Lawyer presents lecture on slave cases in court

ARROW ROCK — The plight of slaves accused of capital crimes in pre-Civil War Missouri was highlighted in a lecture here on Saturday.

Dr. Debra Miles, the assistant general counsel for the Missouri Department of Mental Health and a historian, presented “Slave Legal Representation in Pre-Civil War Missouri: Passive or Zealous?” as part of the Friends of Arrow Rock First Saturday lecture series.

Miles’ lecture came from research she did as a graduate student where she culled information from Missouri Supreme Court records regarding capital cases involving black slaves. According to the 1820 Missouri Constitution, slaves accused of capital crimes were entitled to some rights, including having a lawyer appointed to represent them. About 15 people turned out for the Saturday morning lecture, which was rescheduled from February due to weather.

“Though some lawyers did the bare minimum, many of the attorneys provided a truly zealous defense of their clients. These cases carved out a small niche in the question as to whether slaves were people or merely property,” Miles said.

Among the cases Miles discussed were Hector v. Missouri and Fanny v. Missouri. In both cases, Missouri Supreme Court found that confessions obtained through torture, coercion, or duress were not admissible as evidence. Miles said the cases showed that even though the state viewed slaves as property, they were afforded some basic rights.

Miles also cited the case of Missouri v. Celia, a murder case involving a slave who had killed her master during an attempted sexual assault. Celia’s lawyers attempted to argue that the right of a woman to protect herself against forcible rape extended to slave women as well. The state ultimately found that Celia was not entitled to such protections and she was later hanged for the death of her owner.

“The fact that these three white male lawyers even attempted to make these arguments and made the appeal — I consider that evidence of a zealous defense,” Miles said.

 Miles said she was surprised to find serious attempts at providing slaves with adequate defenses and believes the efforts demonstrated Missouri’s “middle-of-the-road status as a slave state.”

David Finke, of Arrow Rock, attended the lecture and called Miles’ information “eye-opening.”

“I think this shines a light on a part of our history that still hasn’t really come to light and gives us a glimpse into the social evil that was slavery. This is a part of our country and our state’s history that needs to be heard, not just because of what slavery was, but also to show the little glimmers of hope and humanity as people worked to end the injustice,” Finke said.