The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, May 11, 1902, Page 3

THE NV A nal S0 mean and so guilty as to be denied of trial, and in the he law provides that wyer to defend him, pay for one or not. a lawyer’s sworn duty 3 an who seeks his ser- rdless of his own prejudices it happens that the 1 cases is divided lawyers—whether sent or the choice of to say. lawyer mno other sents so much of defense of the man d the basic principles he tense human in- g of an inevit- heavy odds that 1 California has e in the han- es than Judge Superior Court, of a century de w going has presided table crim- y of the coun- .ny sidelights Is and the defense the bar and enough a good even then ) as the goal of ever be 1r which I board ng after cases where mas- the celebrated ied four different offman. There were or twenty stage him, and _con- imprisonment. Three disagreed, and the fourth to secure his acquittal of pt two, which were mere- c He was undoubt- g law I never me he was guilty, say was, “You 1 don’t know e man was guflty I never elf to believe it. I could m as earnestly if I be- course, in criminal s entitied to a lawye t & lawyer's duty, an e requires that he defend y. No law- se any case on the after school created great him. the counsel he had some other court resent to try the case sed to grant a continu. , and as I happened appointed me 1 did not want resented an affidavit the case fairly had formed an as guilt, did not fendant justice 2z »e excused. The Judge ther try the case or go to ing left but to the t want to go to jall, so e appoint an attorney ted Alex Camp- to try the case, and the defendant never court and would would his family say oked at it that they r that the Judge e to trial and ed they could ke the best defense one to make. the man was We had nothing victed him, anl preme Court, rmed. ses 1 defend- ¥ ctic he bar Golden- only man I ever had hanged, idered him my client, tried before I and was con- r ir st degree. He i by J. Ni E. Wilson, and I into the case when it came Co The Supreme udgment from which pealed, and then commenced t 1 made on technicalities. investigatyon of the case I was \\\\\\ satisfled McNulty v was and never should have anything, and that the would have reversed the judgment if there had been any record on which it could act. But the appeal was made with- out a bill of exceptions having been filed. Nothing was left but to fight on techni- calities. That fight I commenced, and in earnest, too. At first I recelved some small compen-— sation from McNulty and his friends for the first appeal. In working over that I was convinced of his innocence. Then the money gave out, but I kept at it at my own expense. 1 took three separate bills over three different matters and finally took @& writ of error to the Supreme Court_of the United States and went on myself to Washington to argue it. n the meantime I had put into eirou- lation in all directions petitions for ex- ecutive clemency, interest having been aroused in the case and thousands hay. ing come to the conclusion that the man was innocent, or at most gulity of no greater crime than manslaughter. The detalls of the case would fiil a vol- ume, and the strain of it was terrible. Five times while McNulty was {n jail did the Sheriff erect a gallows for his execu- tion. I would go to the jail and hear the men hammering away at the scaffold, and Me- Nulty would be stan cell with 4 white face drops of d g forehead. said.good-by n't given up yet. before to. Spir n But each V' d_sa) g 0! >p on The last time 1 went fo cee heard the sound. we had both to McNulty said: “If you don’t get something done to- day I'm gone this time; but I won’t go on the allows.” I said: “John. dop’'t do anything to yourself. I think we'll win it yet. At any rate, wh here is no further chance T'li send some one that you can see in a crowd, and wi ou see him you wili know ‘there i There was no occasion to send any one. On the morning before the day set for the execution word éame from the Gov- ernor that the sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. I'm not through with the McNulty case yet. Some day he must be pardoned. He was never gullty of anything but man- slaughter, and he has already served more than a full term for that crime. I defended Jane Shattuck, the mother of Truly Shattuck, the actress, for kill- ing Harry Poole. At the first trial she was convicted of murder In the first de- gree. The Supreme Court reversed the judgment, and in the sqcond trial I de- SUNDAY CALL. YXPERIENCE.S AS A -5 e (CruMiNAL Lasy fended her in connection with Mr. Len- non, making a plea of Insanity, and she was acquitted. One peculiarity of criminal cases is that when the people are behind bars they ex- press all sorts of gratitude for what yi , and when they get out they fi out it—they forget even to pay you. dence the Shattuck case. e case of Mathen charged with killing a police officer while in perpetra- tion of burglary, was very remarkable in this, that the case of the prosecution was wholly circumstantial evidence, which I met in defense by a case of wholly cir- cumstantial evidence. The e was tried in Oakland, and on the first trial the jury stood