Page:The Green Bag (1889–1914), Volume 22.pdf/709

 The Disagreeing jury Failed to Disagree and indivisible. For some six weeks, up to a few days before the burglary, Amos Vagabond had been a sort of choreboy to the minister, and thus

knew all the ins and outs of the minis terial household. He knew, for instance, that the govern

ment funds were kept in a little tin box, and just where that box was kept. He probably knew also, that when the family all went to church, it was cus

tomary, after carefully locking up, to place the key on a little ledge just above the door.

There were new and strange footprints observed in the snow leading to and

from the house.

675

a few days before. He apparently needed the post-office or other money.

Jim Johnson had several times in dicated to his client the diﬂiculty of making a successful defense, and sug

gested that a plea of guilty would likely materially reduce the coming sentence. But Amos Vagabond would not consider such a thing and insisted on his inno cence. After a thorough investigation of the situation, it appeared to the lawyer that his whole defense opportunity lay

in a prospective hopeless cross-examina tion of a lot of honest witnesses, and in putting on the stand a half-dozen

When a couple of

reluctant farmers to swear, in effect,

oﬁicious inhabitants surreptitiously se questered one of the suspect’s Sunday

that so far as they knew the prisoner’s reputation in the matter of robbing post-oﬁices before this particular occa

shoes, and placed it in the snow-prints,

the accuracy of the ﬁt seemed un

questionable. other

male

The

fact

neighbors

that

wore

many number

nine shoes of similar pattern, was not considered sufﬁciently extenuating to exculpate the one derelict toward whom all eyes were directed.

That the eleven dollars and indeﬁnite cents were there in the tin box before this particular Sunday service, was evidenced by the fact that the mistress of the house had sold a postage stamp and made change just as she was going

to church.

After returning, the box

sion was good. The vagabond’s own testimony would count for little, no matter how smooth or plausible a story he told. There was

no chance for an alibi. It was a hopeless situation. The District Attorney was correct in saying that he "had a dead-open-and-shut case” for the government. The day before the trial Johnson again interviewed the prisoner with the view

of insisting on a plea of guilty. “See here, Amos. Do you realize that you are absolutely up against it?

and money were gone and neither were

You are practically certain of being

ever re-discovered, unless some twenty

convicted, and after a ﬁght you'll be sure to get several years in the peni

odd pennies found in the vagabond’s vest pocket were part of the hoard. He insisted not and nobody could prove that he was wrong in his statement. Still this circumstance was looked upon

askance. Aside from those pennies, the only funds found upon the culprit’s person or among his effects when apprehended,

was a ﬁfty-cent piece, and the minister's wife had given him seventy-ﬁve cents

tentiary at hard labor.

If you plead

guilty I can probably get the District Attorney and the judge to let you off

with six months in the House of De tention." "Well, I don't care. I didn't do it, and I won’t plead guilty,” decided the

accused, adding, “I’m going to take a chance." "You’ve got about as much chance