WEBVTT - The Real Lincoln Lawyer 0:00:01.040 --> 0:00:04.800 You are listening to History on Trial, a production of 0:00:04.880 --> 0:00:13.440 iHeart Podcasts. Listener discretion advised. Greek Crafton's fate was sealed 0:00:13.720 --> 0:00:18.079 on the fourth of July. The citizens of Pleasant Plains, Illinois, 0:00:18.239 --> 0:00:22.160 had gathered in nearby Clary's Grove to celebrate Independence Day 0:00:22.200 --> 0:00:24.919 with a picnic, and it was on the journey to 0:00:25.000 --> 0:00:28.600 this picnic that Greek Crafton set into motion the chain 0:00:28.680 --> 0:00:33.040 of events that would lead two weeks later to his death. 0:00:34.120 --> 0:00:37.800 Frederick Henry saw it all happen. He and his friend 0:00:38.000 --> 0:00:41.599 Quinn Harrison were traveling by buggy to the picnic when 0:00:41.600 --> 0:00:44.600 the pair ran into Greek Crafton and his brother John. 0:00:45.520 --> 0:00:48.280 Frederick and Quinn stopped to chat to the Crafton boys, 0:00:48.840 --> 0:00:52.479 and that's when the trouble began. Greek and Quinn were 0:00:52.600 --> 0:00:56.560 roughly the same age, twenty three and twenty two, respectively, 0:00:57.120 --> 0:00:59.920 and they had grown up knowing each other. Pleasant Plain 0:01:00.240 --> 0:01:04.000 was a small town, only seven hundred people. Greek's brother 0:01:04.200 --> 0:01:08.480 William was even married to Quinn's sister Eliza. It was 0:01:08.640 --> 0:01:12.440 rumor had it not a happy marriage, and that bad 0:01:12.480 --> 0:01:14.720 marriage might have been the root of the bad blood 0:01:14.760 --> 0:01:18.080 between Greek and Quinn, which was now about to spill 0:01:18.120 --> 0:01:23.080 out into the open. After a few minutes of casual conversation, 0:01:23.319 --> 0:01:26.440 Greek took aim at Quinn, asking him whether he'd been 0:01:26.480 --> 0:01:30.640 speaking badly about the crafton family. Quinn did not deny it. 0:01:31.280 --> 0:01:34.399 If they had a problem, Greek responded, they should settle 0:01:34.440 --> 0:01:39.800 it sometime. Quinn said he wasn't interested in settling. Greek 0:01:39.840 --> 0:01:42.360 pulled his coat off and said, let's settle it now. 0:01:43.360 --> 0:01:45.880 Quinn tried to resist, saying he didn't want to fight, 0:01:46.040 --> 0:01:50.400 but Greek wouldn't be put off. The men started exchanging insults. 0:01:51.160 --> 0:01:54.080 Greek told Quinn he would whip him, and Quinn told 0:01:54.120 --> 0:01:57.280 Greek that he'd shoot him if he tried. Then, Greek 0:01:57.320 --> 0:02:00.120 made several attempts to jump into the now moving buggy. 0:02:00.680 --> 0:02:03.040 When he was pushed off, he started throwing clods of 0:02:03.080 --> 0:02:07.920 dirt at Quinn, but hit Quinn's friend Frederick instead. Frederick 0:02:08.080 --> 0:02:11.400 quickly drove off. Later that day, at the fourth of 0:02:11.440 --> 0:02:15.320 July picnic, Greek and Quinn had another run in. Greek 0:02:15.360 --> 0:02:19.200 approached Quinn and offered to make peace. Quinn responded that 0:02:19.280 --> 0:02:24.000 he had nothing to make peace for. Greek disagreed. Nothing 0:02:24.400 --> 0:02:29.280 was resolved. Tensions continued to escalate Over the next two weeks, 0:02:29.760 --> 0:02:34.000 Greek was heard throughout Pleasant Plains threatening Quinn. Quinn, who 0:02:34.120 --> 0:02:37.440 was smaller and weaker than Greek, started carrying a knife, 0:02:37.760 --> 0:02:42.239 afraid of being attacked by the larger man. On July sixteenth, 0:02:42.320 --> 0:02:45.600 Quinn Harrison was in Short and Heart's drug store, as 0:02:45.680 --> 0:02:49.240 was Greek Crafton's older brother John, when Greek came in 0:02:49.520 --> 0:02:52.920 and a fight broke out. Quinn did not want to fight. 