eleven for conviction and one for acquittal; the second time he was ac- quitted. The case finally turned on the compari- son of diatoms, or fossil shellfish out of existence for thousands of years and only found in mud. They are microscopic, and cannot be observed with the naked eye at all. 4 Matheney’'s clalm was in alibl, that he was hot in Oakland on the night of the shooting, but was in Sausalito. It was the night of one of the greatest storms we ever had here on the bay, and the mud and dampness on his trousers were made the turning point in the case. He claimed to have been walking on the beach at Sausalito, and on seeing a rowboat adrift to have waded out from shore to bring it in, thus accounting for the mud and dampness. The prosecution rlaimed he got the mud in Oakland climbing over roofs of build- ings and making his escape down the street. The trousers were brought into court, and a bottle of distilled water. The water was poured into a basin and one leg of the trousers dipped into it and wrung out. The water was found to contain salt, which proved that the trousers leg had been wet with salt water, not rain water. From the other leg samples of mud were taken and put under a microscope. Samples of mud from Sausalito and from the streets of Oakland were also put un- der the glass; and as the prosecution had changed its theory and decided that the man must have been in the mud on the beach on the Oakland side, samples were taken all along by the slaughter-house and Brooklyn and diatoms from these were put under the glass. . Then Professor Hilgard and other sci- entists were called in, and the several specimens were compared. There was found in one of the samples from the trousers a diatom which the scientists testified were very rare, none of them having ever been found except on the coast of South America. This one was particularly beautiful, and they all tes- tifled that it was remarkably rare. In the samples of Sausalito mud was found a corresponding diatom, and no dlatom of that kind could be found in the Oak- land mud. Therefore it can be said that this Infinitesimal thing called a diatom ;e SeQrets of the Stars Made Qlear ; HE week beginning Sunday, May 11, will bring Mars into dominant pow- er, with Mercury and Jupiter next. These conditions will cause lively action in all manufacturing lines, although commercial lines will not be 30 strenuously affected. Professional people will find this a wusy and profitable week. There should be some important hap- penings in court circles during the next seven days. Iron should lead the specu- lative markets, although there will be a variable and erratic time, with narrow margins end a downward tendency in most things. Health conditions are not good. People will be afflicted with nervous feverish dis- orders. The weather will be dusty, windy and disagreeable, with whirlwinds and acci- dents. From the 1ith to the 13th the wea- ther will be hot and sultry. From the l4th to the 16th a heavy storm will form over the Missouri Valley and will move east- o Marriage. Those who marry during this week will experience varied matrimonial careers. Those who for love will be quite happy, although there will be many argu- ments and disagreements in their dome: tic lives. Those who contract marital al llance from ambitious motives will ex- perience disappointment and misfortune. Business. May 11, Sunday—This day is good for rel ,};‘ecrentlon and soclal visits, May 12, Monday: This is an unfavorable for general business, except in agri- I tural &nd mining ventures. Markets open fair for iron and other minerals, which will be & bit up at w’gl Btocks up at 10 to 1l Provisions be changeable from 12 to L May 13, Tuesday—This day is a propi- tious one for artistic, literary and dra- matic efforts, and for the advancement of inventions. Important business letters should _be written between the hours of 7:20 and 8:10 and from 9:40 to 10:40 a. m. Market opens very changeable, and con- tinues uncertain, up at 11, down until 13, then up by 1, May 14, Wednesday—Importers and wholesale merchants will find this a prof- itable day. This day is also good for oc- cult and spiritual matters. Market opens fair, up slightly In grain, metals up at 10; stocks from 11 to 12. Pro- visions from 13 to L May 16, Thursday—This is an uncertain day. People will change their minds be- fore their ains are concluded. The provision lines lead the market dur- ing the forenoon. Prices on all things will be very changeable. Greater activity will be noted about noon. May 16, Friday—This day is a good one upon which to push business and make large sales. Favors should be granted to- day. This day is not propitious for start- ing on journeys or for changes of resi- dence, {\)fll Market opens down, but by 10 n ug& metals by 11; stocks from 12 to ay 17, Saturday: This is not a fa: able day, There is likely to be some acei- gon( to transportation lines upon this ate. Market opens falr for stocks and oontin- ues s0 until 9:30; provisions up some from to 11, with a very changeable closs. Birthdays. May 11, Sunday—Those whe celebrate their birthday upon this date will find success in business during the next year. There