Where was John Surratt on April 14, 1865 ?

[John Fazio]

(01-18-2018 04:12 PM)JMadonna Wrote:  

(01-18-2018 10:57 AM)RJNorton Wrote:  

(01-18-2018 10:51 AM)JMadonna Wrote:  There was no direct evidence and doubt was not only reasonable but overwhelming.

John Lloyd testified Mary "told me to have those shooting-irons ready that night, there would be some parties who would call for them."

Is that not direct evidence? (I am not a lawyer - I am being sincere when I ask)

No, that would be called hearsay.

Jerry:

Hearsay is a statement made by a declarant that is offered as proof of the subject of the statement. It is inadmissible unless it falls within one of the many exceptions to the rule. Lloyd's statement does not prove that in fact "parties" will call for the shooting irons. It is therefore not hearsay. In any case, it is not plausible that both Lloyd and Weichmann would both sell their souls to the devil and testify falsely against Mrs. Surratt in a capital case. You may be confident that Mrs. Surratt was complicit in the assassination of Lincoln, as was Kate Larson, one of her biographers, who concluded her book by saying that Mrs. Surratt "must forever be remembered as the assassin's accomplice".

John