In Steller's Case
Gentlemen of the Jury
It is the proud boast of
every American citizen that he
is born free & that he cannot
be deprived of his Liberty
and compelled to assume a
condition of involuntary
servitude except for Crime
established all clear legal
proof before a Court of
confident Jurisdiction.
And surely here, unless the
liberty of the citizen is
properly regarded as the
first blessing, the highest.
[] & the
most treasured Right
[] to resistance
- without whose [], in
[] of fact Life []
degraded, [?] & va
-lueless (one who is [?]
to be restrained of his liberty
for a term of years in the

In Stetler's Case

Gentlemen of the Jury

It is the proud boast of
every American Citizen that he
is born free & that he cannot
be deprived of his Liberty
and compelled to assume a
condition of involuntary
servitude except for [?]
established in clear legal 
proof before a court of
[?] Jurisdiction
And merely here where the
liberty of the citizens is
properly regraded as the
first blessing, the highest
priveledge & the
most treasured Right
apped[]to existence
without whose enjoyment in
present of fact Life becomes
degraded, miserable & un-
[?] one who is threatened
to be restrained of his liberty
for a term of years in the

in the polluted precincts of a Peni-
tentiary is not only entitled
to all the [] of the
law in favor of his inno-
-cence but it becomes the 
solemn obligation & [central]
of all other men in society
especially when called on to
act in such a case in a public
capacity to see that no one
accused of crime his [valoring]
the [try] [] [] of
his personal freedom shall be convicted
unless it be in due course of
Law on clear & absolute
proof of guilt. No state of
circumstances can effect such
a sentiment or alter or violate
such a principle. It does not
matter how poor & humble
a man may be by what
unfortunate circumstances 
the life he may have been
[?] by [?] & if you
please degraded - no matter
how violent may be the

the suspicions that naturally attach
themselves to the character of 
one who may have once
fallen either by his own head-
-long [sin], or the sinful coun-
-sels & persuasions of others - 
& who may be driven by the
coldness & contempt of the
community to the companion-
-ship of others repudiated
like himself & freed by their
social instincts & popious to
proud & associate with each
other - I do maintain; gentlemen
of the Jury, that any person
on his trial, rich or poor
without friends who the [] [in] [] by
powerful convictions has
precisely the same rights.
He has the right to know the
particular crime with which
he stands charged - to be
[argumentive] with his accusers
& he has the right before he
can be convicted to have
the particular offense [England]

in the [] [] by []
& audible testimony so that an
unanimous Jury may have
no [unreassonable] doubt of his
guilt. And further he has the 
right if the Persecution fail
to establish his guilt of the 
particular crime alleged, to
demand an acquittal in []
of the Law & by its [inspection]
principles.
My colleague & myself,
gentlemen of the Jury, desire in
this case in behalf of our
client to submit []
[] tools to the Law; &
all that we ask is that you
shall take a reasonable
view of the facts & do pre-
cisely nothing more or less
than the Law [strictly] demands.
This we have a right to ask
& this no doubt you will do.
It is hardly necessary,
gentlemen of the Jury, that I should
say before approaching
these gentlemen of law & fact

involved in the case you have
been [] to try - that
the Law never desires to condemn,
that it does not love to [furnish]
that it [selectivlly] consents to
believe in any man guilt-
that it weighs the evidence by 
which guilt is [] let to be
fixed in the accused with
the disent [severting] & the
most cautious deliberation,
that it's ready & eager [prescrip]-
-[tions] are in favor of innocence
& that it [persits] the man
to be punished by a loss
of his liberty except in
a charge legally & [distainly]
made & on proof of such a
charge by facts so convin-
cing that no [Jury] after
hearing & truly considering
their character entertains
in his mind any reasonable
doubt of guilt. You, Gentle
men, are the recognized 
& honoured agents of the
Law - it is your sworn

duty to administer the Law in a 
spirit of impartial Justice. You
are expected to enter that Jury
box with a disposition to believe
that the Prisoner has been
falsely accused & to [?]
in that belief until the
[free] of the evidence (if it 
should so happen) should pro-
duce on your [unwilling] minds
an [inverse] [table] conviction of
the [] of the accused.
And Recollect & [?] that it
is the Law which declares
that it is better to [lien]
towards the Prisoner than
against him, to make a 
mistake in his favor rather
than against him, that
in truth it is better [by] far
that so guilty man should
escape than that one
innocent man should be 
deprived of his Liberty &
compelled to suffer cut off
from every [] pursuit

& all happiness in life, the []
[tortures] of years of imprisonment 
in the [] [cell] of a 
Penitentiary.