0:02:53.120 --> 0:02:56.040 He held firm to the shop's counter, trying to resist, 0:02:56.560 --> 0:02:59.040 but Greek pulled at him till he came loose and 0:02:59.160 --> 0:03:02.239 dragged him to the back of the shop. The shopkeeper, 0:03:02.280 --> 0:03:04.760 Benjamin Short, tried to break the men up, but could not. 0:03:05.680 --> 0:03:08.360 At some point, Quinn managed to draw his knife and 0:03:08.400 --> 0:03:12.440 splashed out wildly at his attacker. When the dust settled 0:03:12.480 --> 0:03:16.240 and the men were finally separated, they saw with horror 0:03:16.480 --> 0:03:21.000 that Quinn had managed to wound Greek. Wound was maybe 0:03:21.120 --> 0:03:24.200 too light of a word. Greek had a deep cut 0:03:24.280 --> 0:03:27.800 running diagonally across his stomach from his rib cage to 0:03:27.840 --> 0:03:33.680 his groin. His intestines hung out. Greek Crafton survived for 0:03:33.720 --> 0:03:38.280 three more days, but eventually succumbed to his injuries. Pleasant 0:03:38.280 --> 0:03:41.840 Plains was divided over Quinn's guilt. Was this self defense 0:03:42.160 --> 0:03:45.640 or was it murder? Either way, the case was sure 0:03:45.680 --> 0:03:50.200 to go to trial. Quinn's father, Peyton, hired one of 0:03:50.240 --> 0:03:54.400 Illinois's most esteemed lawyers, a former judge named Stephen Logan, 0:03:54.560 --> 0:03:57.960 to defend his son. Logan, in turn, reached out to 0:03:58.000 --> 0:04:00.760 a former partner of his and asked for the man's 0:04:00.760 --> 0:04:05.440 assistance in the defense. This second lawyer would play a 0:04:05.480 --> 0:04:09.839 pivotal role, both in the trial itself and in guaranteeing 0:04:09.880 --> 0:04:12.960 that even one hundred and sixty five years later, we 0:04:13.120 --> 0:04:16.280 still know the story of Quinn, Harrison, and Greek crafton. 0:04:16.920 --> 0:04:19.400 It's not that it isn't an interesting story on its 0:04:19.440 --> 0:04:23.400 own merits. The trial represents the changing legal understanding of 0:04:23.440 --> 0:04:26.680 self defense and gives us excellent depictions of life in 0:04:26.720 --> 0:04:30.240 the informal courtrooms of rural America in the mid nineteenth century. 0:04:30.920 --> 0:04:33.120 But it is not a case that changed the course 0:04:33.160 --> 0:04:37.320 of history. Why then, do we know so much about it? 0:04:37.320 --> 0:04:40.400 It's all because of that second lawyer. He was a 0:04:40.440 --> 0:04:43.560 seasoned attorney with more than two dozen murder trials under 0:04:43.560 --> 0:04:46.559 his belt, and he was known for his folksy manner 0:04:46.640 --> 0:04:51.680 and powerful closing arguments. Quinn Harrison's murder trial was to 0:04:51.720 --> 0:04:56.159 be his very last, because fourteen months later, this lawyer 0:04:56.240 --> 0:05:00.240 would be elected a president of the United States. His 0:05:00.360 --> 0:05:05.560 name was Abraham Lincoln. In Quinn Harrison's trial, we get 0:05:05.560 --> 0:05:08.240 to see Abraham Lincoln as a man on the precipice. 0:05:08.839 --> 0:05:11.880 He had not yet decided to pursue the nomination for president, 0:05:12.279 --> 0:05:14.960 but his name was well known nationally thanks to his 0:05:15.040 --> 0:05:18.839 debates with Senator Stephen Douglas the year before. Taking on 0:05:18.880 --> 0:05:23.480 a murder case, one with complicated facts and no guaranteed outcome, 0:05:24.160 --> 0:05:28.800 was a risk. Lincoln would need to do his absolute best. 0:05:29.480 --> 0:05:34.480 Could he deliver Welcome to History on trial, I'm your host, 0:05:34.640 --> 0:05:42.960 Mira Hayward this week Illinois v. Quinn Harrison. There were 0:05:43.040 --> 0:05:46.880 many reasons for Abraham Lincoln to decline Stephen Logan's request 0:05:47.040 --> 0:05:50.760 that he joined Quinn Harrison's defense team. For one thing, 0:05:50.880 --> 0:05:54.520 Lincoln's schedule was packed. He had a full caseload of 0:05:54.600 --> 0:05:57.920 legal work. Like most lawyers at the time, Lincoln's practice 0:05:57.960 --> 0:06:01.960 was not specialized. He handled both criminal and civil cases. 0:06:02.440 --> 0:06:04.839 He might be drawing up a will one day, defending 0:06:04.880 --> 0:06:08.760 an accused murderer. The next cases weren't the only thing 0:06:08.800 --> 0:06:11.640 on Lincoln's calendar in the summer of eighteen fifty nine. 0:06:12.240 --> 0:06:16.720 He had quite a few political responsibilities too. Politics had 0:06:16.720 --> 0:06:20.200 been Lincoln's first calling even before the law He had 0:06:20.240 --> 0:06:23.119 served in the Illinois House of Representatives from eighteen thirty 0:06:23.120 --> 0:06:27.159 four to eighteen forty two, but being a politician didn't 0:06:27.160 --> 0:06:30.440 pay the bills. Before being elected, Lincoln had worked as 0:06:30.480 --> 0:06:33.599 a shopkeeper and a surveyor, but he was in search 0:06:33.600 --> 0:06:37.880 of a more permanent career. Another state representative suggested that 0:06:37.920 --> 0:06:41.880 he study law. Lincoln