Show FOR MURDER REPORTED BY G D WATT STATES Cle october tober term 1851 vs beffi e the hn hin Z sno snow w judge howard egan of the first judicial district cool cobit t of I 1 lie he U S tor for the territory of utah seth M blair esq U S prosecuting attorney george A S ellb eba C counsel neasel i for c prisoner r W W phelps eq this case fsr was waa brought before said court by presentment sent ment ac the prosecution was very spirited and no duty left unperformed by mr blair plea of george A smith esq pi COURT AND AD A D or fury with wilh the Me siSin of the albig ugh nt mt in a proper state slate of I 1 fe feel 1 if to offer I 1 or a tew lew ler lahon and to libent libe ot a few ind id a few anth enties og upon the point tit in question in tile first phee I 1 will sly siy lemen yon yoa to bear with me in mv in liner inner being but a new nie ine aber athe bar and un d to addressing I 1 a jarv eirv tin tile casp case upon t chih eiph I 1 I 1 a an it called to addres addrel you von is 19 ono one ano if no sin hill il ill I 1 in lien nent t it is one which prest presents yu you ind to investigate which involves the life ofa of a tellow fellow citizen I 1 I 1 am ain nit ml prepared to refer to ant hontie on begil pinta p ink as I 1 w A mid have been had not the trial been i lusty but bill 1 ii I it is a I 1 shill shall present my abou arou ent 11 upon pin i a olim ample principle of reasor reasoning nw N bein acquainted the dead langinger lang inges I 1 shall simply talk the c emovon mountain english with mt at reference to anything that mav be technical tech tP elinie nicil tj li 11 I 1 want is simple truth and justice tins defendant lon dint asks wit nl his ill life ciflie if he deserve to die hut but ieli if lie chiq in dole d ne nothing no nothing but an acton act of justice 1 h I nish es tint that justice awarded awarded to him it is high highly v ihle ble th tint it the manner in which I 1 may present mv arguments may ile be except unable enable to the learned or to the tf clinical policy 4 f modern t times imes be that ai it may the plain simple huth is 13 win wha I 1 lam am nii inn at I 1 am happer to behold an intelligent jury who are looking fir justice instead of some dirk sly or technical course by i bieh to hias bias their judgment I 1 shill shall refer in the first instance to an all item of law winch which ws wits quoted by the le ie trued prosecutor yesterday in which he stated to this jury iury ehlt th it the person killed should be oi 01 must he be a reao reasonable creature NW what dirk dark meaning what unknown interpret i aln tha lh learned and depp deep read men of law may give by wh ret this language it is imp impossible imps tessible sible farna aid before it is the plain minni tan tain E egdish eglish ia pro to talk it was admitted admit led on oil the p py of the p pe ep ution tion that james M iame who I 1 lebed I 1 in this t is indictment to hive have been killed by Y howard eg in n ha had egans wife that lie he had come into t this is place in 1 the e absence coffier of her hus bus bind had sed seduced ee his is faintly fai nily ain 1 c nse me quence of N bichan illegitimate child hasteen has 4 ta i nto the NO world and the digar ice which mus t arts r W A a 1 I transaction in his family had fallen on the tie hear Z the flip defendant this was admitted by the prosecution now gentlemen of the jury according to plain mountain english a reasonable crea creathie tuie will not commit such an outrage upon his fellow man that is the plain positive truth as we understand till things but bit perhaps this defendant is to be tried by the jaws of england and perhaps in england they have indifferent t different understanding of the passage suppose I 1 admit it t for arguments sake it was a point repeatedly peat pent edly argued and decided by Chin nellor kent ill that it every honest hanest man was a lawyer and thit the intent of the law was to do justice the statute or organic law of utah extends the laws of the U S and secondly in a degree the laws S of england over this country make a reservation in the matter which reservation I 1 wish you to consider favorably for the benefit ot of my client chent I 1 ill I 1 T laws a 1 s of the U S are hereby extended and Z to be in n force for said territory so far as the tiny provision 0 ab thereof may be applicable no bof e do not consider the wise legislators extend ed ese laws over this territory only that they S id be extended where they should be applicable tty no douht doubt supposed they might not be applicable certain cases and therefore wisely inserted that use then if a law is ia to be in foice upon us it ut be plain and simple to the understanding and pe e applicable to our situation I 1 I 1 I 1 will quote history instead of law I 1 will go back to the time when rome was a young I 1 and flouris flourishing bing state when in the midst of prosperity they t thought bought proper to procure a code of laws and being wilderness men they sent to the wise ind and learned G reeks greeks for fin a code of laws the I 1 w wisest idest lawyers of greece were selected who formed first a code written upon t ten n tables table s and finally added two others aich were received by the roman heman senate now I 1 wi mi to understand m me as bring bringing irim this up tip by way of illustration