Burke

This case has many peculiar features, and it has excited wide public interest on account of the nature of the charge and the prominence of appellant. He is a physician of high standing in his profession, a man of affluence and of many friends, and, prior to the unfortunate occurrence which gave rise to his prosecution, he bore an enviable reputation in the community, not only for the qualities involved in the accusation but—so it is claimed—for prominence in the manifestation of those traits of character, generally, that distinguish the benevolent and upright citizen. The ease was prosecuted and defended with great pertinacity and rare ability. The trial lasted for seven weeks and a mass of testimony was taken, which, in six volumes of over five hundred pages each, has been submitted to this court. The printed arguments filed herein comprise something like a thousand pages, in which every possible phase, seemingly, of the propositions of law involved in the record has been forcibly and persuasively presented by distinguished counsel, who have certainly spared no effort to assist the court in the arduous task of reaching a just and legal determination of this appeal. It would be…