had previously considered becoming a lawyer, 0:06:42.040 --> 0:06:44.839 but hadn't pursued the idea, afraid that his lack of 0:06:44.880 --> 0:06:49.080 formal education would hold him back. But with his colleague's encouragement, 0:06:49.160 --> 0:06:53.840 Lincoln decided to try. He began reading law books voraciously 0:06:53.920 --> 0:06:58.760 between legislative sessions. On March twenty fourth, eighteen thirty six, 0:06:58.880 --> 0:07:03.120 the Sangoman County Court certified Lincoln as being a quote 0:07:03.360 --> 0:07:07.080 person of good moral character, which was the first requirement 0:07:07.120 --> 0:07:10.840 to practicing law in Illinois. Six months later, the Illinois 0:07:10.840 --> 0:07:15.000 Supreme Court issued him a law license. For the next decade, 0:07:15.040 --> 0:07:18.880 Lincoln focused on his law practice, honing his skills. He 0:07:19.000 --> 0:07:22.120 briefly returned to office, winning election to Congress in eighteen 0:07:22.160 --> 0:07:26.280 forty six, but only served one term. After that, he'd 0:07:26.280 --> 0:07:29.679 gone back to his law practice with renewed vigor, traveling 0:07:29.720 --> 0:07:33.280 across Illinois on the Eighth Judicial Circuit. But even as 0:07:33.280 --> 0:07:35.920 he won a claim as a lawyer, Lincoln's interest in 0:07:36.000 --> 0:07:40.000 politics never left him. In eighteen fifty six, he helped 0:07:40.000 --> 0:07:43.360 found the Illinois Republican Party, and two years later became 0:07:43.400 --> 0:07:46.560 the Republican's candidate for the Senate. His opponent in the 0:07:46.600 --> 0:07:50.120 eighteen fifty eight Senate race was the incumbent Stephen Douglas, 0:07:50.400 --> 0:07:53.360 a Democrat known as the Little Giant thanks to his 0:07:53.440 --> 0:07:58.080 short stature and towering presence. In the course of the election, 0:07:58.320 --> 0:08:02.040 Lincoln and Douglas held a series of seven debates. The 0:08:02.080 --> 0:08:04.760 two men mainly fought over the most pressing issue of 0:08:04.800 --> 0:08:09.080 the day, slavery. Though Lincoln ultimately lost the Senate race, 0:08:09.400 --> 0:08:13.200 his forceful, eloquent opposition to the expansion of slavery won 0:08:13.280 --> 0:08:17.920 him national recognition. Soon enough, people were whispering that Lincoln 0:08:18.000 --> 0:08:23.080 might be considered for the Republican presidential nomination in eighteen sixty. Hence, 0:08:23.120 --> 0:08:26.880 his grueling schedule in eighteen fifty nine. Throughout the year, 0:08:27.000 --> 0:08:30.720 Lincoln was busy making speeches and campaigning for Republican candidates 0:08:30.720 --> 0:08:35.560 across the Midwest. Lincoln's political position was another reason to 0:08:35.600 --> 0:08:38.760 turn down Logan's request. How would it look to political 0:08:38.840 --> 0:08:42.480 kingmakers if their potential candidate lost a major murder case 0:08:42.520 --> 0:08:45.280 on the eve of an election year. But there were 0:08:45.320 --> 0:08:49.360 also compelling reasons for Lincoln to say yes to Logan. First, 0:08:49.400 --> 0:08:52.400 and foremost, there was his history with Logan, which ran 0:08:52.440 --> 0:08:57.000 back decades. Stephen Trigg Logan was nine years older than Lincoln. 0:08:57.840 --> 0:09:01.360 Logan had come to Springfield, Illinois, from Kentucky in eighteen 0:09:01.400 --> 0:09:05.160 thirty two, and so quickly established a reputation for legal 0:09:05.240 --> 0:09:08.880 brilliance that he was made a judge only three years later. 0:09:09.559 --> 0:09:12.760 While a judge with the Sangamun County Circuit Court, Logan 0:09:12.800 --> 0:09:15.079 had helped set Lincoln on the path to being a 0:09:15.160 --> 0:09:19.200 lawyer by signing his eighteen thirty six Certification of moral character. 