Free The Mammoth Book of Celebrity Murders by Chris Ellis

South.
    Andrew Johnson as the new President was, however, uneasy about the legality of the prisoners undergoing a military trial and sought the opinion of the Attorney General, James Speed. Speed
believed that if the prisoners had committed a crime against the United States then they must face a military court. Also, because he believed they may have broken the laws of war, they would not
be allowed to face a civil court. With this news the President asked that nine competent officers form a commission with a view to trying the defendants.
    The commission was ostensibly made up of friends and colleagues of Stanton, many of whom would be criticized during the trial for showing favouritism to the prosecution. Not only was the
commission deemed to be biased – all had Republican sympathies – but the commission itself was allowed to formulate its own rules and procedures. And unlike a normal court of law, the
commission would be allowed to convict with a two-thirds majority, rather than the unanimous decision normally required to secure a conviction.
    Stanton asked the acting Adjutant General, Edward D. Townsend, to select the officers for the tribunal, all of who were committed Republicans. Appointed to the role of President of the
commission was 62-year-old Major General David Hunter, a personal friend of Lincoln’s before his death. As Judge Advocate for the trial Stanton chose another old friend, Brigadier General
Joseph Holt, who headed the War Department’s Bureau of Military Justice. Holt had been given the role of Judge Advocate General of the Army by Lincoln and in this capacity had set up many
military commissions to prosecute political prisoners accused of disloyal practices, a procedure that had been criticized widely as despotic and unconstitutional. Finally to assist Holt, Stanton
selected another long-time friend, Ohio’s John A. Bingham, a radical member of Congress who was a hellfire-and-brimstone lawyer; and Colonel Henry L. Burnett, an army prosecutor who had
successfully won the death penalty in a number of Western military trials.
    Against this backdrop the defendants arrived in court on 9 May 1865, shuffling in one after the other, under strict armed guard. One by one they took their positions on a foot high platform,
behind a wooden rail at the front of the guardhouse. Each sat looking glum: Sam Arnold, Lewis Paine, David Herold, Edman Spangler, Michael O’Laughlin, George Atzerodt, Dr Samuel Mudd and Mary
Surratt, their hoods specially removed for the court appearance. The first day in court was a short one and the trial was adjourned as the accused had not yet been allowed to seek a defence
council. On the second day, still without representation, the commission read out the charges and noted the not guilty pleas given by each prisoner.
    The spectators’ gallery was full and the courthouse was surrounded by members of the public and the press; the interest in the trial was immense, and in the outcome, already believed to be
a foregone conclusion, even stronger.
    During the opening phases of the trial other conspirators were caught and found themselves in strange predicaments. Jefferson Davis was caught near Irwinville, Georgia and a day later, Clement
Clay gave himself in to Federal authorities. Both were imprisoned in Fort Monroe, Virginia, during which time the court in Washington progressed as if they too had been charged and were there to
present a defence.
    The trial was soon adjourned again as friends and family members fought to find legal representation for those imprisoned, a task which proved daunting as no one seemed willing to defend a bunch
so publicly despised. By 12 May, all of the defendants had retained a defence council, many of whom were of an unusually high calibre. They were however expected to perform their duties under the
most onerous of conditions – they were not for instance allowed to talk to their clients in the privacy of their cells, and the only