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An Account of the Proceedings on the Trial of Susan B. Anthony, on the Charge of Illegal Voting by Anonymous
page 85 of 270 (31%)
That the two first propositions presented questions for the Court to
decide, and the last for the jury.

When the counsel had proceeded thus far, the Court suggested that the
counsel had better discuss in the first place the questions of law;
which the counsel proceeded to do, and having discussed the two legal
questions at length, asked leave then to say a few words to the jury on
the question of fact. The Court then said to the counsel that he thought
that had better be left until the views of the Court upon the legal
questions should be made known.

The District Attorney thereupon addressed the Court at length upon the
legal questions, and at the close of his argument the Court delivered an
opinion adverse to the positions of the defendant's counsel upon both of
the legal questions presented, holding that the defendant was not
entitled to vote; and that if she voted in good faith in the belief in
fact that she had a right to vote, it would constitute no defense--the
grounds of the decision on the last point being that she was bound to
know that by law she was not a legal voter, and that even if she voted
in good faith in the contrary belief, it constituted no defense to the
crime with which she was charged. The decision of the Court upon these
questions was read from a written document.

At the close of the reading, the Court said that the decision of these
questions disposed of the case and left no question of fact for the
jury, and that he should therefore direct the jury to find a verdict of
guilty, and proceeded to say to the jury that the decision of the Court
had disposed of all there was in the case, and that he directed them to
find a verdict of guilty, and he instructed the clerk to enter a verdict
of guilty.
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