Olivia Jenkins

[Susan Higginbotham]

(07-28-2015 09:31 PM)Pamela Wrote:  Mary gave that information when questioned prior to her trial. Why wouldn't her defense call him as a witness in 1865? Why wouldn't the defense have the servant and her niece testify about him?

Mary didn't name Scott; she said she didn't know Olivia's caller. Perhaps she didn't know his name. Olivia herself said that she had been questioned only minimally by the government, so perhaps she didn't realize she had anything material to contribute to her aunt's defense--she was, after all, a 19-year-old girl from the country, not a trial lawyer. Bear in mind also that most of Mary's defense was conducted by inexperienced attorneys who had never handled a relatively simple criminal matter before, much less a death-penalty case, that many of the protections that modern-day defendants enjoy (such as having the right to have the government provide them with evidence that is exculpatory in nature) weren't available, and that the defense had almost no time to prepare for trial. As Mary's attorney Clampitt recalled, "Compelled to produce our own witnesses, frequently we spent almost the entire night in obtaining them from remote points of the adjoining States." Powell's attorney, Doster, wrote, "Had counsel been closeted with the prisoners for weeks, with the charges in their hands and the war power of the Government at their disposal, the odds might have been more even."

And, of course, it's easy for us from the comfortable distance of 150 years, with the complete trial transcripts, not to mention the defendants' statements and the various witness interviews, to say what witnesses the defense attorneys should have called and what questions they should have been asked. Rather more difficult to do for someone on the spot.

Edited: Actually, I just realized the most compelling reason the defense didn't call Olivia, Captain Scott or the little servant girl to testify: there was no testimony about a Booth visit to rebut. Weichmann didn't publicly state until August 11, 1865, that Booth had called at the boardinghouse on Friday evening. All he said at trial was that some unnamed caller came to the boardinghouse after he and Mary returned from their trip to Surrattsville:

Q. Who came to the house between the period of your return and three o’clock on Saturday morning when the detectives came? Anybody?
A. There was some one that rang the bell; but who the person was I do not know.
Q. Was the bell answered?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. By whom?
A. It was answered by Mrs. Surratt.
Q. Was there any one at the door?
A. Yes, sir: I heard steps going into the parlor, and immediately going out, going down the steps.
Q. How long was that after you had got back from Surrattsville?
A. It must have been about ten minutes. I was taking supper at the time.
Q. That was before ten o’clock, was it not?
A. Yes, sir: it was before ten o’clock.