Then the judge tells them, having
seen the witnesses, "That they may consider their bearing on the stand
and their manner of giving testimony." Surely they are going to do
that. Is not the best way of knowing whether a man is telling the
truth to look at him and watch him while he is talking? There is
little sense in the judge advising them to consider his bearing on the
stand.
Another thing the judge says is that they are not to be governed by
sympathy or prejudice in arriving at their verdict. This is a caution
that the judge thinks necessary. He forgets that when they are in the
jury-room, with locked doors and no one to disturb them, they are
going to do exactly as they are inclined. Prejudice and sympathy are
for unintelligent people who do not know what they are about. Both
lawyers have been telling the jury what intelligent men they were and
it seems unnecessary for the judge to say that they are not to be
governed by prejudice and sympathy. Suppose the defendant is a rich
corporation, they are not going to find against it because it is rich.
The company can stand the loss of a few dollars out of its pocket
better than the poor man anyway. Not that they are going to decide for
that reason.
Pages:
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169