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| | ==Judgement== | | ==Judgement== |
| | [[Image:Lincoln conspirators2.jpg|right|200px|thumb|July 7, 1865: left to right, seated, are Mary Surratt (under the umbrella), Lewis Powell (behind the beam), David Herold, and George Atzerodt.]] | | [[Image:Lincoln conspirators2.jpg|right|200px|thumb|July 7, 1865: left to right, seated, are Mary Surratt (under the umbrella), Lewis Powell (behind the beam), David Herold, and George Atzerodt.]] |
| − | The seven week-long trial was over. On June 29, 1865, the Commission met in a secret session to begin its review of the evidence. A majority vote was required for any guilty verdict, and a death sentence required the votes of at least six members. The next day, the Commission read the verdicts: | + | The seven week-long [[trial]] was over. On June 29, 1865, the Commission met in a secret session to begin its review of the evidence. A majority vote was required for any guilty verdict, and a [[capital punishment|death sentence]] required the votes of at least six members. The next day, the Commission read the verdicts: |
| | *Dr. Samuel Mudd: life in prison at hard labor. | | *Dr. Samuel Mudd: life in prison at hard labor. |
| | *Samuel Arnold: life in prison at hard labor. | | *Samuel Arnold: life in prison at hard labor. |
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| | *Mary Surratt: death by hanging. | | *Mary Surratt: death by hanging. |
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| − | Despite protests of "her sex and age", President Johnson refused to commute Mary Surratt's sentence to life, accepting the Commission's findings on July 5. The hanging was set for two days later. Mrs Surratt's lawyers would work feverishly in her behalf, eventually succeeding in convincing Judge Wylie of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia to issue the writ of habeas corpus. But Johnson would have the last word, when he gave an order suspending habeas corpus, specifically for this case. | + | Despite protests of "her sex and age", President Johnson refused to commute Mary Surratt's sentence to life, accepting the Commission's findings on July 5. The [[hanging]] was set for two days later. Mrs Surratt's lawyers would work feverishly in her behalf, eventually succeeding in convincing Judge Wylie of the Supreme Court of the [[District of Columbia]] to issue the writ of habeas corpus. But Johnson would have the last word, when he gave an order suspending habeas corpus, specifically for this case. |
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| | On July 7, the four condemned prisoners mounted the steps of the gallows at the Old Capitol Prison; just after 1:30 in the afternoon after last rites were said in a hot, sweltering afternoon, soldiers below knocked out the support beams. After an hour-long hanging, their bodies were cut down, placed in four ammunition boxes and buried in graves just feet from the gallows. Edwin Stanton would have the last word: "We wish to hear their names no more." | | On July 7, the four condemned prisoners mounted the steps of the gallows at the Old Capitol Prison; just after 1:30 in the afternoon after last rites were said in a hot, sweltering afternoon, soldiers below knocked out the support beams. After an hour-long hanging, their bodies were cut down, placed in four ammunition boxes and buried in graves just feet from the gallows. Edwin Stanton would have the last word: "We wish to hear their names no more." |