0:09:20.520 --> 0:09:23.640 In eighteen forty one, after Logan returned to private practice, 0:09:23.760 --> 0:09:27.199 he invited Lincoln to become his partner. The pair proved 0:09:27.240 --> 0:09:30.000 to be a good match. They had some things in common, 0:09:30.320 --> 0:09:34.400 political views for one, and a disdain for convention for another, 0:09:34.920 --> 0:09:37.640 which could be seen in their clothes. Both Logan and 0:09:37.840 --> 0:09:42.559 Lincoln were notoriously shabby dressers, but it was their differences 0:09:42.600 --> 0:09:45.720 that helped them succeed in the courtroom. Logan was a 0:09:45.760 --> 0:09:49.120 methodical lawyer with the encyclopedic knowledge of the law and 0:09:49.160 --> 0:09:53.360 a penchant for preparation. Lincoln was more often interested in 0:09:53.400 --> 0:09:55.480 the spirit of the law than the letter of it, 0:09:55.679 --> 0:10:00.840 and loved to improvise. Logan helped Lincoln get organized. In 0:10:00.960 --> 0:10:04.440 his words, when Lincoln went in with me, he turned 0:10:04.480 --> 0:10:07.240 in to try to know more and studied to learn 0:10:07.280 --> 0:10:11.280 how to prepare his cases. In return, Lincoln helped be 0:10:11.559 --> 0:10:16.440 somewhat prickly and awkward Logan win over juries. The pair 0:10:16.520 --> 0:10:19.920 had three fruitful years together in practice before Lincoln set 0:10:19.960 --> 0:10:23.000 off on his own. An end to their formal partnership 0:10:23.040 --> 0:10:25.600 did not mean that Lincoln and Logan stopped working together. 0:10:26.200 --> 0:10:28.680 Over the years, they would serve as co councils on 0:10:28.760 --> 0:10:33.400 nearly seven hundred cases and as opposing councils on three 0:10:33.480 --> 0:10:37.200 hundred more so. When Logan asked Lincoln for a favor, 0:10:37.600 --> 0:10:42.640 Lincoln was inclined to say yes. Logan wasn't Lincoln's only 0:10:42.720 --> 0:10:46.960 personal connection to the case. Lincoln knew Peyton Harrison, the 0:10:47.000 --> 0:10:51.120 father of Quinn Harrison well. The two were distantly related. 0:10:51.280 --> 0:10:54.520 They were third cousins, but their bond was more political 0:10:54.559 --> 0:10:59.160 than familial. The wealthy and prominent Harrison had supported Lincoln's 0:10:59.160 --> 0:11:04.080 political aspirations for years. Further, Lincoln had served alongside Quinn 0:11:04.120 --> 0:11:09.800 Harrison's cousin George, in the Blackhawk War. But Lincoln also 0:11:09.880 --> 0:11:14.000 knew the victim, Greek Crafton. He knew him very well. 0:11:14.040 --> 0:11:17.439 In fact, Greek had once served as a law clerk 0:11:17.480 --> 0:11:21.559 in his office, and Lincoln had liked him. That might 0:11:21.600 --> 0:11:24.240 sound like a reason for Lincoln not to take the case, 0:11:24.920 --> 0:11:29.080 but if anything, the opposite was true. Lincoln mourned Greek 0:11:29.120 --> 0:11:32.640 Crafton's death and did not want to see the tragedy compounded, 0:11:33.240 --> 0:11:36.360 which is what would happen. He believed if Quinn Harrison 0:11:36.440 --> 0:11:41.280 was convicted of murder, both the Craftons and the Harrisons 0:11:41.320 --> 0:11:45.240 had suffered too much already. In Lincoln's mind. Even more 0:11:45.280 --> 0:11:48.680 than that, Lincoln didn't think Quinn was guilty of murder. 0:11:49.360 --> 0:11:53.600 He believed that the killing was self defense. After weighing 0:11:53.720 --> 0:11:57.640 up all these factors, Lincoln made a decision. He said 0:11:57.800 --> 0:12:02.360 yes to Stephen Logan. Abraham Lincoln was on the case. 0:12:05.920 --> 0:12:08.920 At first glance, the killing of Greek Crafton might seem 0:12:08.960 --> 0:12:12.120 like a clear case of self defense. Greek threatened to 0:12:12.160 --> 0:12:15.560 attack Quinn Harrison. Quinn started carrying a knife with him 0:12:15.559 --> 0:12:20.360 for protection, and when Greek attacked him on July sixteenth, Quinn, 0:12:20.559 --> 0:12:24.880 afraid for his life, struck back. But proving self defense 0:12:24.920 --> 0:12:28.720 in court would be easier said than done. As Lincoln 0:12:28.760 --> 0:12:32.600 sat in his notoriously messy second floor office on Fifth 0:12:32.600 --> 0:12:36.439 Street in Springfield, he must have considered if Quinn's actions 0:12:36.480 --> 0:12:41.240 conformed with Illinois self defense laws. Self defense laws were 0:12:41.240 --> 0:12:43.920 a matter of much debate in the mid nineteenth century. 0:12:44.880 --> 0:12:49.000 In the eighteenth century, American law had broadly followed English precedent. 0:12:49.600 --> 0:12:53.839 The English approach to self defense, per William Blackstone's influential book, 0:12:53.960 --> 0:12:58.280 Commentaries on the Laws of England, was this quote. A 0:12:58.320 --> 0:13:02.000 man using violence in his own defense should have retreated 0:13:02.040 --> 0:13:05.680 as far as he conveniently or safely can to avoid 0:13:05.720 --> 0:13:09.679 the violence of the assault, before he turns upon his assailant. 