Death by Jury Demonstration
My mother sent me a link to this list of unusual deaths and I was particularly piqued by the death of Clement Vallandigham:
After the Civil War, controversial Ohio politician Clement Vallandigham became a highly successful lawyer who rarely lost a case.
In 1871, he defended Thomas McGehan who was accused of shooting one Tom Myers during a barroom brawl. Vallandigham’s defense was that Myers had accidentally shot himself while drawing his pistol from a kneeling position.
To convince the jury, Vallandigham decided to demonstrate his theory. Unfortunately, he grabbed a loaded gun by mistake and ended up shooting himself!
By dying, Vallandigham succeeded in demonstrating the plausibility of the accidental shooting and got his client acquitted.
September 25th, 2008 at 6:42 am
How to be brilliantly stupid.
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