Mary Surratt and John Lloyd

[BettyO]

(07-16-2012 06:27 AM)RJNorton Wrote:  I have a hypothetical to ask the members. Let's imagine the following scenario: as Booth and Herold ride off, John Lloyd has a massive heart attack and dies in the wee hours of April 15, 1865.

He never gives any statements, testimony at the trial...nada.

Assume ALL other testimony is the same as what really took place.

Only no John Lloyd.

Given this scenario, what would the Military Commission have decided regarding Mary Surratt's fate?

A. She still would have been hanged.
B. She would have been given life.
C. She would have been given a much lighter sentence - maybe along the lines of Spangler's.
D. She would have been found not guilty and freed.

I think that even without Lloyd in the picture, that Mary would have still been found guilty. Johnson had stated that her house was "the nest where the egg was hatched." The Boys still met at her house. Weichmann was still going to do his darnest to keep his neck out of a hemp cravat by spilling tidbits regarding his landlady. Mary may not have hanged, but she would more or less have been given a stiff prison sentence - if only because she aided and abetted. Look at Herold. He killed no one - didn't even attempt to kill - as did Atzerodt. These two met their fate on the gallows - simply by being a party in the complicity. I think the same would have still resulted for Mary. Irregardless of Powell's pleas that she was innocent, the Commission was looking for "examples". Mary fit that scenario. I think that by finding fault with a "female" - they thought that they were ensuring that even women, if involved in treason, would garner punishment.