0:13:10.320 --> 0:13:14.120 Blackstone's definition of self defense suited the American legal system 0:13:14.200 --> 0:13:17.520 in its earliest days, but as the country developed, the 0:13:17.600 --> 0:13:22.080 definition of self defense began to evolve. In eighteen forty six, 0:13:22.280 --> 0:13:25.520 Francis Wharton wrote the first survey of American criminal law, 0:13:26.360 --> 0:13:30.880 discussing self defense. Wharton wrote quote, a man may repel 0:13:31.040 --> 0:13:35.600 force in defense of his person, habitation, or property against 0:13:35.640 --> 0:13:40.240 one or many who manifestly intend and endeavor, by violence 0:13:40.360 --> 0:13:44.640 or surprise to commit a known felony on either. In 0:13:44.679 --> 0:13:48.040 such a case, he is not obliged to retreat, but 0:13:48.120 --> 0:13:51.920 may pursue his adversary till he finds himself out of danger, 0:13:52.760 --> 0:13:56.240 and if in a conflict between them he happeneth to kill, 0:13:57.000 --> 0:14:01.960 such a killing is justifiable. Wharton's construction removed many of 0:14:02.000 --> 0:14:05.480 the rules for justifiable self defense that Blackstone had used, 0:14:05.840 --> 0:14:08.560 such as the duty to retreat, and allowed for a 0:14:08.640 --> 0:14:13.120 wider application of self defense. By the eighteen forties, when 0:14:13.120 --> 0:14:18.040 Wharton was writing, America was experiencing rapid changes. Most notably, 0:14:18.120 --> 0:14:22.840 the country was expanding. West. Frontier settlements often had little 0:14:22.880 --> 0:14:27.080 contact with formal justice or law enforcement systems, and so 0:14:27.160 --> 0:14:31.000 the government increasingly condoned people taking the law into their 0:14:31.040 --> 0:14:35.720 own hands. What was once public became private. Writes the 0:14:35.760 --> 0:14:39.720 scholar Joshua Stein, as a state monopoly on violence gave 0:14:39.760 --> 0:14:43.440 way to a private army of thousands of white male deputies, 0:14:43.840 --> 0:14:48.560 empowered to defend their realms. Not everyone approved of this 0:14:48.680 --> 0:14:54.320 sanctioned vigilantism. Abraham Lincoln was one opponent, criticizing quote the 0:14:54.440 --> 0:14:58.800 increasing disregard for law which pervades the country, the growing 0:14:58.880 --> 0:15:02.520 disposition to subsidy to the wild and furious passions in 0:15:02.600 --> 0:15:06.680 lieu of the sober judgment of courts. But Lincoln didn't 0:15:06.720 --> 0:15:10.400 think that Quinn's case was one of wild and furious passion. 0:15:11.200 --> 0:15:14.840 He thought that Quinn's actions fit under Illinois eighteen fifty 0:15:14.880 --> 0:15:19.400 six Statute on Self Defense, which declared, quote, the use 0:15:19.440 --> 0:15:22.640 of a deadly weapon in self defense is limited only 0:15:22.680 --> 0:15:25.480 to those events in which the danger is so urgent 0:15:25.560 --> 0:15:28.480 and pressing that, in order to save his own life 0:15:28.920 --> 0:15:32.240 or to prevent his receiving great bodily harm, the killing 0:15:32.280 --> 0:15:37.120 to the other was absolutely necessary. Lincoln understood from his 0:15:37.200 --> 0:15:40.840 conversations with Quinn that the young man had genuinely believed 0:15:40.840 --> 0:15:43.920 his life was imperiled when Greek Crafton attacked him, and 0:15:44.000 --> 0:15:47.960 had only pulled the knife to save his own life. 0:15:48.320 --> 0:15:51.640 But there was a serious obstacle to telling the jury 0:15:51.680 --> 0:15:55.360 that Quinn would not be allowed to testify at his 0:15:55.520 --> 0:16:00.360 own trial. This restriction wasn't specific to Quinn's trial or 0:16:00.400 --> 0:16:04.000 even to Illinois. In Eache in fifty nine, no criminal 0:16:04.000 --> 0:16:06.680 defendant was allowed to testify in their own defense in 0:16:06.680 --> 0:16:10.520 the United States. As with the concept of self defense, 0:16:10.560 --> 0:16:13.760 the American legal system was influenced by the British tradition 0:16:13.880 --> 0:16:17.480 in this matter. For centuries, defendants were considered to be 0:16:17.600 --> 0:16:22.200 inherently incompetent witnesses because their bias was so strong that 0:16:22.280 --> 0:16:25.440 it could lead to them lying on the stand. By 0:16:25.440 --> 0:16:29.040 the nineteenth century, however, lawyers and theorists had begun to 0:16:29.120 --> 0:16:33.400 