Yet they entirely forget, in their
displeasure at the acquittal of a man whom they instinctively
"know" to be guilty, that the jury probably had exactly the
same impression, but were obliged under their oaths to acquit
because of an insufficiency of evidence.
An excellent illustration of such a case is that of Nan
Patterson. She is commonly supposed to have attended, upon
the night of her acquittal, a banquet at which one of her
lawyers toasted her as "the guilty girl who beat the case."
Whether she was guilty or not, there is a general impression
that she murdered Caesar Young. Yet the writer, who was
present throughout the trial, felt at the conclusion of the
case that there was a fairly reasonable doubt of her guilt.
Even so, the jury disagreed, although the case is usually
referred to as an acquittal and a monument to the
sentimentality of juries.
The acquittal of Roland B. Molineux is also recalled as a case
where a man, previously proved guilty, managed to escape.
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