Washington Goode - Trial

Trial

Washington Goode's trial began on January 1, 1849. As it was a capital case, it was tried before the Supreme Judicial Court presided over by Chief Justice Lemuel Shaw, one of the most influential jurists in nineteenth-century America. The evidence used by District Attorney Samuel D. Parker to build his case against Goode was largely cirmcumstantial. Although no one saw Goode crack Harding's skull or stab him between the ribs, several witnesses at the trial testified that they saw a person fitting Goode's description in the area of the crime. Also, when he was arrested Goode had in his possession a knife whose blade measured ten or eleven inches. Harding's stab wound was measured at nine inches deep. Goode was defended by two young distinguished attorneys, William Aspinwall (who had not previously defended a capital case) while Edgar F. Hodges assisted Aspinwall. The two attorneys argued that their client was innocent, denouncing the testimony of the prosecution's witnesses and casting doubt on the circumstantial evidence presented by Samuel Parker. In his closing argument, Hodges began to discuss the inappropriateness of capital punishment in Massachusetts when Parker objected and was told by Chief Justice Shaw that he was out of order to discuss the appropriateness of justice of the death penalty. The jury deliberated for only thirty-five minutes before finding Goode guilty of murder and on January 15, 1849 he was sentenced to death by Chief Justice Shaw. He was to be hanged on May 25, 1849.