Posted: Mon Jan 19, 2009 2:24 am
At the trial, Seaver describes the dresses he did not look at:
Q. Now, Mr. Seaver, on the Saturday you made some search with reference to dresses, did you?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Or examination of dresses, I ought to put it?
A. Yes, sir; in one clothes press.
Q. You were with Mr. Desmond at that time, or with the party?
Page 745
A. I was with Capt. Desmond up in the garret in the first place, part of the time; in fact, most of the time that we were up there.
Q. Where were the dresses that you examined, for that is all I care to call attention to?
A. They were in the large closet over the front hall.
Q. Won't you describe the character of your examination of those dresses on the Saturday?
A. I first went into the closet and the closet blinds were shut, that is, the outside blinds. I opened the blinds---there were clothes around the window---hoisted the window and took the cloth down and opened the blinds, and then I went to the hooks. Capt. Fleet was there with me. He had gone in two or three minutes before me.
Q. (By Mr. Robinson.) A little louder, please?
A. Capt. Fleet was there with me, and I commenced on the hooks and took each dress, with the exception of two or three in the corner, and passed them to Capt. Fleet, he being near the window, and he examined them as well as myself, he more thoroughly than myself, and I took each garment then and hung it back as I found them; all with the exception of two or three which were heavy or silk dresses, in the corner. I didn't pass those down. I just looked at them and let them remain as they were.
Q. (By Mr. Moody.) Those were silk dresses?
A. Those were silk dresses, I am very sure, heavy dresses, and they hung there, and I didn't disturb them at all.
Page 746
Q. Did you discover anything upon any of those dresses?
A. I did not.
Q. Did you see a light blue dress, diamond spots upon it, and paint around the bottom of the dress and on its front?
A. I did not.
Q. Did you make a sufficiently careful examination to have discovered such a dress, so marked with paint, if it had been there?
A. I did.
MR. ROBINSON. Wait a moment. That should be stricken out. I don't think that is a proper question. The answer came before we could object. I object to it and ask that that question be excluded, and the answer with it.
MR. KNOWLTON. We will not take any advantage of the lateness of the objection.
MR. MOODY. I don't suppose you object to the form of it.
MR. ROBINSON. No, to the substance of it.
MASON, C. J. The Court are of the opinion that it is for the witness to say what he did and for the jury to draw the inference.
MR. ROBINSON. The question and answer may be excluded then, I suppose?
MASON, C. J . The answer may be stricken out.
MR. ROBINSON. Very well; that is all that is necessary.
Q. Did you search or examine any other dresses in any part of the house except in the front clothes closet?
A. No, sir.
--I have in my mind the better sort of dresses that the ladies might wear to a function. For some reason I think of *party* dresses, and possibly belonging to Abbie, Emma and Lizzie- and the clothes press as a good place to store them together. They might be put away there and rarely used.
Q. Now, Mr. Seaver, on the Saturday you made some search with reference to dresses, did you?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Or examination of dresses, I ought to put it?
A. Yes, sir; in one clothes press.
Q. You were with Mr. Desmond at that time, or with the party?
Page 745
A. I was with Capt. Desmond up in the garret in the first place, part of the time; in fact, most of the time that we were up there.
Q. Where were the dresses that you examined, for that is all I care to call attention to?
A. They were in the large closet over the front hall.
Q. Won't you describe the character of your examination of those dresses on the Saturday?
A. I first went into the closet and the closet blinds were shut, that is, the outside blinds. I opened the blinds---there were clothes around the window---hoisted the window and took the cloth down and opened the blinds, and then I went to the hooks. Capt. Fleet was there with me. He had gone in two or three minutes before me.
Q. (By Mr. Robinson.) A little louder, please?
A. Capt. Fleet was there with me, and I commenced on the hooks and took each dress, with the exception of two or three in the corner, and passed them to Capt. Fleet, he being near the window, and he examined them as well as myself, he more thoroughly than myself, and I took each garment then and hung it back as I found them; all with the exception of two or three which were heavy or silk dresses, in the corner. I didn't pass those down. I just looked at them and let them remain as they were.
Q. (By Mr. Moody.) Those were silk dresses?
A. Those were silk dresses, I am very sure, heavy dresses, and they hung there, and I didn't disturb them at all.
Page 746
Q. Did you discover anything upon any of those dresses?
A. I did not.
Q. Did you see a light blue dress, diamond spots upon it, and paint around the bottom of the dress and on its front?
A. I did not.
Q. Did you make a sufficiently careful examination to have discovered such a dress, so marked with paint, if it had been there?
A. I did.
MR. ROBINSON. Wait a moment. That should be stricken out. I don't think that is a proper question. The answer came before we could object. I object to it and ask that that question be excluded, and the answer with it.
MR. KNOWLTON. We will not take any advantage of the lateness of the objection.
MR. MOODY. I don't suppose you object to the form of it.
MR. ROBINSON. No, to the substance of it.
MASON, C. J. The Court are of the opinion that it is for the witness to say what he did and for the jury to draw the inference.
MR. ROBINSON. The question and answer may be excluded then, I suppose?
MASON, C. J . The answer may be stricken out.
MR. ROBINSON. Very well; that is all that is necessary.
Q. Did you search or examine any other dresses in any part of the house except in the front clothes closet?
A. No, sir.
--I have in my mind the better sort of dresses that the ladies might wear to a function. For some reason I think of *party* dresses, and possibly belonging to Abbie, Emma and Lizzie- and the clothes press as a good place to store them together. They might be put away there and rarely used.
