[untitled]
An impressive illustration of American
legal methods was afforded in the trial of Leon Czolgosz, the assassin
of the late President, at Buffalo. The apathetic murderer when arraigned
declined to say whether he had or wanted counsel, but the court
assigned two eminent members of the bar to defend him, and these
gentlemen had the assurance of the aid of the Erie County Bar Association
in case they needed it. The assassin pleaded guilty, but the court
declined to receive the plea, and directed the entering of a plea
of not guilty, which required proof of his guilt to be furnished
by others. The results of an examination of the prisoner by distinguished
alienists negatived the possibility of a defense of insanity being
considered, and the jury speedily reached a verdict of guilty. The
prisoner has been sentenced to be executed in the week beginning
October 28. He will thus expiate with his miserable life the killing
of one of the greatest and best beloved of American statesmen, but
it will be noted throughout the world, as an illustration of the
supremacy of the law in the United States, that legal safeguards
were thrown about the criminal at every step of the procedure which
resulted in his conviction.
|