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Court House during the trial This article may need to be wikified to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please help by adding relevant internal links, or by improving the article's layout. (December 2010) The Trial of Louis Riel was arguably the most famous trial in the history of Canada. In 1885, Louis Riel had been a leader of a resistance movement by the Métis and First Nations people of western Canada against the Canadian government in what is now the modern province of Manitoba. Known as the North-West Rebellion, this resistance was suppressed by the Canadian military, which led to Riel's surrender and trial for treason. The trial, which took place in July 1885 and lasted only five days, resulted in a guilty verdict. He was also given a choice to plead guilty or insanity. Riel was subsequently executed by hanging, an outcome which has had a lasting impact on relations between the Francophone and Anglophone Canadians. Contents 1 Trial 2 Appeals 3 The Final Act - Regina, Nov 16, 1885 4 Legacy 5 References Trial Copy of Warrant To Apprehend Riel and Lépine, issued in Winnipeg. Riel was indicted by Judge Hugh Richardson on six counts of treason on July 20. Riel's counsel immediately challenged the court's jurisdiction, but these motions were denied. Riel then pleaded not guilty to all charges. Riel's lawyers argued for a delay for the defence to obtain witnesses. It was granted and the trial began on July 28, 1885. Of the 36 people receiving jury duty summons, only one spoke French – and he was unable to attend. Moreover, the only Roman Catholic (an Irishman) in the jury pool was challenged by the prosecution for not being of British stock and excluded. In the event, Riel was tried before a jury of six composed entirely of English and Scottish Protestants, all from the area immediately surrounding Regina. The jurors were Francis Cosgrove - foreman - Whitewood, Edwin J. Brooks of Indian Head, Henry J. Painter of Broadview, Walter Merryfield of Whitewood, Peel Deane of Broadview and Edwin Eratt of Moose Jaw. Crown counsel comprised some of the most accomplished lawyers in Canada: Christopher Robinson, Britton Bath Osler, George Burbidge, David Lynch Scott, and Thomas Chase-Casgrain. Chase-Casgrain was the lone French-Canadian in the prosecution. They called nine witnesses for the prosecution, General Frederick Middleton, Dr. John Willoughby, Thomas McKay, George Ness, George Kerr, John W. Astley, Thomas E. Jackson, Dr. A. Jukes, and Riel's cousin Charles Nolin. The cross-examination of the defence attempted to prove his mental instability and render a not guilty plea by reason of insanity, but to little success. Jury of six of Louis Riel's trial The defense had their turn on July 30. They produced five witnesses, Dr. François Roy of the Beauport Asylum, Dr. Daniel Clark of Toronto Lunatic Asylum, Riel's secretary for a short time, Phillipe Garnot and priests Alexis André and Vital Fourmond, all who gave evidence of Riel's insanity, but were far from sympathetic or supportive. The defence's case only lasted one day. Riel delivered two lengthy speeches during his trial, defending his own actions and affirming the rights of the Métis people. He rejected his lawyer's attempt to argue that he was not guilty by reason of insanity, asserting, "Life, without the dignity of an intelligent being, is not worth having." Riel defended his use of religious themes, but insisted that all his political actions were aimed at practical results. He denounced the Federal Government for its complete lack of regard for the peoples and interests of the West. "Although the Province of Ontario is great", he said, "it is not as great as the North-West." Nonetheless, Riel barely maintained his decorum and proclaimed that he hoped to be one day recognized as a force of good for the whole country. He said: "I am glad that the Crown has proved that I am the leader of the Metis in the NorthWest. I will perhaps be one day acknowledged as more than a leader of the Metis, and if so I hope I will also have the opportunity to be acknowledged as a leader of good in this great country."[1] On July 31, after only half an hour of deliberation, the jury found him guilty of treason but recommended mercy. Nonetheless, Judge Hugh Richardson sentenced him to death, with the date of his execution set for September 18, 1885. Fifty years later one of the jurors, Edwin Brooks, said that Riel was tried for treason but hanged for the murder of Thomas Scott.[citation needed] Appeals The defence appealed to higher authorities, and Macdonald was flooded with letters and petitions from sympathetic Québécois, who saw in Riel the French Catholic minority being oppressed by English Protestants. Macdonald refused to intervene to commute the sentence because of political pressure, and stated that the Riel would hang "...though every dog in Quebec shall bark." According to critics, the outcome of the trial was due to the underhanded conduct of the government and to the obvious rift between the lawyers and the accused. Throughout the trial Riel's lawyers ignored his advice and refused his requests (including the request to cross-examine the witnesses himself), and they threatened to abandon him halfway through the procedure.