The Crime of the Century; Or, The Assassination of Dr. Patrick Henry CroninHunt, Henry M.
History
The Crime of the Century; Or, The Assassination of Dr. Patrick Henry Cronin
Hunt, Henry M.
Cronin, Patrick Henry, 1846-1889; Trials (Assassination) -- Illinois -- Chicago
Donahoe argued at length,
with a view of showing that the testimony regarding the
identification was at all times questionable, and should be
received with a great degree of caution, and quoted numerous
authorities to illustrate the fact that his theory was correct.
Proof of criminal intent, he said, was absolutely necessary, and
that that was proof absolutely lacking. Mr. Donahoe concluded his
speech in these words:
"Gentlemen, I am about to say the last words for my clients. Their
welfare is in your hands. I am satisfied that if you banish from
your mind everything but the law and the evidence, in this case,
you will unlock the prison door and let them go about their
business, earning their bread by the sweat of their brows.
Something was said in this case, some discussion in your presence
about Alexander Sullivan. There is no proof that my clients know
Alexander Sullivan. If there should exist in your minds, or if
there has been injected into your minds, prejudice against that
man, for God's sake don't use that against my clients, two young
men whom the evidence in this case proves to be innocent. Yet the
law does not say that they require to show their innocence; the law
requires that the prosecution shall show their guilt. I have at
heart the welfare of Kunze, although he never gave me a dollar, as
much as I have the welfare of my client, O'Sullivan, who has
retained me in this case. Banish all prejudice and suspicion from
your minds; apply your reason and judgment and consciences to the
law and the evidence in this case, and I am sure, then, that these
young men will be acquitted, as they ought to be. Remember that in
your hands rests the lives of these men. Remember that one day you
will be called upon to give an account for every act and deed done
in this life. Let nothing that you shall do in this case against my
clients be such as shall be charged against you when you appear
before that tribunal of the Most High, and when you are asked 'How
have you dealt with your fellow-men?' don't have to say that when
dealing with your fellows you had bloody hearts. Merciful! The more
merciful a man is, the more godlike he is! But, gentlemen of the
jury, do not misunderstand me. Do not think that I am asking for
mercy for my clients. Oh, no; not at all; not at all. I ask that
you carefully weigh this evidence, consider the law, be governed by
the legal evidence and the law, and that is all that I ask you to
do. I believe that if you banish everything from your minds but the
law and the evidence in this case, that the God that gave you a
head to think and a heart to feel for your fellow-men, the God that
gave you an existence, will never permit you to strangle my
clients. Oh, no, unless you are ready to guess them into eternity,
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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