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Show CODDLING THE CRIMINAL.' Some figures will illustrate very well the safeguards which the law throws around persons accused of crime. In tho year 1009, C101 cases of felony were disposed of in the county of New York. Let us see what the chances were that out of tills large number an Injustice could have been done against the defendant not as against the state. The grand Jury in that year dismissed 1312 cases, leaving leav-ing 5059, no defendant having as yet been wronged. Of these. 059 cases the district attorney recommended tho discharge of defendant or dismissal of the indictment, in 928 cases, leaving 4131 cases, and no defendant as yet wronged. Of these 4131 cases, 4SL wore disposed of In various ways such as bail forfeitures, discharges on writs of habeas corpus, etc.) favorable favor-able to defendants, leaving 3G50 cases, and. no defendant wionged as yet. Out of these 3G50 cases. 2C02 defendants defend-ants pleaded guilty, leaving 10 IS cases, and still no possibility of injustice to n defendant. In 5S5 out of these 104S cases, acquittals, either by direction di-rection of the court or by vordicl, re-sultedH re-sultedH leaving only 4G3 cases out or G 101, in which any mistake aaglnst a defendant could have been committed. commit-ted. This residue of 4G3 cases, winnowed win-nowed out of 0101 cases, was invar-Inbly invar-Inbly presented to juries under instructions in-structions by the court that twelve men would have to bo convinced as one man, beyond a reasonable doubt, of tho defendant's guilt before convicting: con-victing: and In each of these 4G3 cases, twelve men were so convinced and returned a verdict of guilty. Tho law still further safeguarded tho rights of these defendants. While the state law was allowed no appeal ap-peal In any of tho 5S5 cases In which it was unsuccessful, each defendant convicted htul an absolute right of appeal, and 101 appeals wero taken during the year, resulting in eleven reversals of convictions, and leaving 452 cas.es in the final lesult, in which j there could have been auy chance i of injustice to a defendanL Of these 432 defendants many received sus- i liOTwlo.1 enntnnnoe nnl i tlis vmviri (ml. or an application for executive clemency, clem-ency, or action in case of injustice, is always open. Charles C. Nolt. Jr., in Atlantic Monthly. |