Gentlemen of the Jury
The District Attorney is an able
& honorable man, [coal] ingeneious
of large experience in the criminal
practice & of excellent legal
learning, [be] [] advocate
-[ges] to which the Jury can []
have failed to [conduct] with
the much more [favorable] []
of the counsel for the defense.
He [] no doubt to [discharge]
his duty in this case with
his accustomed zeal & efficiency.
It may perhaps be [decided] 
that he has [] a 
little too much anxiety to
convict the Defendant. It is 
certain that from the
just [] [] by
a [sever] of duty he appears
to have been [] that
Stetler should [confront] his
[] guilt by enduring
the controversial [] of the
Law. And it is [] gentlemen
that the gate of the [Prisons]

at the Bar is not altogether
at his disposal. You [?] he have to decide
this issue of freedom or imprisonment,
of guilt or innocence. You have
to say whether that [was] new
[] your verdict with a 
heart beating almost audibly 
with the fearful anxieties
of the [hons] shall go [recieved]
relieved of the terrible weight
that weighs his soul in 
the [] to [recieve] the []
[?]' of his from this troubled
[wife] & his children shedding
tears of [joy] at the [delivery]
of their protector & father [or]
whether he shall be dragged
back, oh how hopeless, []
gleam of hope & [by] short
out in [?] darkness - [] Gov
[?] full of better [?]
to the [?] & [cruelty] []
[] un-unifying [] []
[] [] [shortly] of [this]
District attorney in this case
differs altogether from
your own. His [?]
ends [] into the concluding

10
address he may make to your
[] & to the Court. But when 
you acquit or [] the
prisoner your responsibility
begins. This responsibility
will accompany you thro' life
& you must [] to you
on it hereafter. And in view
of its [] & solemn character
it is well for you that
[while] the district attorney
you get here [] & im- 
-portant [] of the question
you have to decide. It is
well for you that you have 
no [] [] to
[]. No [] of []
pride to [coupe] your neutral
[vision] and that there is
nothing to [iniate] you to
take a partial & just view
of the facts calculated to
excite your [] to
shake the equilibrium of
your [winds]. You are
[unfectial] & therefore can
be [just]. You can be

just & therefore will be manifest! [The]
For justice [] [legal] or
[moral], [human] or [] is a 
mockery if [] be not one
of its [radical] qualities - its best & its
[] & not that kind of 
mercy which feasibly & blindly
forgives with tears of []-
[] [] but
that mercy which believes 
in innocence rather than
in guilt & which stands
any [] & interposes
every [] before it
finally [convicts] to condemn
and of this [gentlemen]
of the [jury] is not the [justice]
of my friend the D. attorney
but it is the [justice] of the
Law & do you []
if all often influences []
abide by it as you value
your own [forgivness] & the
rights of the accused.
Gentlemen of the [Jury]
we are perfectly aware that
[Slatler] might have been
defended much more []

& fluently. Let the fault rest with
us not with him. Shield him
from our weakness and we
are too painfully aware
that the persecution has been 
conducted with [correlating] 
[] & signal ability. Still
I do not envy the D. attorney
his talk []
with the [] corpus of office & of
power- [caol] & [commenting]
the act of [Persecution] - 0he
may follow the [] of
the [] & [] 
[] to escape the [air]
of his [persecution] duty & he
may finally [?] down
& lead him a bound captive to
the dark affairs of a cruel
& [?] in the
name of justice. He may
[father] his [guidance] & []
his [?] [families] in the
walls of a Dungeon. He may
know & [] his already

14
[] & wounded soul? He may
[defend] him if the [burden] of
supporting his family for [ever]
this [] felow has a wife
& children dear to his heart as
its [life-blood] & they may be
turned out to starve or steal
in the cold & hunger of []-
-[] winter. All this I
say may be done in the name
& [] [] of Public []?
And he may be supported in
all this by the [audit] of his
[] [offend] & the [strength] of
the gov't at his back? Still
I do not envy him his painful
task. Still [honorable] as I am
& poor & helpless as my client 
may be, I would not for his
entire salary exchange positions
with him. For [] []
all as most probably he is,
the Defendant be really
innocent of the crime [imparted]
[?]? The D. attorney I [mean]
must [] [] his office 
& [?] the [?] of such

15
dreadful consequences? But
I cannot [percieve] how any [man]
could tolerate the idea of being
instrumental in inflicting so
much misery & injustice as
must flow out of the [] con-
[-structed] of [] [] [hus]-
[band][fear] his wife, a father
[fear] his children, a free
american citizen [fear] his
liberty, an innocent man
from his reputation & in
-[carcertuis] him in a [Peni]-
-[tentiary] where every [day] if
light & [breath] of [air] is [stained]
& loaded [well] the [pollutionary]
& [dejusticing]] horrors of []
& []. No man in his
[] can take a candid
view of such a [suly] as this
[] rivalry, the love of
success & triumph so natural
to all [fooled] it. We may
not be aware of it at the
time but subsequent [affliction]
[let] a [calman] have most []
[him] that he is all the time
not only [impressive], no the

16
[] of others, but no [] of
Therefore it is gentlemen of the
[Jury] that no [earthly] consideration
would induce me to change places
with him. Therefore, Gentlemen of
the [Jury] while you [attentively] [lecture]
to what the D. attorney may say 
[] to your [ever] under-
-standing of the Law & the
evidence the law as you
have it [from] the [] the
evidence as hear it
[from] the witnesses, will
you in your [best] [England]
& [Caucuses] decide [].