Show A JUST VERDICT THE trial of howard 0 spencer on the charge of the wilful murder of sergeant pike is concluded and a carefully selected jury have rendered a verdict of not guilty f we do not believe there are a dozen sane men in utah who will disagree with that verdict the history of the case is familiar to the people of this territory and has been detailed minutely during the trial the terrible effects of the murderous assault made upon the defendant by the lawless soldier however were not fully described the sufferings of the injured man and the physical and mental results of the crushing cru ahIng in of his skull could not all be portrayed to the jury but they are to some extent known the community and scores of instances iob could be related which show that the blow he received so unsettled his reason that for years he was on the verge of irresponsibility lity and any sudden excitement produced irrational irritation the prosecution made out as strong a case as possible and the district attorney and his assistant did dad all that lay jay in their power to fasten upon the he defendant the crime of murder in the first birdt degree that they did not succeed either in evidence or argument or both is apparent to careful readers of the testimony and the speeches and it is equally clear that the fault was not for lack laek of effort on toe tire part of those officials the defense was as ably conducted and the charge of the judge was full covering all the points in the case so that there was nothing omitted in its it presentation to the lury and that body was composed of men to whom the prosecution could offer no objection the challenges allowed by law having been fully exercised the approval of the verdict so far as we have heard is general it would appedu appear to b be e universal were w ere it not for the ro remarks marks of judge judd after it was rendered they were to say aay the least leask extraordinary the bent of his hie honors mind was noticeable throughout the trial in his charge too there were passages that exhibited his opinion but with all that we cannot see how any sane unbiased jury could have arrived at a different conclusion and therefore the judges judged comment after the verdict was very much in the nature of an insult to the jury as his bis remarks on the experts in his charge were in effect to them the judge apparently believed in the cock and bull conspiracy theory which rested on the u unsupported n GuP POrted and clearly refuted stocy of the witness gushing cushing the idea that men like luce and hickman with their experience and reputation would expose themselves to such espionage and take such chances as those related by that witness and that too for no apparent earthly benefit to themselves is too preposterous for belief in this community this story told for the first time after a lapse of thirty years was completely upset by the testimony of other witnesses wi both for the prosecution and the defense and the th jury ejury doubtless attached to it no importance whatever without that sto rythe conspiracy and premeditation fell to the ground the actual presence of spencer at the time of the shooting of pike was not established beyond a doubt it must be remembered that current opinion has nothing to do with the matter as it went to the jury they were only to decide upon the evidence presented at the trial there was ample room for a reasonable doubt as to wb whether ether spencers was the hand that fired the shot from the effects of which pike afterwards died but granting that the soldier was killed by the victim of his criminal violence was there not abundant evidence that at the time of the shooting howard spencer was in a bodily and mental condition that rendered him legally irresponsible aside from the testimony of his intimate I 1 friends which might have been amplified and corroborated if necessary the evidence of the m most oat experienced physicians in the territory including that of the skilled and thoroughly reliable dr anderson who attended upon him during his critical illness I 1 was amply sufficient to clear him before any unprejudiced jury on earth able lawyers of different parties have expressed their opinion that only a jury packed to convict boull in any part of the united states have brought in any other verdict than not guilty upon the evidence nee adduced at this trial teal the remark of the judge therefore were singular to say the least and have occasioned casio ned much surprise in all quarters that the verdict was eminently proper is clear for the following ng reasons first the prosecuting attorney after exhausting every effort to convict said if the government had failed to prove their ccase case 0 beyond a reasonable doubt he asked ached them to acquit but if they had established the defendants guilt he be asked them to so return their verdict second the judge himself while saying things to which coun sel belv took many exceptions opened the way for acquittal by even stronger words than those uttered by the prosecutor he said before the defendant can be con vict edthe proof must exclude every other reasonable hypothesis than that of his guilt in other words the proof must be wi of that character that it shall satisfy your minds beyond ft a reasonable doubt that there is no other reasonable hypothesis which arises out of the proof than that of the guilt of the defendant if then you are not able to say you feel an abiding conviction of this or that result then the defendant is entitled to the benefit of that doubt and it would operate to his acquittal after very clearly defining the law and the different kinds of homicide the judge said concerning the time sufficient to cool down between a provocation itald sand an act