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The Trial of the Century Begins | 207 | The trial of the Century Begins on January 2, 1935, the hunterdon County Courthouse in Flemington was overflowing with people. in addition to the lawyers and court officers, there were reporters , photographers, celebrities, interested bystanders, and more than 150 potential jurors crowded into the tiny courtroom. The room was buzzing with anticipation as first david Wilentz and then edward reilly entered with their associates. each side went to its respective table and prepared for the chore at hand—the selection of a jury. The crowd’s buzzing increased dramatically when Colonel lindbergh himself walked into court. he took a seat directly behind the prosecution’s table with Colonel schwartzkopf. moments later, the court’s bailiff asked everyone to rise and announced the entry of Judge trenchard. The judge quickly ordered the assembly to sit, took his position in the large chair at the bench, and asked the guards to produce the prisoner. hauptmann entered with two new Jersey troopers at either side, using the same door as Judge trenchard. he was dressed in a gray, double-breasted suit that was slightly large on him. he walked without smiling to the defense table and shook hands with his attorneys before taking a seat directly between his two guards. The judge ordered the first panel of jurors to the jury box and the selection process began. The prosecution asked the men and women about their opinions of the death penalty, while the defense focused heavily on what each person had heard about the case through the media. The first juror accepted by both sides was a forty-year-old machinist named Charles Walton. as the first juror selected, he automatically became the foreman of the jury. it would be his job to read the verdict at the end of the case. during the balance of the day, the defense and prosecution were able to agree on nine more jurors: rosie pill (a forty-five-year-old widow); Verna snyder (a thirty-sixyear -old housewife); Charles F. snyder (a forty-seven-year-old farmer); ethel stockton (a thirty-two-year-old legal secretary); elmer smith (a forty-two-year-old insurance salesman); robert Cravatt (a twenty-eight-year-old educational supervisor);| 207 || 24 | | 208 | hauptmann’s ladder philip hockenbury (a forty-eight-year-old railroad worker); George Voorhees (a fifty-four-year-old horse farmer); and may Brelsford (a thirty-eight-year-old housewife ). after mrs. Brelsford was selected, Judge trenchard noted the late hour and gaveled the day to a close. hauptmann was removed to his cell, and the lead attorneys from both sides were verbally assailed by a press hungry for any comment for the evening reports. neither attorney disappointed. The crowd in attendance grew even larger on the second day of the trial. only two jury selections remained, and most expected to hear opening arguments and quite possibly testimony. The final two jurors were chosen rather quickly. They were liscome Case, a sixty-two-year-old retired carpenter, and howard Biggs, a fifty-five-year-old unemployed bookkeeper. With the jury seated and ready, Judge trenchard recognized david Wilentz for his opening statement. he stood, cleared his throat, and began with a traditional and formal statement: “may it please your honor, mr. Foreman, men and women of the jury.”1 he paused for a moment. The courtroom, completely filled to the rafters, was silent as a tomb. all eyes focused intently on the attorney general, and every ear strained to hear each word. Wilentz continued his opening statement by reminding the jury that the charge against the defendant was the murder of Charles lindbergh Jr. he cited the law of new Jersey, which held that when an individual is killed in the commission of a burglary, said killing is murder. he also cited law providing that where an individual receives a fatal blow in one county, but dies in another, the charge of murder could lie in either county.2 obviously, the attorney general was anticipating arguments to be made by the defense and taking preventative measures. leaving behind the dry words of the law, Wilentz dove into the facts of the case, telling the jurors that Charles lindbergh Jr. was “a happy, normal, jovial, delightful little tot . . . blue eyed, curly headed, blond haired.”3 The attorney general continued , “he had been playing around that entire day with the family, and on the night of march 1, 1932, that child was killed; and...

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