s
made by the jury, either by word or sign. They had not consulted
together in their seats or otherwise. Neither of them had spoken
a word, nor had they been asked whether they had or had not
agreed upon a verdict. Your petitioner's counsel then asked that
the clerk be requested to poll the jury. The judge said, "That
can not be allowed. Gentlemen of the jury, you are discharged;"
and the jurors left the box. No juror spoke a word during the
trial, from the time when they were empaneled to the time of
their discharge. After denying a motion for a new trial, the
judge proceeded upon the conviction thus obtained to pass
sentence upon your petitioner, imposing upon her a fine of $100
and the costs of the prosecution.

Your petitioner respectfully submits that, in these proceedings,
she has been denied the rights guaranteed by the Constitution to
all persons accused of crime, the right of trial by jury, and the
right to have the assistance of counsel for their defense. It is
a mockery to call her trial a trial by jury; and unless the
assistance of counsel may be limited to the argument of legal
questions, without the privilege of saying a word to the jury
upon the question of the guilt or innocence in fact of the party
charged, or the privilege of ascertaining from the jury whether
they do or do not agree to the verdict pronounced by the court in
their name, she has been denied the assistance of counsel for her
defense.

Your petitioner also respectfully insists that the decision of
the judge that good faith on the part of your petitioner in
offering her vote did not constitute a defense, was not only a
violation of the deepest and most sacred principle of the
criminal law, that no one can be guilty of crime unless a
criminal intent exists; but was also a palpable violation of the
statute under which the conviction was had; not on the ground
that good faith could, in this, or in any case, justify a
criminal act, but on the ground that bad faith in voting was an
indispensable ingredient in the offense with which your
petitioner was charged. Any other interpretation strikes the word
"knowingly" out of the statute, the word which alone describes
the essence of the offense. The statute means, as your petitioner
is advised, and humbly subm