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| Joined: | Mon Apr 23rd, 2012 |
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the Federal Government was afraid to carry forward the trial because top legal minds believed that it was likely that the Government would lose the case…It was a risk that the Federal Government finally decided that it could not take…By 1869, it was recognized that releasing Mr. Davis was the most prudent course to take.
This is not true. Charges against Davis weren’t dismissed until President Johnson issued his comprehensive amnesty. Some in the government held the minority opinion that a conviction would be difficult to obtain, but not because the government couldn’t mount a convincing case regarding treason, but, rather, because the mood of the country was shifting towards amnesty. In the end, such concerns were brushed aside, and the government was fully prepared to move forward with the trial.
If the trial of Jefferson Davis had gone forward, it would have been in civilian courts.
This had already happened. Davis had been released to civil authorities and indicted in the US Circuit Court.