Charles J. Guiteau

==Trial and execution==

==Trial and execution==

[[File:Sargeant Mason and the jail where Guiteau is confined.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.2|An illustration of the jail where Guiteau was confined after his arrest.]]

[[File:Sargeant Mason and the jail where Guiteau is confined.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.2|An illustration of the jail where Guiteau was confined after his arrest.]]

Once Garfield died, the government officially charged Guiteau with murder. He was formally [[indictment|indicted]] on October 14, 1881, on the charge of murder, upgraded from the previous charge of [[attempted murder]]. Guiteau pleaded not guilty to the charge. He also sent Arthur a letter in which he argued that Arthur should set him free because by killing Garfield, he had elevated Arthur to the presidency and increased Arthur's salary from $8,000 to $50,000.{{cite book |last=Bowman |first=Winston |date=2019 |title=United States v. Guiteau: Assassination and Insanity in Gilded Age America |url=https://www.fjc.gov/sites/default/files/trials/U.S.%20v.%20Guiteau%20final_0.pdf |location=Washington, DC |publisher=Federal Judicial Center |page=12}} The trial began in Washington, D.C., on November 17 in the Supreme Court for the District of Columbia (which became the [[United States District Court for the District of Columbia|U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia]]). The presiding judge in the case was [[Walter Smith Cox]]. Although Guiteau would insist on trying to represent himself during the entire trial, the court appointed Leigh Robinson to defend him. After less than a week of trial, Robinson retired from the case. George Scoville then became lead [[defense (law)|defense]] counsel. While Scoville's legal experience lay in land title examination, he had married Guiteau's sister and felt obliged to defend him. [[Wayne MacVeagh]], the [[United States Attorney General|U.S. Attorney General]], served as the chief [[prosecutor]]. MacVeagh named five lawyers to the prosecution team: [[George Corkhill]], Walter Davidge, retired judge [[John K. Porter]], [[Elihu Root]], and E. B. Smith.{{Cite journal|last=Jackson|first=E. Hilton|year=1904|title=The Trial of Guiteau|journal=The Virginia Law Register|volume=9|issue=12|pages=1023–1035|doi=10.2307/1100203|jstor=1100203}}

Once Garfield died, the government officially charged Guiteau with murder. He was formally [[indictment|indicted]] on October 14, 1881, on the charge of murder, upgraded from the previous charge of [[attempted murder]]. Guiteau pleaded not guilty to the charge. He also sent Arthur a letter in which he argued that Arthur should set him free because by killing Garfield, he had elevated Arthur to the presidency and increased Arthur's salary from $8,000 to $50,000.{{cite book |last=Bowman |first=Winston |date=2019 |title=United States v. Guiteau: Assassination and Insanity in Gilded Age America |url=https://www.fjc.gov/sites/default/files/trials/U.S.%20v.%20Guiteau%20final_0.pdf |location=Washington, DC |publisher=Federal Judicial Center |page=12}} The trial began in Washington, D.C., on November 17 in the Supreme Court for the District of Columbia (which became the [[United States District Court for the District of Columbia|U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia]]). The presiding judge in the case was [[Walter Smith Cox]]. Although Guiteau insisted on trying to represent himself during the entire trial, the court appointed Leigh Robinson to defend him. After less than a week of trial, Robinson retired from the case. George Scoville then became lead [[defense (law)|defense]] counsel. While Scoville's legal experience lay in land title examination, he had married Guiteau's sister and felt obliged to defend him. [[Wayne MacVeagh]], the [[United States Attorney General|U.S. Attorney General]], served as the chief [[prosecutor]]. MacVeagh named five lawyers to the prosecution team: [[George Corkhill]], Walter Davidge, retired judge [[John K. Porter]], [[Elihu Root]], and E. B. Smith.{{Cite journal|last=Jackson|first=E. Hilton|year=1904|title=The Trial of Guiteau|journal=The Virginia Law Register|volume=9|issue=12|pages=1023–1035|doi=10.2307/1100203|jstor=1100203}}

[[File:Le procès Guiteau.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.2|The trial of Guiteau, as depicted in the French newspaper ''[[L'Illustration]]'', 1881]]

[[File:Le procès Guiteau.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.2|The trial of Guiteau, as depicted in the French newspaper ''[[L'Illustration]]'', 1881]]