may be some misfortuns befall some member of the family, and care should be exercised against accidents, May 12, Monday—Financial and busines: complications will arise for those whost . birthday falls upon this date, so all Jshould use great care in commercial deal- ings. Those who are in employ will be fortunate and will recelve framonon. May 13, Tuesday—This will be an event- ful year for those who celebrate their birthday to-day. There will be journeys and changes, It will be an actlve year for those engaged in business pursuits. Young men will be successful in court- ships. . { 14, Wednesday—Those whose birth- day falls upon this date should use it care in business matters and |houlr ware of speculation and false invest- ments. Widows and young women will have offers of marriage within the next twelve months. May 15, Thursday—This will be an un- eventful gn.r for those who celebrate their birt dn‘to—dly. Business will pro- ess slowly but surely and domestic af- airs will remain unruffied. Young peo- ple will court but will not marry during this year. May 16, Friday—This will be an unset- tled year, full of promises but with few fulfiliments, for those whose birthday falls upon this date. There may be de- cided cl B.nile! in business, with travel for some. All had best care for their health. May 17, Saturday—Those whose birth- day falls upon this date will experience a fortunate year in business, There will be promotion for those in employ and great success for professional people. Young people will court and marry. Births. The child born during this week will bs Impulsive and high-tempered. They will be ambitious and energetic. The boys should become milit: men and the girls should choose professional careers, Mgg 11, Bunday—The children born upon this day will be hard to manage and will assert their independence at an early age. The boys will choose an army or navy life. The girls will marry early under quite romantic circumstances. ay 12, Monday—The children born to- day will be fond of change and travel. The boys should choose positions with large companies and corporations. The girls will be gifted with histrionic ability. May 13, Tuesday—The children of to- day will' be quick, with flery tempers, They will be energetic #hd clever. The boys should follow pursuits that will keep them in the open air. The girls will not be very happy In their married lives. May 14, Wednesday—These children will be happy, generous and kind. They will love diversions and will always be sur- rounded by a host of friends. Their greatest faults will be prodigality and carelessness. The boys will choose busi- ness careers, and the girls will be talent- ed musicians, May 15, Thursday—The children born upon this day will be of quiet but very deep natures. They will be bright and will spend much time in sclentific re- search. The giris will lead placid, domes- tic careers. 5 May 16, Friday—These children will be of restless, roving dispositions, and will change thelr occupations and places of residence very frequently. The boys will be gifted inventors, and the girls will be talented in_artistic and literary lines. May 17, Saturday—The chiidren born upon this day will be fortunate in all of their undertakings. The boys will rise to high positions through their own efforts. The girls will marry men who are many years their senior. saved the life of Louls Matheney and he walked out of court a free man. Another interesting casevwas that of O'Neil, the man charged with killing Mrs. Griffes, the wife of a newspaper reporter. The woman was found in the Grizzly Bear saloon on the water front in a lacerated condition, horribly murdered. The case was tried before Judge Wells, and I was always satisfied in my mind that O’Nell was not guilty of that crime. 1 am sat- isfled of it yet. The evidence was ver; strong against him and he was in suc a beastly state of intoxication on the night of the occurrence that he could not teil anything or lend any assistance in his own defense as to where he was or what he did. The case had to be fought by breaking down the prosecution as far as it could be done, and I succeeded to the extent of securing at the hands of the jury an acquittal of murder. Ho was convicted of manslaughter only. This case presents a most remarkable instance of what a lawyer has to go through sometimes in fighting a case. There arose a question as to how certain parts of the anatomy of this woman had been injured. The prosecution claimed it had been done by the use of flowers found In the room. I claimed that would be impossible, that it could only have been done by the hand and in a peculiar manner. To establish this fact I induced the doctors who were testifying as ex- perts on behalf of the defense to take me to one of the medical schools with them and try an experiment. We went to the medical college, and from the vat in which subjects to be used by students for operating purposes are kept the body of a woman was taken out of pickle and placed on the slab. I can never forget the sight of that body, with every hair of the head gone, no eye- brows or lashes—a bald plece of flesh out of the pickling vat. After it was put on