David Josiah Brewer

“ It is true the trial was held in a remote part of the nation, and where facilities for securing the attendance of witnesses were not as great as in more thickly settled portions; but it is also true that many of the witnesses for the government were engaged in prospecting, men without settled abodes, and whose attendance at subsequent terms it might have been difficult to secure, and it must have been perfectly obvious to defendant and his counsel that the longer he could postpone the trial the greater the probability of the absence of witnesses against him. ”

“ By these witnesses defendant sought to show that he was on the schooner at the time the murder was charged to have been committed, and also to explain the possession of the money found on his person. But the date named in an indictment for the commission of the crime of murder is not an essential averment. Proof that the crime was committed days before or days after the date named is no variance. Again, accounting satisfactorily for the money found on his person made no defense. It is not stated in the affidavit that the deceased had money in his possession. ”

“ Those sections provide that on a preliminary examination, after the government's witnesses have been examined, the magistrate must inform the defendant that it is his right to make a statement in relation to the charge against him, that the statement is designed to enable him, if he sees fit, to answer the charge and explain the facts alleged against him, that he is at liberty to waive making a statement, and that such waiver cannot be used against him on the trial ”