arising from it 1 icat it may depend upon tn e nature and circumstances of the provocation the extent to which the passions have been aroused and the fact whether the injury inflicted by the provocation is more or less permanent manent oer Der or irreparable the question is one of reasonable time de rending pending on all the circumstances of the case and must be determined by the jury I 1 here is another important points point V if at the time the defendant fired fire T 1 the pistol and killed pike he was in danger of his life or of great bodily harm from pike or if he was surrounded by a set of circum stances which led him to believe believe and pie he did honestly believe that tw y was in danger of Ms h is life I 1 if e or grow wj boft bodily harm and acting under that tha honest belief fired arid alid kill killed led pike then there is no guilt and your ve vet 4 diet must be not guilty the judge canvassed at lenga len gW f the plea of insanity and com commented cimmento mentO d strongly on the Inge ingenious bious counter 4 felts feits which are used to defeat defog justice but remarked if it is proven to your sat sati laft dv tion that the mind of the accius was as diseased and in an unsound state by reason of a wound or founds wounds he may have received or by y reason of any other cause the question will be whether the disease existed abed to so high a degree that for tile e time being it overwhelmed the reason conscience and judgment S whether the person committing the e homicide acted from an irre tible and impulse if 6 80 it is not the act of a voluntary gent but the involuntary act of the bady dy without the concurrence of the mind and directing it then after stating that the sanity of every person above thel the age of 14 aars was presumed by the law he added the proof must be such as to ferrule overrule the resumption presumption of sanity 1 it I must satish satisfy you that he was not ane fane or it must be of a character as I 1 1 have before stated to raise a well founded doubt of his sanity y now after the evidence presented WO we ask ash every candid person was here alre not proof enough to raise at we he very least a reasonable doubt of f the defendant responsibility at the retime time of the homicide if so on lh e admission of the prosecuting attorney and the court it was not only proper loper but the actual duty of the jairy y to bring in a verdict of acquit w further the judge made the 0 ont at to be more competent to eclie the question of sanity than the s best medical expert put upon the fitness etuess stand he said the facts having been detailed to you of the conduct and charac er of the defendants defend antIs acts and declarations cla rations you are as competent to afsa mdge of his A mental condition as a any n ness and I 1 may say much m more ore so than the expert w witnesses I 1 for sot I 1 t charge you that so fa far as the alpert pert testimony is concerned you receive it with great cau aon this may not be very flattering to the lue eminent physicians who but it gave the jury wide lati tade de and precluded any aay such re acks huis as the judge made after the verdict idlet and in a subsequent stence he went further as fol iowa owa A sl said in determining the antal status of the defendant sh gotten the facts concerning ct acts conduct and declara decla ra OAS you ou areas are as competent tent to judge kofl rf bai als mental condition as any one we and you are not bound by the or opinions of any witness r witnesses rhe ahe jury jum therefore were as com nt to decide the t question as the 1446 ge by his own admission slon and e the sole judges of the facts as aa barged ged them in the beginning ahe asure sure then that his opinion met arthe the verdict implied is popular ay y si dered gratuitous undeserved 41 a dilative dica tive of bias that ought not to exist in the mind of the court Itis it is generally considered that the assault upon howard 0 spencer was unprovoked and murderous in its intent and that his treatment by pike when he lay unconscious on the ground with his skull crushed in still further indicated the brutal purpose and cowardly of the lawless soldier that whether his victim was sane or only enraged at his appearance armed in company with his own troops on the way to a farcical examination he richly deserved his fate that spencers known condition and previous and subsequent acts acte made it evident that he was not legally responsible for the homicide that after the case had been i impaired ired into and ignored by one grund grand jury it was extrajudicial extra judicial and needless to torture the defendant by taking up this almost forgotten act of thirty Y years ago that no good purpose has been served by it except the clearing the defendant from this possible charge that the jury are to be commended for their impartiality and courage in finding such a verdict under existing circumstances and that they had full warrant for it in the evidence and the instructions of the court howard 0 spencer is free and both friend and foe heartily congratulate him on the result of his trial we hold that it is wrong to retaliate that vengeance anco should be left to him who has promised to repay and that except in self defense the killing of a human being is a most heinous crime before god and man but mental menial responsibility as well as malicious intent is an essential element to the offense and must always be established establish ea before conviction can be justified and we also hold that neither law nor justice has been greatly injured injure dor or made tenderly sensitive by the retribution rib ution which bebel a murderous and lawless ruffian who perished in his guilt in the streets of this city more than thirty yeara yeam ago |