question this assumption. Does it follow wrote the English jurist 0:16:33.440 --> 0:16:37.360 and philosopher Jeremy Bentham in eighteen twenty seven, that because 0:16:37.400 --> 0:16:39.880 there is a motive of some sort prompting a man 0:16:39.920 --> 0:16:44.720 to lie, that for that reason he will lie. In 0:16:44.760 --> 0:16:48.440 the eighteen forties, both English and American courts began letting 0:16:48.480 --> 0:16:53.280 parties in civil cases testify, but opposition to allowing criminal 0:16:53.320 --> 0:16:57.720 defendants to testify was still strong. Opponents believed that the 0:16:57.800 --> 0:17:03.360 right to testify might actually hurt defendants. Juries, these opponents argued, 0:17:03.440 --> 0:17:07.320 would begin to expect defendants to testify. If a defendant 0:17:07.400 --> 0:17:10.480 did not testify, the jury might automatically assume that it 0:17:10.520 --> 0:17:14.040 was because they were guilty. Thus, all defendants would wish 0:17:14.040 --> 0:17:16.960 to testify, and those that were guilty would have to 0:17:16.960 --> 0:17:20.600 perjure themselves, and the lives of these defendants would cause 0:17:20.680 --> 0:17:24.159 juries to begin disbelieving all defendants in sort of the 0:17:24.200 --> 0:17:28.160 worst vicious cycle of all time. But not everyone agreed 0:17:28.200 --> 0:17:32.119 with these arguments. John Appleton, the Chief Justice of the 0:17:32.160 --> 0:17:35.520 Supreme Court of Maine, argued forcefully for a defendant's right 0:17:35.600 --> 0:17:39.760 to testify. The lawyer and scholar Robert Popper sums up 0:17:39.760 --> 0:17:43.159 Appleton's arguments in his article History and Development of the 0:17:43.200 --> 0:17:48.280 Accused's Right to testify, quote that the defendant's testimony is 0:17:48.440 --> 0:17:51.679 crucial in order to ascertain the whole truth. That the 0:17:51.720 --> 0:17:54.880 defendant is most apt to be familiar with the true facts, 0:17:55.400 --> 0:17:58.600 that he is no more interested than the complainant. That 0:17:58.640 --> 0:18:02.239 since he is presumed in a perjurious motive should not 0:18:02.280 --> 0:18:05.240 be attributed to him, and that the law should not 0:18:05.359 --> 0:18:09.679 aid the guilty and harm the innocent. After years of debate, 0:18:09.840 --> 0:18:13.119 many jurists eventually came around to Appleton's way of thinking. 0:18:13.960 --> 0:18:17.480 Beginning in the mid eighteen sixties, state after state began 0:18:17.600 --> 0:18:21.639 allowing defendants to testify in criminal cases. By nineteen hundred, 0:18:21.720 --> 0:18:24.280 every state had such a law on the books, except 0:18:24.280 --> 0:18:28.399 for Georgia, but back in eighteen fifty nine such reforms 0:18:28.400 --> 0:18:32.199 were still years away. Quinn Harrison would not be allowed 0:18:32.240 --> 0:18:35.399 to take the stand. Lincoln and Logan would need to 0:18:35.440 --> 0:18:38.439 find another way to explain his state of mind to 0:18:38.440 --> 0:18:43.320 the jury. Legal hurdles weren't Lincoln's only concern. He knew 0:18:43.400 --> 0:18:47.520 that he was up against formidable opponents. John Palmer would 0:18:47.560 --> 0:18:51.320 be leading the prosecution. Palmer was a major player in 0:18:51.359 --> 0:18:55.320 the Illinois Republican Party, a skilled lawyer and a longtime 0:18:55.400 --> 0:18:59.000 friend of Lincoln's, who one observer described as having quote 0:18:59.119 --> 0:19:03.800 a convincing voe and a personality of tremendous earnestness and sincerity. 0:19:04.440 --> 0:19:07.680 Palmer would be assisted by Norman Broadwell, a lawyer who 0:19:07.680 --> 0:19:11.200 had begun his legal career by studying law under Lincoln. 0:19:12.040 --> 0:19:15.240 Lawyers Jim White and John mclernan filled out the prosecution. 