Mark Twain said it quite well: “We have a criminal jury system which is superior to any in the world and its efficiency is only marred by the difficulty of finding 12 men every day who don’t know anything and can’t read.”

Most of what Twain said about the justice system was said in 1873. His spleen was vented throughout much of that year because of a New York murder case that caught his attention. It was a high-profile case that involved the drunken assault by a working man on a wealthy New York “gentleman.” It turned upon whether a drunk could form the requisite intent for a first-degree murder verdict.

This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.

To view this content, please continue to their sites.

Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now

Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now

Why am I seeing this?

LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law are third party online distributors of the broad collection of current and archived versions of ALM's legal news publications. LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law customers are able to access and use ALM's content, including content from the National Law Journal, The American Lawyer, Legaltech News, The New York Law Journal, and Corporate Counsel, as well as other sources of legal information.

For questions call 1-877-256-2472 or contact us at [email protected]