06 Irish Love by Andrew M Greeley

Author:Andrew M Greeley [Greeley, Andrew M]
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

17

November 15, 1882

Each day I think that the corruption cannot become worse and yet it does. Murphy in his summation this morning gratuitously introduced the motive for the murders into the trial. The Crown had never addressed the question previously. The absence of motive was a glaring hole in their case. So Q. C. Murphy plugged the hole by attributing the violence to the secret societies in the West of Ireland. He was clever about it. He talked about the evil of such societies, of their ruthlessness, of their brutality. He insisted that a guilty verdict would be a rebuke to them and a warning that they could not escape punishment for their violation of civilized law. Not once did he say that members of a secret society had killed the Joyce family. He knew he couldn’t prove that. All he had to do was to suggest it indirectly and he would have won over whatever hesitant jurors might, improbably, remain.

I knew that Ribbonmen were the killers. So did most everyone in the valley of Maamtrasna, including the police. But the Crown had no proof of this, had not tried to obtain proof, and doubtless felt that no proof was necessary. Now Murphy was simply stating the motive as a known and proven fact.

Malley and Stritch, the defense counselors, simply repeated their argument that the testimony of the Crown’s witnesses was both dubious and contradictory. I wished that they had been more spectacular in their attack, but they knew they were beaten.

Mr. Justice Barry’s instruction to the jury was equally corrupt. He virtually insisted they bring in a guilty verdict.

“Whatever horror you may entertain, however you may desire that the guilty perpetrators should be brought to justice, recollect that the law requires no victim. The question you have to consider is, has the guilt of the prisoner been established by testimony that satisfies your conscience and judgment of his guilt? A true verdict finds according to the evidence. If you have a doubt, it must be the doubt of a rational reasonable man—no crotchet, no chimera, no cowardice. I cannot believe you would be capable of such a state of mind as I have now suggested. I have no doubt you will do your duty as becomes highminded citizens of this great city, that you will discharge your duty between the prisoner and the country, faithfully, calmly, impartially, and regardless of consequences and may God direct you to a right conclusion.”

After an absence of eight minutes the jury returned.

The verdict, however, could not be announced because Mr. Justice Barry was taking his lunch. Pat Joyce, handsome, calm, by far, as one of the papers said, the most likeable of the accused, waited patiently for the better part of an hour. There was no doubt in anyone’s mind, least of all Patrick Joyce’s, about the verdict.

“They could have given the impression that they debated a little,” I said to Dempsey.

“Why? After the charge of the Judge what was there to debate

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