But the druggist was convicted.

Yet it is not enough to prepare for the defence you believe
the accused is going to interpose. A conscientious
preparation means getting ready for any defence he may
endeavor to put in. Just as the prudent general has an eye
to every possible turn of the battle and has, if he can,
re-enforcements on the march, so the prosecutor must be ready
for anything, and readiest of all for the unexpected. He must
not rest upon the belief that the other side will concede any
fact, however clear it may seem. Some cases are lost simply
because it never occurs to the district attorney that the
accused will deny something which the State has twenty
witnesses to prove. The twenty witnesses are, therefore, not
summoned on the day of trial, the defendant does deny it, and
as it is a case of word against word the accused gets the
benefit of the doubt and, perhaps, is acquitted.

No case is properly prepared unless there is in the court-room
every witness who knows anything about any aspect of the case.
No one can foretell when the unimportant will become the
vital. Most cases turn on an unconsidered point. A
prosecutor once lost what seemed to him the clearest sort of a
case. When it was all over, and the defendant had passed out
of the courtroom rejoicing, he turned to the foreman and asked
the reason for the verdict.

"Did you hear your chief witness say he was a carpenter?"
inquired the foreman.