Herold and Surratt

[RJNorton]

John (SSLATER), I cannot answer your question, but I do have one that is somewhat related. Did the prosecution knowingly use testimony they knew to be wrong? I am referring to Susan Jackson's testimony. According to Weichmann Susan Jackson confused April 4 with April 14. Her testimony regarding Surratt being at the boardinghouse on the night of April 14 is not credible. Did the prosecution know she was confused, yet still allow her to give this testimony?

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Q. Do you remember the Good Friday following that day, or any circumstances about that Good Friday in April?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Do you know whether Mrs. Surratt went away that day?' A. Yes. She went down in the country on Good Friday, between 11 and 12 o'clock.
Q. In what did she go?
A. She went in a buggy.
Q. Did you see the man who went with her?
A. Mr. Weichmann.
Q. Did you see him?
A. Yes, sir. He boarded there at the same time.
Q. You would know him now, if you were to see him?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Did you see Mr. Weichmann when he came back with Mrs. Surratt?
A. Yes, sir; I saw him when he came back with Mrs. Surratt.
Q. About what time in the evening did Mrs. Surratt return?
A. As near as I can recollect, it was between 8 and 9 o'clock.
Q. After that, on that evening, will you tell us whether you saw the prisoner
here?
Witness. That one sitting over there? (pointing to the prisoner.)
Mr. Pierrepont. Yes.
A. Yes, sir; I have seen him in the dining-room.
Q. Who was with him?
A. His mother was with him.
Q. What did his mother say to you?
A. I do not know.
Q. Had you ever seen him before?
A. No, sir; I had never seen him before.
Q. How long had you lived in the house?
A. I had been there three weeks.
Q. What did his mother say?
A. She told me that was her son.
Q. What else did she say to him, or about him?
A. She did not say anything else. When I was gathering up some clothes to put in the wash, I asked if they were for Mr. Weichmann, and she said no, they were for her son.
Q. Did she say anything about who he looked like?
A. She asked me did he not look like his sister Annie.
Q. What did you say to that?
A. I said I did not know; I did not take good notice of him to see who he favored.
Q. Who was it that asked you if he did not look like his sister Annie?
A. Mrs. Surratt.
Q. Did you bring anything into the room you have spoken of where she was sitting with her son?
A. I had just brought a pot of tea into the room.
Q. Who was in the room when you brought in the pot of tea?
A. Not any one, except her son.
Q. Do you see any one now who she told you then was her son?
A. Yes, sir; I am looking at him now.
Q. State whether that is the one.
(The prisoner made to stand up.)
Q. After you took in the pot of tea, what did you do?
A. Just went out again.
Q. Did you return again?
A. No, sir; I did not return in the room any more.
Q. Will you tell us, as near as you can, about what time in the evening you
took in the pot of tea?
A. As near as I can come at it, she came home between 8 and 9 o'clock.
Well, when she came home and came to the dining-room, I carried in supper for
Mr. Weichmann, the man who boarded there. After he went out she called me and asked me for a second plate, cup, and saucer. I carried them to her.
Q. And then you found this man there?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Did you know his sister Annie?
A. Yes, sir; she lived there.
Q. She was in the house?
A. Yes, sir.