Original press admission ticket to the trial of assassin Charles Guiteau, which opened in Washington, D.C., on November 14, 1881, in the Supreme Court for the District of Columbia. The cardstock ticket, 4.75 x 3, headed “Press Ticket to the Guiteau Trial,” is issued to “W. S. Larner, Esq, of the Baltimore Herald.” Signed below by a Deputy U.S. Marshal. In fine condition, with some old mounting remnants on the reverse.
After shooting President Garfield on July 2, 1881, Guiteau was initially apprehended and held on charges of attempted murder; it was not until Garfield succumbed to infection from his wounds nearly three months later that he could be brought up on charges of murder. Guiteau was formally indicted for murder on October 14, 1881, pleading not guilty, and the trial began in Washington on November 14, 1881. Although Guiteau would insist on trying to represent himself during the entire trial, the court appointed Leigh Robinson to defend him. Robinson retired from the case after just a few days, and Guiteau's brother-in-law George Scoville—a real estate attorney—then became lead counsel for the defense, feeling obliged to represent his family member. The assassin was found guilty and sentenced to death on January 25, 1882.
