.. (_turning over
papers_) ... "This case has, through the demeanour of the prisoner
in the witness-box, obtained the most widespread and scandalous
publicity, which I would beg you most earnestly, members of the jury,
to forget." I cannot help thinking that the deplorable atmosphere of
sentimental melodrama which has pervaded this trial has made the
_theatre_ a more fitting background for it than a court of law;
but we are in a court of law, nevertheless, and the facts have been
placed before the court. A remarkable and in my opinion praiseworthy
feature of the case has been that the sanity of the prisoner has never
been called into question; and, like the learned judge, the Court must
dismiss as mischievous pretence the attitude of this young man who
stands convicted of two brutal murders in cold blood. This case has,
from beginning to end, exhibited no feature calling for sympathy; the
evidence has on every point been conclusive, and on this evidence the
jury have convicted the appellant. In the opinion of the Court there is
no reason to interfere with that conviction, and this appeal must be
dismissed.
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