The Balance of Justice – The Utica Street Car Murder of 1872

The Balance of Justice
289 Pages
ISBN 978-1-59531-056-9

In January of 1872, Josephine Fagan McCarty was indicted for murder in the shooting death of a man on a horse drawn street car in Utica, New York. The beauty's infamous reputation made sensational copy for newspapers throughout the country. It seemed an open and shut case. The lady would hang. There wasn't a soul to stand in her favor.

Yet, in an odd twist of circumstance, money and power were put into play to insure the woman's conviction. The Governor of New York called a special term of court, and the State's Attorney General sent a representative to assist the local District of Attorney in prosecuting the defendant.

Defense lawyer, Lewis H. Babcock, countered this imbalance by assembling one of the finest legal teams ever to serve in Central New York. Their services were offered pro bono as they sought to represent justice. The crux of the defense was to take the woman's story back to its beginning; to expose lies, abuse, and the careful construction of a plan to destroy their client, usurp her holdings, and put her children out onto the street.

This accounting of Josephine’s life offers a window into another place in time, an era where flamboyant architecture and white gloved manners masked a darker side of society. The facts brought forth in her trial reveal a woman of unfathomable courage struggling in a period of history where money and influence obliterated the line between villain and victim.

Eileen Sullivan Hopsicker

About Eileen Sullivan Hopsicker (Rochester, New York Author)

Eileen Sullivan Hopsicker

Eileen was born in Utica, New York and spent the bulk of her life in the Mohawk Valley region. She has an avid interest in history and was serving as president of the Limestone Ridge Historical Society when she uncovered the astounding story of Josephine McCarty. Josephine became the protagonist, of Eileen's first novel, THE BALANCE OF JUSTICE, published in 2017.

Eileen was a prize winning recipient of the 2016 Saturday Evening Post Fiction Contest with her short story, Five in the Fifth. That same year, she won the 32nd Annual Genesee Valley Pennysaver Pen-A-Poem Contest.She holds an Associate Degree in Fine Art from Mohawk Valley Community College and a Bachelor of Studio Art from Hamilton College. She retired as Director of Records and Research for Development at Utica College. She currently resides in Webster, New York.