Autobiography of Charles Clinton Nourse: Prepared for use of Members of the FamilyNourse, Charles Clinton
History
Autobiography of Charles Clinton Nourse: Prepared for use of Members of the Family
Nourse, Charles Clinton
Iowa -- Politics and government; Lawyers -- Iowa -- Biography; Nourse, Charles Clinton, 1829-
Acting upon my theory as to first impression, I made an opening
statement to the senate giving them a very careful and detailed history
of the case, and of the facts that we expected to prove upon the
several counts of the indictment or impeachment. In addition to these
two counsel we also had the assistance of E. S. Huston, of Burlington,
a relative of S. F. Stewart, the deputy auditor. Mr. Huston especially
looked after and cared for the interests of the deputy during the
trial. The managers upon the part of the house of representatives were
Messrs. S. M. Weaver, John H. Keatley, L. A. Riley, G. W. Ball, J. E.
Craig, R. G. Cousins, E. C. Roach. The trial continued about three
months. I found I had made no mistake in selecting my assistant
attorneys. We had a room set apart for us in the capitol, where we were
in counsel arranging the program for the day's work before the senate,
and assigning to each attorney his particular share of the work of the
day. I always dreaded in coöperating with attorneys in the trial of
causes, having some one to assist me who would be an annoyance and a
drawback rather than a help, but I found in Mr. Lehmann and Mr. Bills
two good lawyers and men of good judgment and discretion, and we had a
most agreeable as well as a successful time of it on our side of the
trial table.
The trial had not progressed more than a few weeks before we were able
to turn the tide of feeling and sentiment in our favor, or rather in
favor of our client, and the case, instead of being a prosecution of
John L. Brown, actually became an exposure of the petty tyranny and
foolishness of Buren R. Sherman, and the managers on the part of the
house were forced into the position of recognizing Sherman as their
client and recognizing the necessity of defending his conduct rather
than of convicting Mr. Brown of any serious offense against the law.
It also was apparent before we had proceeded very far in the case that
the managers of the prosecution did not entirely agree from time to
time between themselves as to the part that each should take in the
proceedings. Some of the men had evidently hoped to make a great
reputation for themselves as lawyers, and were being disappointed in
the result as to that particular.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account