the slab with three men holding the body the strongest man in the party made an lltem%{ to produce the result as found on the body of Mrs. Griffes, and it was proved to be a physi- cal impossibility. ‘While practicing law and defending se many criminals I came to have a reputa. tion among them as their friend. One instance of this was rather ludi- crot During a celebration of the Native Bons at Stockton, which I attended with the parlor to which I belong, we were crowded around in the different hotels there. One night I went to bed with the boys as usual and in the morning found that some one had been in my room. My trousers were gone and the door of my room was ajar. Just outside the door lay the trousers, but the pockets were empty. I immediately dressed, and, tak- ing some of the other young men with me went to police headquarters and reported the burglary of the room and my loss. The Chief of Police asked me if I coul identify my pocketbook, and said he already had a ragort from the Postoffice Department of the finding of a pocket- book. goatofl'lce, described the 1 went to the pocketbook and the Postmaster handed it to me. It appeared that the pocketbook had been found by one of the letter car- riers In a mail box. Evidently the thief on finding my card had made up his mind I was too good a friend to rob. In the same connection, and to show how the crooks in the country know s criminal lawyer, there was the case of twc men arrested in San Francisco for the stealing of a large amount of bonds in one ‘of the Southern States. I had no connection with the case, but about four or five days after their arrest—long enough for a telegram to reach the East and for a man to come in response to it— a man called at my house after dark one evening. He sald he did not want to be seen or known to be in the city, but that he had been sent from the st to see me, and knowing I was an attorney he would place his confidence in me. He said there were certain men under arrest charged ‘with a bond robbery in the East, and he wanted me to see what I could do to secure their release. He sald they were friends of his, that he was connect.- ed with the robbery—in fact, had perpe- trated it. I undertook to see what could be done with the police. I had several interviews with them, and after each in would manage to reach my would communicate the result t last I told him I thought the only thi to be done was to return the property, which event the prosecutioh might abandoned. He made another ment to meet me, and comt house brought the stolen bonds—some- thing like $10,000 worth, I think I _surrendered the bonds to Chi and the fellow went off withou or anybody else knowing he was in M All they knew was that I handed them the bonds, and as the robbery had been committed in gne of the So ern St and T had beén here all the time could not suspect that I had stolen them. A similar case was when a pickpocket robbed School Director Denman of a gold watch, which he prized very highly, s it had been presented to him by some pupils or teachers. Before the trial was over I secured the watch, and going one day to the office of the Chief of Police, without any one see- ing me do it, I left the watch on the counter. In the course of the trial I was able to compel the police to say the watch had been recovered—they could not teil how; but as they had to admit they had not recefved it from the defendant I claimed the other fellow must have been gullty of the crime. I hadn't got it from the defendant, either, but from a friend of his. The wear and tear of such a life as this is something awful. A man can’t stand it always—the responsibility of men’s free- dom, their very lives, depending on him. I could not get away from F: day or night, and I found that it was tearing me to pleces. I had to give it up, and that is how I happened to go on the bench. I accepted the nomination offered me, was elected and have been there ever since, There i3 ten times mores money to b made in the practice of law than en the bench, but very little of it comes from criminal practice. Criminals have no money to pay lawyer’s fees. The largest fee I ever received was for the prosecytion of Worden and others in the rallroad strike cases in 1394. I got 3100 & day for five months. That was the largest because the case lasted so long; but I have recelved as much as for defending a case thpt required but two days. On the bench I have had a deal experience with ecrimin: omcluflf The first man I sentenced to death was one named Klose. At first I felt consid- erable anxlety over the proposition of Sentencing a man to be han, but when I came to realize that I was merely an in- strument of the law giving voice to the Legislature In passing sentence, I that there was no responsibility on my shoulders, and from that time to this I have never felt any compunction save, perhaps, in the recent case of the China~ man who pleaded guilty to a chargs of murder, when it was necessary for me to determine whether the sentence shounld bs death or life imprisonment, and I sen- tenced him to be hanged. In some cases where terms of fmprison- ment are to be imposed it is hard to sen- tence a man to a long