Lewis Powell: The conspirator who was "different."

[L Verge]

Roger,

I am very close to hopping over the fence to your side. Call me really silly, but I just can't wrap myself around Mrs. Surratt being a VERY devout Catholic convert but condoning murder. If Weichmann's statement that she asked him to pray for her intentions is true, however, that would make all the difference. Does one pray for absolution before the deed is done?

As far as her being found guilty by the military court, I feel that: 1) The government had little choice at that time to try the conspirators in anything but a military court; 2) Under the vicarious liability angle of conspiracy law, her even knowing about the original plot would tie her to the assassination; and 3) The fact that she continued to assist Booth (knowingly or unknowingly) up to within hours of the assassination caused her to get the death penalty. In case I'm confusing you, even though I don't think the government adequately proved their case against Mrs. Surratt, I still understand their actions. Besides assessing her guilt or innocence, we need to establish whether the conspiracy was one plot that changed to another plot or whether conspiracy entails one single plot from start to finish. I vote for the one plot theory via vicarious liability - and so did the military court.

P.S. You are absolutely correct about Kate's book being the best on the subject of Mrs. Surratt.