775 Page – American State Trials 1918 Volume X Leo Frank Document

Here is the translated text as follows:

PEDRO GIBERT AND OTHERS

Mr. Hilliard addressed the court, highlighting several key points. He noted the fact that Perez had since stated that the cook was not present at all, which cast doubt on the reliability of Perez's testimony. Mr. Hilliard referred to Perez's statements to Mr. Badlam in jail, where Perez declared, "that all he had previously said was a lie." He pointed out the many inconsistencies in Perez's evidence and that of other witnesses. Finally, he mentioned the circumstance where all the crew identified Boyga as having been on board the Mexican, while Perez stated that Boyga did not go on board at all.

Mr. Hilliard also commented on the conduct of Ridgely when the prisoners were brought into court to be arraigned. He then took an entirely different approach to the defense. Supposing, he said, what he himself did not believe to be the case, that the crew of the Panda robbed the Mexican, it remained to determine the relative degrees of guilt of the prisoners. He argued that the Panda had been fitted out for a slaving voyage, for which many of the crew had undoubtedly signed up. If she had robbed the Mexican, only those who had been directly involved in the robbery should be punished for it.

He presented a hypothetical situation: if the captain, a few days into the voyage to Africa, yielded to temptation and committed the act of piracy charged against him, would it be just to punish more than himself and the men who directly aided and assisted him in the act? It was necessary for the government to prove the intention on the part of the others when they sailed from Havana. Would they punish, for example, the cook in the galley of the schooner, the cabin boy setting the table in the cabin, or Perez, who had been sent aloft to look out and could not come down again without breaking the vessel's rules?

"If, gentlemen," he said, "you agree with me that the crew of the Panda (assuming she robbed the Mexican) were merely servants of the captain, you cannot convict them. But if you do not agree with me, then all that remains for me to do is to address a few words to you in the way of mercy. It does not seem to me that the good of society requires the death of all these men, the sacrifice of such a hecatomb of human lives."

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