M. Demange.--“How do you know, since I have not read the whole? My
motion is filed. Now I have a right to speak in support of it. I offer
two observations.”
And M. Demange proceeds to maintain that, if it is true that the court
of appeals has decided that a decree is not nullified by the simple
fact that the accused was not consulted concerning the question of
closing the doors, it is no less true that the accused must be heard
when, either in person or through his counsel, he asks to offer
observations or motions. M. Demange quotes three decrees in support of
this view.
“You are,” he adds, “the sole judges of the question of closing the
doors. You decide according to your conscience, from an examination of
the facts and documents.”
The Judge.--“You must not speak of the documents.”
M. Demange.--“A decree has declared that the court must consider the
circumstances of the case.”
The Judge.--“That is what I deny, for then your argument begins.”
M. Demange.--“No, _Monsieur le Président_: I have a right to say that
in every case there are moral and material elements. Here I must put
them in evidence. I say that the moral elements, like the previous
conduct of the accused and his motives, cannot concern order.”
The Judge.--“You are now making an argument.”
M. Demange.--“So far as the material elements are concerned, order is
not endangered, if I ask the counsel to refer to the documents which
I simply indicate. The report contains the official record of the
document” ...
The Judge.--“There I stop you. Otherwise the demand for the closing of
the doors becomes illusory.”