[2] Riel insisted that had the witnesses been properly cross-examined, it would have been established that his men had been attacked first. "Happily they were when they appeared and showed their teeth to devour," he said. "All I was ready. That is what is called my crime of high treason, and for which they hold me to-day." The Final Act - Regina, Nov 16, 1885 The sentence was carried out on 16 November 1885. At about 8 o'clock Riel was summoned by Deputy Sheriff Gibson from his cell, where he had spent the night chiefly in prayers and devotion with his confessor Père André. Mass had been celebrated by the latter, assisted by Rev. Father McWilliams, and the last sacrament had been administered to the doomed man. Supported by the two priests and preceded by the Deputy Sheriff, Riel walked steadily across the guard room and climbed the ladder which led to the gloomy loft at the back of the building. This the party crossed in like order to the door outside of which the scaffold, with the empty noose depending from the beam. Around the door was drawn up a guard of twenty police, under command of Inspector White-Frazer. Sheriff Chapleau, Dr. Jukes, Coroner H. Dodds, M.D. and a hanging jury were also in attendance. This jury consisted of foreman F. Champness and jurymen Wm. P. McCormick, John Dawson, William D. Firstbrook, David H. Gillespie, and W. Bedford Jones. The hangman was Jack Henderson, of Winnipeg, who was one of Riel's prisoners at the time of the Red River rebellion. He was then pursuing the avocation of a freighter. The condemned man wore an appearance of unshaken fortitude and firmness, although his face was pale and his look earnest. He was dressed in a black coat, woollen shirt and collar, grey tweed trousers and moccasins. His head was uncovered. When Riel and the priests reached the window they kneeled down and engaged in prayer. Father André recited the Litany, the prisoner making the responses in firm and unbroken voice. The spectators were visibly affected by the scene, and gave a sigh of relief when it was ended. At 8:15 prayers were finished, Riel arose to his feet and was kissed by the priests. The masked hangman stepped forward to pinion the prisoner, who prayed incessantly during the operation, at one stage lifting his hands heavenward and saying "Father, I am ready." When the pinioning had been completed Riel and the fathers proceeded towards the scaffold, the prisoner walking with steady step and repeating in French the declaration: In God Do I Put My Trust. Down the six steps to the scaffold and out upon the prop the prisoner walked with firm and hesitating demeanour. Père André and Father McWilliams prayed constantly, and Riel exclaimed as he took his stand on the fatal platform, "I ask the forgiveness of all men, and forgive all my enemies." When the executioner had taken his place, drawn the white cap over the prisoner's head, and adjusted the noose, Father McWilliams repeated the Lord's Prayer. As he finished the bolt was drawn, the drop fell, and all was over. The hangman's work had been well done: the neck was broken, and in the short space of two minutes the heart had ceased to beat. The legs were drawn upward two or three times in this space of time, and then the body was still. After hanging for half an hour the body was cut down and placed in a coffin beneath the scaffold. The result of the post mortem made by Dr. Jukes was as follows: The execution was most cleverly performed. From the moment he fell, judging from the nature of the injuries received, he must have been entirely without sensation. The neck was entirely dislocated from the bone of the two upper joints of vertebrae, thus paralysing all the lower portion of the body. He could have felt no pain whatsoever. The circulation ceased in four minutes. An unusually short time. No death could be more merciful. The coroner and jury then viewed the body, and found the features much distorted. One juryman had to retire from the sight. After a brief deliberation the following verdict was rendered: That the body is that of Louis Riel, convicted of high treason, and sentenced to death; that the judgment of death was duly executed upon the body of said Louis Riel on this sixteenth day of November, 1885; that death was caused by hanging at the police barracks, near Regina, N.W.T., as directed by sentence passed by the court. (Signed, H. Dodds, M.D., F. Champness, Wm. P. McCormick, John Dawson, William D. Firstbrook, David H. Gillespie, and W. Bedford Jones.) [3] Legacy In the spring of 2008, Tourism, Parks, Culture and Sport Minister Christine Tell proclaimed in Duck Lake, that "the 125th commemoration, in 2010, of the 1885 Northwest Resistance is an excellent opportunity to tell the story of the prairie Métis and First Nations peoples' struggle with Government forces and how it has shaped Canada today."[4] References ^ default. "Final Statement of Louis Riel at his trial in Regina, 1885". Law.umkc.edu. http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/riel/rieltrialstatement.html. Retrieved 2010-03-28.  ^ Thomas. "A Judicial Murder." ^ Michael J. Durocher, "The Metis Man" ^ "Tourism agencies to celebrate the 125th anniversary of the Northwest Resistance/Rebellion". Home/About Government/News Releases/June 2008. Government of Saskatchewan. June 7, 2008. http://www.gov.sk.ca/news?newsId=3ceddf25-86ef-4433-86ea-cfe3cc69472d. Retrieved 2009-09-20.  Flanagan, Thomas (1983). Riel and the Rebellion. Western Producer Prairie Books, Saskatoon. ISBN 0-88833-108-8.  Flanagan, Thomas (1992). Louis Riel. Canadian Historical Association, Ottawa. ISBN 0-88798-180-1.  George R. D. Goulet (2005). The Trial of Louis Riel, Justice and Mercy Denied. Calgary. ISBN 1-894638-70-0.  A critical legal and political analysis of Riel's 1885 high treason trial. Riel, Louis (1985). The collected writings of Louis Riel. ed. George Francis Gilman Stanley. University of Alberta Press, Edmonton. ISBN 0-88864-091-9.  Siggins, Maggie (1994). Riel: a life of revolution. HarperCollins, Toronto. ISBN 0-00-215792-6.  Stanley, George Francis Gilman (1963). Louis Riel. Mcgraw-Hill Ryerson, Toronto. ISBN 0-07-092961-0.  Michael J. Durocher. The Metis Man.  Primary Documents from the Louis Riel Trial from the Famous Trials Webpage at the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/riel/riel.html