0:19:15.960 --> 0:19:19.359 It was a sharp, successful group of lawyers who wouldn't 0:19:19.400 --> 0:19:22.960 make the trial easy for the defense. There was also 0:19:23.040 --> 0:19:26.439 the matter of the judge. Circuit Court judge Edward Y 0:19:26.560 --> 0:19:30.960 Rice was known as a fair judge, but a stern one. 0:19:31.080 --> 0:19:34.000 Lincoln liked to keep things casual in the courtroom. He 0:19:34.080 --> 0:19:37.199 was famous for his folksy manner, his clever jokes, and 0:19:37.280 --> 0:19:41.800 his disheveled wardrobe. Rice preferred a no nonsense approach and 0:19:42.000 --> 0:19:45.480 kept strict order in his courtroom. Lincoln would have to 0:19:45.520 --> 0:19:48.160 try to stay on the judge's good side while still 0:19:48.160 --> 0:19:52.080 playing to his own strengths, and Lincoln was certainly a 0:19:52.119 --> 0:19:55.960 strong lawyer. Dan Abrams and David Fisher, in their book 0:19:56.040 --> 0:20:00.439 Lincoln's Last Trial write that quote his stirring use of 0:20:00.520 --> 0:20:04.000 common language allowed him to forge a remarkable connection with 0:20:04.080 --> 0:20:07.879 his audience. Many of the qualities that made Lincoln a 0:20:08.040 --> 0:20:13.160 legendary president. His remarkable memory, his talent for distilling issues 0:20:13.200 --> 0:20:16.720 to their cores, and most of all, his powerful way 0:20:16.800 --> 0:20:20.399 with words were developed during his years in the courtroom. 0:20:21.080 --> 0:20:24.480 But would these skills be enough to save Quinn Harrison. 0:20:27.440 --> 0:20:31.159 The Sangamon County Courthouse, a two story brick building with 0:20:31.200 --> 0:20:34.160 the facade of a Greek temple, sat on the east 0:20:34.280 --> 0:20:38.200 side of the town's main square. The first floora held 0:20:38.200 --> 0:20:41.880 county offices. The second held the courtroom, a high ceiling 0:20:42.040 --> 0:20:46.119 spacious room with large windows. In the courthouse's attic in 0:20:46.160 --> 0:20:50.760 a converted storeroom, Quinn Harrison sat awaiting his trial after 0:20:50.840 --> 0:20:54.600 Greek's death. Quinn had gone into hiding afraid of retribution 0:20:54.720 --> 0:20:58.359 from the Craftons. When Stephen Logan joined the defense, he 0:20:58.520 --> 0:21:03.439 organized Quinn's surrender. The Harrison family hired private guards to 0:21:03.480 --> 0:21:06.919 stand watch outside his makeshift cell. This was an an 0:21:07.000 --> 0:21:11.280 unnecessary measure. All of Sangmun County was paying close attention 0:21:11.359 --> 0:21:15.639 to the case, and many people had strong opinions both 0:21:15.680 --> 0:21:20.919 for and against Quinn Harrison. Because of these strong opinions, 0:21:21.040 --> 0:21:25.200 selecting a jury was not an easy process. On Wednesday, 0:21:25.280 --> 0:21:29.720 August thirty, first potential jurors gathered in the courtroom. Illinois 0:21:29.800 --> 0:21:33.240 law at the time required that jurors be quote white, 0:21:33.240 --> 0:21:36.840 male property owning American citizens between the ages of twenty 0:21:36.880 --> 0:21:41.200 one and sixty. Lincoln was known for taking jury selection 0:21:41.320 --> 0:21:44.359 seriously because so much of his success came from the 0:21:44.400 --> 0:21:47.280 connection he established with each juror throughout the course of 0:21:47.320 --> 0:21:52.000 the trial. Finding the right jurors was crucial. After trying 0:21:52.160 --> 0:21:55.720 thousands of cases, Lincoln had developed a number of theories 0:21:55.760 --> 0:21:59.320 on what made for a good juror, some more rational, 0:21:59.560 --> 0:22:01.879 like preferring younger men who might be less set in 0:22:01.920 --> 0:22:07.240 their ways, and some more absurd. Lincoln did not like blonde, 0:22:07.400 --> 0:22:10.840 blue eyed jurors because he thought they were indecisive, and 0:22:10.920 --> 0:22:13.960 deferred to the prosecution. By the end of the day, 0:22:14.119 --> 0:22:17.159 after questioning more than one hundred men, the defense and 0:22:17.240 --> 0:22:21.119 prosecution managed to find their jury. Judge Rice dismissed the 0:22:21.160 --> 0:22:23.760 jurors for the night with a warning not to discuss 0:22:23.800 --> 0:22:28.480 the case with anyone. The next morning, Thursday, September one, 0:22:28.960 --> 0:22:32.320 Quinn Harrison was led down from his attic cell. At 0:22:32.400 --> 0:22:36.240 nine am the trial began. Neither side had much to 0:22:36.240 --> 0:22:40.600 say for opening arguments. Per the court transcript quote, mister 0:22:40.680 --> 0:22:43.560 Brodwell proceeded briefly to open the case of the prosecution, 0:22:43.840 --> 0:22:47.879 merely reading the indictment and the statute applicable, and mister 0:22:47.920 --> 0:22:51.040 Logan very briefly replied for the defense, stating their position. 