knowing that these men before me are sworn to execute justice jus lire and if I 1 cin can this to t their understanding tan ding one tie point is gained so fi far lr as it has a beiring upon this ibis cage cae I 1 tile the laws of the 12 tables were formed for a the griek ri refinements and greek ideas greek noti ns of right aind wrong these laws bere iere pre made according to a genius of liberty known ain i inma ma that ripened confederacy they are brought to 0 rone rome to a people entirely different in their genus in who wh pl placed if ed different valnea dpn up it different rent p amt pmt ind hid bid different views view of right and wrong they had to put them in force and let you whit wh it was wag the result P reid read the pages of nf history an nirh 1 hundreds fa bilies ft aill ill to tell the sad title tale the truth is written with the bloo lipf thou g ads through ali takina the rules laws and regula eions lons ofin of in ill id trill ind confederacy and applying them hem to 1 a I now new ind flin amm hmm territory I 1 argue then hen that these talk laws winch div have force in old ld england are totally nap to plain lount tin ain men I 1 i I 1 wint want to inquire whether tile genius il arri the I 1 spirit anil and the actual principle oflus tiT and right which abide in the inhabitant inhibit ant ints of these noun tuns bains is the samp same as that found amons among the nations 0 of f the old world and whether such in application of hw diw and Iti stice as that I 1 have just jast no hotbed e d is applicable to us I 1 in england when a man seduces the w rel a tiep afan of an itar r hp he enters 1 i I civil suit quit for damages which may perhaps cost him five hundred pounds to t get his case ahr ugh and as 1 a I matter of course burse if he belongs to the toiling million he may got et twenty pounds bould as damages in ih this case character is not r reputation but the number of pounds shillings anil ana pence alone alona beir the sway away which is commod common in courts of all old ind and rotten governments in biking this point into consideration I 1 argue raue that in this territory it t is a principle of nf montain moan tain common law that no raw mn gin cin seduce the wire wife of another hat aim hap I 1 may lie Is asked iced for hooks books common law is in rei reality lity unwritten unis tinis law and all the common law out has been written is the derision of courtl and every time some new decision comes u it is written which von may find stack pil up tip in the attorney generals office in great brittin brit tin this is continuing fresh decisions are still being hein made and new written authorities added and precedent upon pieced precedent rit in the courts of the US U S and great brit britain tin and must we be judged by thase tease ten tell I 1 whit is natural justice with this people does a civil suit for dayi dandres da e 9 answer the purpose art with an isolated individual but with this whole community nitya P no I 1 it does dips not mt I 1 1 I 1 1 the principle the boniv one that belts beats find and throbs th roush 11 the heart of the entire of if this territory is simply this the man who hw his wife mst art die awl ter irr nearest meiti ml him cull call up tip the te testimony odthe of the witness mr hilmor and what does he say I 1 after mr erran egan killed monroe lie was the first one to meet inept hi him i said aid 5 enyou do you know the theca canse mr horater had been made acquainted with it he said he advised adv isted monroe and told him for gods sake to leave the train for he did not wish to see him killed killel lp n his tram train mr horner know knew the common law aw 0 of this territory lie he was acquainted with the genius and spirit of this people hp he knew that til it monroes monroen Mon roes lif was forfeited forfeit pd and the executor was after him or h b the exee executor wis damned in the eyes of this eople forever I 1 I 1 do lear lea rp the ike train trai n says say s horner horne r I 1 am bould uld not have you travel in it for a thousand thu dollies was monroe a reasonable able creati A dol do tint thit a bone will hide away hut but will 1 a I nun min be called a reasonable rea cro creaturo aturo when he knows th executioner cut ioner is iii on hii big trick and at the same time walk right oer the liw law crawl between the she sheek of a fellow citizen and there lay his crocodile and then think to sto away gunpowder in a glowing barnice IF I 1 f we ire called upon here to say hutc era er a creature has been killed a nela motive tive reply is i not I 1 mr horner only nho has testified thit tbt he knew the c of nathe the lived deed but a number when the news rented Iron county that lean wi wife fe ind bid been seduced by monroe the universal conclusion n aas as I 1 there his has to bp be another and it if howard egan hid bid not killed that he be would woul d ben end damned by ac ed if every min N iw we see that ehlt I 1 lie hie laws of enand only require 1 a I civil nit knit for da caires in a C SP of f seduction hatire hut ire these laws to be annlies to niah inhibit these moonlit noi indin n P tile idia I 1 pre post proui Y ill might is well think of to na th liw law of f en rland which perti ing to t the vr eian lida ilav the queen alone I 1 will apply it and with dineh mien