With the advent of DNA evidence, we can now begin to unearth all the long dead souls whose departure left unanswered questions. First, it was Jesse James, now Tom Dula - tomorrow, the WORLD!!

For many years, and especially on the frontier or in backwoods areas, jurys were made up (when they were actually empaneled)of available citizens, sometimes within the confines of the same tavern. They were frequently uneducated and often influenced by social standing of the accused or victim, or by race or ethnicity. Rules of evidence were usually murky and often lacking altogether. Heresay, rumor and "reputation" of the accused or victim often prevailed in coming to a verdict. Wait a minute; that sounds like a trial I was following last week...