial evidence already procured would be confirmed by tho murdered man's brother, that he waited with the utmost impatience for the fulfilment of the -proip(hecy of the physicians.

"At last it appeared that the mind of the man was clearing up. Some measure of speech returned, but extreme physical exhaustion continued. It was not deemed best to subject him to any unnecessary strain or excitement, but to defer questioning him about the crime until he was placed upon tie witness stand.

"The accused had been held on the charge of rnsurder. All who were connected with, the caee or aware of its awaited the trial with the- most;interest interest. The physicians promised that the witness would be able to appear. "The case .was called, and had progressed to the point of taking the brothers tes-" timonv. He was brought into court and placed in the witness box. He was pale; <md emaciated to the last degree, and I was afraid he would not be equal to the strain. "The circumstances of the murder were §one over briefly by the attorney for the tatei and the witness was then" asked if he thought be could identify the assassin. He responded positively that he cpiijd. Theaccused was then brought before him, hay-: ing been pjrevknisly kept from, his sight.' The attorney asked, quietly: "'ls this the man"/' ■ "Tho witness bent forward and scanned the other's face intently. His own was ■working with emotion, which we translated to he detestation and fear and hatred of his brother's slayer. ■ He raised 3iis right antfr slowly, eatanded it bafore him, with the in- ! dcx - finger almost touching the accused; tihen, with an effort, and in a choking voice, he :began to speak: ' : " 'This—is—tihe—-the " ;| "The seaitence was unfinisbed. Then | oame a horrible dhoking,-rattling, inartdcu- | late sound, and, with has eyes fixed upon the man, with an inscrutable expression ■with the baffled endeavour to retain control of his speech mirrored in his face, the witness fell suddenly back into tibe arms of his attendants. "He was carried from the court-room, and the trial went on. Items of circumstantial evidence were, adduced, heaped one above another, -witnesses were examined, speeches of the State's attorney and the attorneys for the defence were heard, and the case was jjiven to the jury. Without leaving 'their seats, a verdict was rendered. It was murder in the first degree." The Judge paused, looked about for something with which to relieve the huskiness that had come into his throat, found it, and went on:

"It was apparent to all that the jury had been convinced in their own minds by the attitude and words of the one important witness, although he had really said nothing. The attorneys for the condemned man were devoted to his interest, and did not cease their efforts with the conclusion of tine trial. The physicians said that, in all probability, the witness would again recover his power of speech, and that when he did so be would take up at once, and of his own volition, the unfinished sentence, and conclude it

"They placed watchers by his bedside and •waited. Days went by, and slipped into weeks. The time approached for the execution of the law's decree. His friends moved heaven and earth for suspension of sentence, but failed. Still they watched the sick man, hanging eagerly on every sound, on every breath, that came from him.

"The morning for the execution arrived. A solemn cortege formed at the cell of the prisoner and made its way slowly through the dim corridors of the prison to the scaffold. It was seven o'clock.

"Just at the moment that this was taking place' in the prison, the watchers who were still beside the sick: man, hoping against hope, were startled by a sound. There was an effort at speech. They bent above him eagerly. Their hearts beat so loudiy thsy were afraid the noise would drown all otlter sounds. A mounted messenger was hastily summoned, and stood at the door, ready. A notary with pencil and tablet was there. The sounds took form. Words were uttered, faint but distinct. They came as if from the lips of the dead: "' —the—wrong—man.' "There was an instant's hesitation, while the watchers looked from one to the other, with awed faces. Then—the notary had his statement written, and' to it he added a few pregnant words—words that meant life to an liHioeent man, signed it, stamped it with his seal, and handed it to the messenger. It all took but the very briefest portion of time, "The messenger flew to the prison as though on the wings of the wind. The execution was to take place at thirty minutes p;ist seven. At five minutea before that time be was at the prison gate. TheTe was hardly a perceptible delay in getting the

paper into the warden's hand, for all knew that it was a message of life. ''But, even while his impatient knock resounded through the giociny place, the executioner was giving the signal for the last act in the drama—and the eyes of the spectators ' were involuntarily turned away. Yet, the messenger was not too late. For once the machinery of death failed in its mission; the lever creaked, and paused; and while all waited a cry rang out, a note of warning, that stayed "tie hand of the law's tool, and an innocent man was saved from sn ignominious end."