Hardtke v. State

This was an information for rape upon the person of Theresa Seitz, of the age of about twelve years, by the defendant, a married man, fifty-one years of age. On reading the evidence and carefully considering the proceedings on the trial, I cannot but think that the defendant was prosecuted with unusual severity, if not with malignity. It seemed to have been forgotten that, the accused was presumed to be innocent until conviction, and that by the liberal, humane, and merciful policy of our criminal jurisprudence he should have every right and advantage which the laws afford him. Nearly every…