The Rise and Fall of Anarchy in America: From its Incipient Stage to the First Bomb Thrown in ChicagoMcLean, George N.
History
The Rise and Fall of Anarchy in America: From its Incipient Stage to the First Bomb Thrown in Chicago
McLean, George N.
Anarchists -- United States; Haymarket Square Riot, Chicago, Ill., 1886
"The Court instructs the jury as a matter of law that, in considering
the case, the jury are not to go beyond the evidence to hunt up
doubts, nor must they entertain such doubts as are merely chimerical
or conjectural. A doubt to justify an acquittal must be reasonable,
and must arise from a candid and impartial investigation of all the
evidence in the case, and unless it is such that, were the same kind
of doubt interposed in the graver transactions of life, it would cause
a reasonable and prudent man to hesitate and pause, it is sufficient
to authorize a verdict of not guilty. If, after considering all the
evidence, you can say you have an abiding conviction of the truth of
the charge, you are satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt.
"If it does so prove, then your duty to the State requires you to
convict whosoever is found guilty. The case of each of the defendants
should be considered with the same care and scrutiny as if he alone
were on trial. If a conspiracy having violence and murder as its object
is fully proved, then the acts and declarations of each one of the
conspirators, before or after May 4, which are merely narrative as to
what had been or would be done, and not made to aid in carrying into
effect the object of the conspiracy, are only evidence against the
person who made them. What are the facts and what is the truth the jury
must determine from the evidence, and from that alone. If there are any
unguarded expressions in any of the instructions which seem to assume
the existence of any facts, or to be any intimation as to what is
proved, all such expressions must be discouraged and the evidence only
looked to, to determine the facts.
"The Court instructs the jury as a matter of law that an accessory
is he who stands by and aids, abets, or assists, or who, not being
present, aiding, abetting, or assisting, has advised, encouraged, aided
or abetted the perpetration of that crime. He who thus aids, abets,
assists, advises or encourages shall be considered as a principal and
punished accordingly. Every such accessory when a crime is committed
within or without this state by his aid or procurement in this state,
may be indicted and convicted at the same time as the principal, or
before or after his conviction, and whether the principal is convicted
or amenable to justice or not, and punished as principal.
"If the defendants attempted to overthrow the law by force and threw
the bomb, then the defendants who were in the conspiracy were guilty
of murder. If there was an Anarchistic conspiracy, and the defendants
were parties to it, they are guilty of murder, though the date of
the culmination of the conspiracy was not fixed. If any of the
defendants conspired to excite by advice people to riot and murder,
such defendants are guilty if such murder was done in pursuance of
said conspiracy; the impracticalness of the aim of the defendants is
immaterial.
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