THE WORLD'S MOST CELEBRATED TRIALS
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THE WORLD'S MOST CELEBRATED TRIALS By ELMER E. ROGERS THE martyrs of former time sought to Degeneracy ran in the family of these have monuments erected by civiliza criminals, for subsequently the eldest son tion to their memory. Without education, slew his brother with malice aforethought except that begun and finished in rural life, and moreover with no provocation what and without books, the noted criminals of soever, excepting chagrin and envy because the world, indeed, deserve consideration. the brother had been more successful in The arch criminal of the age at his trial saw business than himself, so the rumor goes. The murderer was arrested. Then came testimony admitted, and that without objec tion, which now is incompetent, immaterial, on the first remarkable homicide trial of the irrelevant and irreverent, though a part of kind. The verdict of the jury in my belief the res gestce. Such conduct is calculated to was fair and the sentence just, just such as give heart disease to the present day prac the criminologists ought to study. The titioner — or to his defendant client. In the condemned was not put to death on the phraseology of the lawyer the situation was gallows nor by electrocution. A peculiar phenomenal and without precedent; but it feature of the sentence was the ostracizing is the true version. On convening of court of the murderer; and lest relatives or friends by the self-constituted bailiff, considerable of the victim take vengeance in their own confusion seemed to be in the court room, hands to murder the murderer, the court and the judge grew much perplexed to dis enjoined any such precipitate action by pro tinguish between defendant and principal mulgating that any such assassin should be witness, and accessory; then it looked as put to death in the most barbarous manner. though the crime had been committed before Here was a case of a black sheep in a defendants had an understanding of the law, blacker family — a veritable bottomless or at least before the law was codified or the pit of depravity and corruption — politi first book on criminal law had been printed cally, industrially, and socially outrivaling and published. And in one case the law that of New York, Chicago, London, Paris, may have been ex post facto. But ignorance Berlin, and Pekin combined, relatively to of what the law ought to be is no defense. population. The defendant and his accessory before The parent regretted that his son was the the act were caught redhanded, and by very image of himself. I presume he wished enforced agreement tried at an early date, he had patterned after some one else. Prob convicted, and sentenced — railroaded to the ably there is a little devil in us all, and with penitentiary. The court appointed no law bad blood, it very likely will cut a bad figure yer to represent the interests of the defen in our genealogy. dants because then there were no law offices At the time of these memorable trials the and so no attorneys. No chance was given railroad, telegraph, telephone, newspaper, defendants to prove an alibi, for a new trial, lawyer, gossiper were unknown. Nothing arrest of judgment, appeal to courts of last existed to point the finger of scorn, create resort, sue out writ of error, habeas corpus sympathy, or get anything wrongly reported. and so on. The court was, in itself, exercising the func Besides, little was done afterwards to tions of judge, state's, or prosecuting guard against the commission of similar attorney, witness, sheriff, and clerk; and no crimes by others. The reform organizations grand jury to complain. Truly the scene is seem not to have gotten into working order. without precedent.
