“Hearken to your verdicts as the Court has recorded them,”
Worthington hurried on, his words falling limply in the hush. “You,
gentlemen, upon your oath, say that Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo
Vanzetti is each guilty of murder in the first degree upon each
indictment. So say you, Mr. Foreman? So, gentlemen, you all say?”
There were murmurs of “We do, we do,” from the jury box. Vanzetti
stood in the cage, his arm still raised in the air. Then suddenly
Sacco’s voice rang through the courtroom: “_Sono innocente!_”
“_Sono innocente!_” he shouted again, and behind the cage Rosina
cried loudly, ran to him breaking through the ring of guards
and throwing her arms around his neck. Her hat fell off and her
copper-red hair tumbled about her neck. “You bet your life,” she
babbled. Then she cried out as if overwhelmed, “What am I going to
do? I’ve got two children. Oh, Nick. They kill my man.” She clung to
him sobbing, burying her face in his neck, the torrent of her words
unintelligible. Sacco stood upright, paler than ever, stroking her
head and occasionally whispering to her. Vanzetti, next to them, said
nothing, but his face was drawn with sympathy. Moore tried gently to
disengage her. Finally a policeman removed her from Sacco’s shoulder
and led her away.
Judge Thayer nodded to the clerk for adjournment. No one was even
aware of his few words of thanks to the jury.
“They kill an innocent men!” Sacco called out in a shaken voice as
judge and jury were leaving. Several of the jurymen looked back at
him but none of them paused. “Don’t forget. Two innocent men they
kill!” he shouted at them.
Within ten minutes the police and deputies had delivered the
defendants back to the jail. On their way there the loiterers on the
courthouse steps pushed forward and Sheriff Capen threatened to draw
his gun if they came any closer.
Now the darkened streets were as empty as the courtroom. Lawyers,
deputies, public, all had gone except Tom McAnarney, who was
rummaging among some papers on the oak table. As he closed his brief
case he noticed Assistant District Attorney Williams in the doorway,
and observing the customary legal etiquette he stepped toward him
with extended hand.
“Congratulations,” he said, “on a brilliant victory.” Then he noticed
that the other’s face was wet with tears.
“For God’s sake, don’t rub it in,” said Williams, without taking
his hand. “This is the saddest thing that ever happened to me in my
life.” And with the tears still streaming down his cheeks he walked
on through the courtroom.
FOOTNOTES:
[10] The two shells that had not been tampered with during the
Plymouth trial were admitted in evidence at Dedham after several
witnesses claimed to have seen what they thought was a shotgun
protruding from the rear of the getaway car.
[11] Long after the trial Sacco admitted privately to Thompson, his
later counsel, that he was carrying the Colt that night “because we
were at war with the government.”
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