Closing Argument of Onias Skinner, 29 May 1845, Copy [State of Illinois v. Williams et al.]
Source Note
, Closing Argument, [, Hancock Co., IL], 29 May [1845], State of IL v. Williams et al. (Hancock Co., IL, Circuit Court 1845). Copied [29 May–20 June 1845]; handwriting of and printed text; thirty-one pages; Wilford Wood Museum, Bountiful, UT; images in Joseph Smith Murder Trial Papers, 1844–1845, CHL.
late in the evening.— And upon these facts <& his supposed > he seeks their convicton. Gentlemen, before you can find any man guilty upon Circumstantial evidence, you must find all the Circumstances relied upon, fully proved— that every Circumstance supposed <& necessary to the act> does exist; & those Circumstances must Conclusively exclude every other presumption or possibility of the act having been done by any other persons or in any other manner;— the Circumstances proved must in their very nature, be Conclusive & rivet upon the mind, a fixed, certain & unalterable Conviction of guilt, beyond the possibility of a reasonable doubt; — the mind must not falter— must not hesitate— must not entertain the slightest doubt & if there be a chance of innocence— if there be a possibility of doubt, however slight, the jury is bound upon their oaths— not to weigh that doubt— but to cast it into the scale of the defense & . This, is the law in all criminal cases, where the legal presumption is innocence & that presumption must be fully, amply & conclusivly rebutted by evidence of guilt so certain & positive that no reasonable man can entertain a single doubt.
( here read from Mc. Nally Mc.Nally, Starkin & Roscoe on presumptive evidence.) [p. 17]