0:22:52.000 --> 0:22:54.879 With these riveting performances out of the way, it was 0:22:54.960 --> 0:22:58.960 time to dive into testimony. The central issue of the 0:22:59.000 --> 0:23:03.520 trial was self defense. Were Quinn Harrison's actions a reasonable 0:23:03.520 --> 0:23:07.840 and necessary response to the threat Greek Crafton presented. To 0:23:07.920 --> 0:23:11.320 answer this question, Both the prosecution and the defense tried 0:23:11.359 --> 0:23:14.040 to recreate the scene at Short and Heart's drug store 0:23:14.080 --> 0:23:18.520 on July sixteenth. Silas Livergood, a friend of the Crafton brothers, 0:23:18.560 --> 0:23:22.119 appeared for the prosecution. Livergood had been in the drug 0:23:22.160 --> 0:23:26.000 store on the sixteenth and seen the fight firsthand. Prosecutor 0:23:26.119 --> 0:23:30.000 John Palmer walked Livergood patiently through the fight, and then 0:23:30.160 --> 0:23:33.320 to give the jury a better picture, he asked Livergood 0:23:33.320 --> 0:23:36.320 to demonstrate the positions Quinn and Greek had been in 0:23:36.400 --> 0:23:39.960 at the moment of the stabbing. Livergood stepped down and 0:23:40.080 --> 0:23:44.200 stood behind Palmer, who was playing Quinn. Facing the jury, 0:23:44.240 --> 0:23:47.960 Livergood wrapped his left arm around Palmer's left arm, leaving 0:23:48.000 --> 0:23:51.440 Palmer's right arm free. It was with his right hand, 0:23:51.520 --> 0:23:56.160 Livergood explained that Quinn had struck out backwards with the knife. 0:23:56.240 --> 0:24:01.359 Livergood's description didn't sound good for Quinn. Vergood did acknowledge 0:24:01.400 --> 0:24:04.239 that he had heard John Crafton tell his brother to 0:24:04.320 --> 0:24:08.520 quote whip Quinn, and admitted that even after Quinn had 0:24:08.560 --> 0:24:11.720 said he didn't want to fight Greek had bodily dragged 0:24:11.760 --> 0:24:14.639 him away from the counter, but at the moment he 0:24:14.680 --> 0:24:18.520 had dealt Greek the fatal blow, Quinn, if Livergood was 0:24:18.560 --> 0:24:22.320 to be believed, hadn't been in imminent danger. He had 0:24:22.359 --> 0:24:26.760 just been restrained. John Crafton came to the stand next. 0:24:27.720 --> 0:24:29.879 John claimed that his being in the drug store that 0:24:30.000 --> 0:24:33.000 day was a coincidence. He'd just been there to pick 0:24:33.080 --> 0:24:35.280 up some money that he believed had been left for 0:24:35.400 --> 0:24:38.960 him there. He'd asked Benjamin Short, the owner, about the money. 0:24:39.480 --> 0:24:41.119 When Short said that it may have been left with 0:24:41.160 --> 0:24:44.239 his partner, who was out, John decided to stay and 0:24:44.280 --> 0:24:47.480 wait for the partner's return. He had been surprised to 0:24:47.520 --> 0:24:50.239 look up and see a fight beginning, he said, and 0:24:50.400 --> 0:24:53.200 shocked to see that his brother was one of the participants. 0:24:53.720 --> 0:24:56.399 Like Livergood, John claimed that Quinn had been in no 0:24:56.560 --> 0:25:01.159 immediate danger before he stabbed Greek, although also admitted that 0:25:01.240 --> 0:25:04.400 he hadn't seen the actual stabbing, But a moment after 0:25:04.440 --> 0:25:07.639 the first blow, John said Quinn had tried to stab 0:25:07.680 --> 0:25:11.320 his brother again. John had then stepped in to protect 0:25:11.320 --> 0:25:14.080 Greek and received a deep cut on his right arm 0:25:14.160 --> 0:25:16.840 for his trouble. Even now, his arm was in a 0:25:16.880 --> 0:25:20.919 sling and he could barely move it. John's testimony was 0:25:20.960 --> 0:25:25.280 clearly painful for him, and his story made a powerful impact, 0:25:26.080 --> 0:25:28.639 but there were some problems with the prosecution's account of 0:25:28.680 --> 0:25:33.000 the fight. During his cross examination of Silas Livergood, Stephen 0:25:33.080 --> 0:25:36.480 Logan had gotten Livergood to admit that the only reason 0:25:36.600 --> 0:25:39.600 that Quinn's right arm had been free to stab Greek 0:25:40.160 --> 0:25:43.679 was because Greek, who had initially grabbed Quinn by both arms, 0:25:44.000 --> 0:25:48.080 had let Quinn's right arm go. Why had Greek let 0:25:48.200 --> 0:25:51.359 Quinn's right arm go in order to free up his 0:25:51.680 --> 0:25:54.639 own right hand, which he then used to hit Greek 0:25:54.840 --> 0:25:58.480 hard in the face. There was reason for Quinn to 0:25:58.520 --> 0:26:03.400 be frightened, it seemed, especially because Greek was substantially larger 0:26:03.440 --> 0:26:07.280