“One moment, Mr. Clerk,” the judge had said; then addressing himself to the culprit, “The plea that you offer, Judith Peixada, ought not, in the opinion of the court, to be accepted. The penalty for murder in the first degree is fixed by law, and that penalty is hanging. No discretionary alternative is left to the magistrate. Therefore to permit you to enter a plea of guilty of murder in the first degree, would be to permit self-destruction. It has never been the custom of our courts to accept that plea; though, naturally, they have seldom enough had occasion to decline it. If I remember rightly, the Connecticut tribunals have in one or two instances allowed that plea to be recorded; but, unless I am misinformed, the statutes of Connecticut empower the sentencing officer to choose between death and imprisonment for life.
“I can not consistently and conscientiously violate our precedents, and for that reason I must decline to entertain the plea that you have offered. If, however, you are in your heart persuaded of your guilt, and wish to spare the People the expense and labor of a trial before a jury, I will accept a plea of murder in the second degree, the punishment for which, I must beg you to recollect, is confinement at hard labor in the State Prison for the term of your natural life. The clerk will now put the question to you, Judith Peixada, and you are at full liberty to reply to it as you deem fit.”
“If the court please,” said Romer, “I should like to make a brief statement, before these proceedings are continued.”
“Certainly,” said the judge. “You can wait, Mr. Clerk, until we have heard from the district-attorney.”
Every man and woman in the court-room, save only two, strained forward to catch each syllable that Romer might pronounce. The two exceptions were the prisoner and her husband. He sat huddled up in his chair, apparently deaf and blind to what was going on around. She leaned heavily upon the railing in front of her, and the expression in her eyes was one of weary indifference.
“Will you kindly see that a chair is furnished the prisoner?” Romer asked of the clerk.
An attendant brought a chair. The prisoner sat down.
“If your honor please,” said Romer, “I desire to state that, in case the prisoner be allowed to plead to murder in the second degree, it will be against the protest of the People. The evidence in support of the indictment is of such a nature as to admit of doubt concerning the prisoner’s guilt; and, if it were submitted to a jury, I think the chances would be even whether they would acquit her or convict her. The People feel that there is evidence enough to justify a trial, but they are reluctant to—become accessories to what, in their judgment, may be the hasty act of an ill-advised woman. It is the duty of the district-attorney to endeavor to secure a conviction—it would be his duty to consent to a plea—when fully convinced in his own mind of the accused person’s legal guilt. But when he is doubtful, or at least not entirely satisfied, of that guilt, as I confess to being in the case at bar, it is his duty to submit the question for arbitration to a jury. That, your honor, is the stand which I am compelled to take in these premises. I entertain grave doubts of the prisoner’s guilt—doubts which could only be set at rest by a verdict rendered in the regular way. I protest therefore against the entry of a plea such as your honor has suggested; and, if the court please, I desire that this protest on the part of the People be made a matter of record.”
Mr. Flint and Hetzel breathed more freely. Mrs. Hart fanned herself with manifest agitation.
The judge replied: “The clerk will procure a transcript of the district-attorney’s remarks from the stenographer, and enter the same in the minutes. In response to those remarks, I feel called upon to say that it is to be presumed that the prisoner at the bar, better than any one else, is competent to decide upon the question of her own guilt or innocence. She certainly can not be in doubt as to whether she committed the felony charged against her. The court has already enlightened her respecting the sentence that will be imposed in the event of her pleading guilty of murder in the second degree. Whatever evidence might be adduced in her behalf at a trial, is certainly not to be weighed against her own voluntary and unconstrained confession. It would be contrary to public policy and to good morals for the court to seal the prisoner’s lips, as the district-attorney appears anxious to have it do. The clerk will now put the necessary inquiries to her; and if she elect to offer the plea in debate, the court will feel obliged to accept it.” Romer bowed and sat down.