term; but the pain it gives me in such cases is more for the families and relatives of the criminal than for the criminal himself. In fact, I have had cases where it was a most difficult task to promounce the sentence the law Sompelied me to impose not on account of te guilty one, but those who suffered more than he did. In the Durrant case I did not have this task, as I sat with Judge Bahrs, and he pronounced the sen- tence. Another interesting s of Saunders, accused in Fresno Cour killing a rancher named Wootton: S - ders and Wootton had been seen together and Wootton -had never been seen terwiird. Wootton's body was never found and for that reason ders could not be tried for murder. nder the law no man can be convicted of murder wit proot of finding of the body or some that could be identified. No trace of th body ever having been found, a trial murder was impossible; but as af Wootton's disappea: e deeds and notes In favor of Saunders turned up he was charged with the forgery of one of the deeds. The case was tried three times, and the third time I was asked to go to Fresno and preside. The trial lasted three weeks and he was convicted. I sent him to State prison for fourteen years, the long- est term for forgery, and no appeal was ever taken on that trial. An unusual incident oecurred durin that trial. Saunders testified in his ows defense that he had bought the property from Wootton and had taken the money to the ranch in sacks of coin. To account for not having been seen going to the ranch he testified that he had gona around by another road, left his buggy at the foot of the hill and taken the sacks over the hill on foot to Wootton’s ranch. To test the truthfuiness of this I thought it would be best for the jury and all hands to visit the ranch and go over that trall. The Sheriff was ordered to hire a four-in-hand bus to ca the arty, and we went next day to the ootton ranch. On leaving the bus at the foot of the mountain whers Saunders testified he his buggy and starting to climb over the hill two of the jurors came near death from exhaustion without any sacks to carry. The court 1tselt——m¥sel£ before it reached the top of the hill with nothing in its hands was compelled to lie flat on its back to regain its breath. It was thus established that to carry a purseful of old over that hill, much less th, aunders claimed to have cam.d: physical impossibility. On the day of the visit to the ranch I opened court in the morning at § o’clock. The court being opened, the jury, clerk, stenographer, counsel on both sides, de- fendant and Judge all left the courtroom and got into the bus, and whenever we came to a glaca mentioned in the testi- mony the bus was stopped, all hands made a circle around the plu? the re- porter opened his note book and the wit- ness proceeded with the testimony, after which recess was again taken to retirs to the bus. Thus the court remalined open during that entire trip (it all being with consent of counsel on both sides) and un- til we returned to the courtroom, which we did not reach until 11:45 that night. The entire session was from § a. m. to 1:45 p. m., including two meals taken in open court, one on ches at the ranch from baskets we had taken, and one at a country hotel in a small town passed through on the return trip at supper time. During the entirs day the jury did not separate nor wers the jury, defendant or court separated from one another. So recent is the Botkin case that every- body remembers it, and as it Is yet to be tngs again I hardly think it becoming to 8 ylmytmnl about the particulars of the t The case of a man called Hoff, but whose real name is unspellable, was tried twice before me. As a result of the ver- dict in the first trial I sentenced him to be hanged. In the second trial the jury fixed the punishment at lifs imprison~ ment. The second ot it case, as well a8 the comi; tfl(fln tam& Botkin case, scision of the Su- was oned by & mmn ‘wherein one of the instruc- &m iven in the Durrant case, and which I followed, was declared to be er- roneous. In both of these cases a great many points were made in the Supreme Court on appeal, but my rulings wera afiirmed on every point raised ex: as to this one instruction which in ng I had copled verbatim from the Durrant case, which had been affirmed by that court less than a year before the trial of either case, the court holding that that Instructian should not have been given even in_the Durrant case, though the case had been affirmed by them ana the prisoner executed. The Instruction was one which had been given fifty years before, in the identical language, by Chief Justice Shaw In the celebrated Dartmouth case, had been followed by every court in the Union for fifty years, and had been passed upon by our own Supreme Court in two cases before the Durrant case. Finding it in the Durrant case I felt justified in adopting it; and although the Supreme Court, in passing on the appeals in the Hoff and - otkin cases, found all my own language In my charges correct, they decided that the ome paragraph put in quotations, the one taken from the Durrant case, was wrong. and_therefore the two cases had Do tried over again. ¢ i