better sense 11 to seduce the so verian tidy the oilen i coith bv thi aw I 1 will willliam ply here in our own territory we are arc the n people ind to seduce the wife of a citizen is drath by bv the p common liw there is no dolbt hilt but this clip citte may be ciles but there is nn an A nr nt rican icari cammon la ill s larell nl as lin in rn dish ro n non lii iv had I 1 the 11 1 olis before tile HIP winch are it at hand in III flip public I 1 bior I 1 liht how you von in the united stites whore gla sandin iding irin in a like lik position posit nn to t thi defond int rit hive been I 1 will defir to the cap ca P of now vs mercur for bilang killing hb the ofhie the kiremit ahnee tonk place upon it a public ferry brint where hib borbon was ws glint in a close cirrin gp in the I 1 lc c in inner after repeated repeat pd jury R itt I 1 n his ease the daei binn wai wa i NOT GUIT comity TY W we wil wig ae allow this to bp be of down as a precedent nt and if yn von cill call it american rommon common law I 1 will to t anther ease that of f louisiana va pir hir tn fort for th thrilling killing of the seducer of his simir the nry jury in this cese also found the pris miff NOT TV this is the common practice in the united states thit that a man who kills the seducer of f his relative is set sel free A v ite of ir this kind came under my own olgerda too ton in kentucky A man mail for taking the life of the seducer of his sister was tried and acquit ted although he be did the aped in the presence presto cp of hundreds hundred of portion st he shot him not more moie than ten feet from the curt C urt house I 1 saw the prose pros color buor and with him laid and have tt bowl of the leiding leading facts I 1 bring these instances herere flip iura to show thit that there are parallel cases to tle one before us as in american jurisprudence luris prudence and yet tit in some of the st stites altes a civil suit buit for damages a eq will answer the file pv pui pose walker on this subject sub for instance in the state of ohio tells us in cases cages orthis of this kind i a civil spit uit may bp be instituted and it a fine he be imposed the cibir sui suit t mav bring damages I 1 according to the ac char act 4 of the person and that is considered an ani equivalent for the crime what is the reason these civil suits are tried in this way P it is because the spirit which actually reigns in these rotten and overgrown coant countries rales is to prostitute female virtue go to the cities of great britain where the census reports two and three hundred thousand an d tuf es ifie if a man seduces a female no matter how ow jl it occurs occur a few pence is all the scoundrel pays ibe le damns the woman who is cons Q enfa and compelled to linger out ut a s alj V X isten rand and ultimately covers her a shame b iame g re e in a premature grave and this is q 10 an enius not only of ai the people of gre l b some stated also how is it her ese 1 bains where the genius spirit tin andreg re ciely are different from these old na nations ons I 1 men are under the lecessi necessity ty of respecting female I 1 chastity when a seducer is no more secure abroad than the dog is that is found killing hilling sheep female virtue is not protected by those old governments I 1 but they are corrupt institutions which prostitute and destroy the female character and race just consider this matter Is tile the law tile the genius the spirit and the institutions of a people who go in for preserving inviolate in perfect innocence the chastity of the entire female sex is it to compare with the s spirit p irit and the genius of communities that only value it by a u few dines dimes Is that law to ie be esi eai eluted on us I 1 say that the congress of the U S have wisely provided that the laws of the united states shall not extend over us any further than that they are applicable the jury will please to excuse my manner of treating this matter I 1 am but a young laoj law er this is my first case and the first time I 1 ever undertook to talk to abury in a court of justice I 1 say in my own mannerow manne talking lipon the point before you a fellow citizen known knon among us for years is tried for his life and for what I 1 for the justified ml ing of a hyena that entered his sheets seduced his wife and introduced a monster into his family arid and to be tried too by the laws of a government ten thousand miles from aroln here if howard egan did lull kill james monroe it was in accordance with the established establish est ablis hed principles of justice ustice known in these mountains 1 that the people of this territory would have regarded him hi m as accessory to the crimes of that etea creature ture had he not done it i is is also a plain case every man knew the style of fold old israel that thal the nearest relation would be at his heels to fulfil fulfill the requirements of justice now I 1 wish you gentlemen gentleman of the jury to consider that the united states have not got the jurisdiction to hang that man for this his of fence the laws jaws are not applicable to it they have ceded away the power to do that thing it belongs ti athe the people of this territory and as a matter of ce we deny the right boltl of this cut c urt to hanm hang this dant on principles that have been ceded 9 else to act |