参考译文

前副总统亚伦.伯尔受到叛国罪的审判

亚伦.伯尔是美国的副总统，他的任期在1805年结束，他欠下了沉重的债务，而且他似乎已经没有什么政治前途了。然而，伯尔不是没有计划，一段时间以来，他一直在考虑这样一个想法，他想将墨西哥从西班牙手里夺过来。伯尔秘密地和一些人沟通，他对他们说着不同的事情，以期望得到他们的帮助，包括资金的援助。亚伦.伯尔真实的目的是什么呢？是为了夺取墨西哥？还是为了将美国西部的一些州从美国分裂出来成立一个新的国家？事实到底如何，我们并不清楚。本周，在我们的系列节目中，我们向你讲述伯尔的秘密活动，以及结束这些秘密活动的审判。

伯尔于1805年春天开始向西部行进，他西行来到了俄亥俄州的新奥尔良市，该市是密西西比河的一个港口城市。在新奥尔良市，他和一些有钱的人、有权势的人会谈，他向他们阐述他的计划。他发现，对他表示支持的那些人都希望结束西班牙对墨西哥的统治。于是伯尔做好了返回东部的准备，并在那实施他的计划。

在他返回东部的途中，伯尔在圣路易斯停顿，去看望詹姆士.威尔金森将军，詹姆士.威尔金森是路易斯安那地区的行政长官，威尔金森和伯尔一起密谋。然而，在当时，威尔金森却是一位西班牙的间谍，他不想失去西班牙提供给他的收集情报的钱，所以，他开始考虑如何从伯尔的计划中脱身。他对伯尔说，忘掉墨西哥也许是最好的办法，因为现在的时机并不合适。他愿意帮助伯尔回到政治中去，如当选印第安那州的立法议员。伯尔拒绝了威尔金森的建议，他不准备放弃夺取墨西哥的梦想。

伯尔希望在1806年春天开始他的墨西哥计划。然而，由于没有钱，他什么事也做不成。他试图从那些对分享墨西哥财富感兴趣的人那筹集资金，但他也没有成功，同样，他也没有得到早先向英国寻求的资金和船只。

美国和西班牙之间的战争是伯尔计划中的重要一环，如果发生这样一场战争，伯尔确信西部各州的人民将加入到他在墨西哥反对西班牙的计划之中，没有美国和西班牙的战争，那么，他的活动就可能失败。伯尔在他回到华盛顿时得到了糟糕的消息：他与托马斯.杰斐逊总统会谈，杰斐逊总统明确告诉他美国不会与西班牙开战。在与杰斐逊总统会谈之后，伯尔开始制定新的计划，他将放弃入侵墨西哥的想法(哪怕这个入侵只是暂时的)，相反，他说他将在路易斯安那地区建立一个定居点，以待时机。

当亚伦.伯尔正在西行时，有关他的行为的传说就传开了。一些报纸越来越指控他密谋分裂国家。人们似乎更愿意相信这些报道。威尔金森将军正好利用这一机会撇清他与伯尔计划的关系。威尔金森向杰斐逊总统写了一封信，他声称有一支万人的武装正向新奥尔良开进，他说，这是夺取墨西哥行动的一部分。他提供了该行动的一些细节，但他声称他并不知道该行动的领头人是谁。他警告总统说，该武装力量在夺取墨西哥的同时也可能夺取路易斯安那。

这并不是杰斐逊总统所收到的有关伯尔墨西哥行动计划的第一封信，事实上没有人首先说是伯尔正在计划将西部一些州脱离合众国。但，与其他的收到的信件不同，杰斐逊将此件信作为指控伯尔的有力证据。杰斐逊总统召集内阁会议，讨论该怎么做，会议的结果是：所有的美国军队指挥官得到命令阻止伯尔的行动。杰斐逊总统发表了一个公开的声明，他说，有一支私人武装将要对抗西班牙，凡是参与这支私人武装的所有人都必须立即离开这支武装。他的声明没有直接点亚伦.伯尔的名字。

杰斐逊总统还在他向国会发表的年度国情咨文中谈到了这支私人武装。国会要求得到更多的信息。在一份特殊的报告中，总统说：伯尔有好几个计划，其中一个就是要将西部几个州脱离美国，另一个计划是为了夺取墨西哥；伯尔想让人民相信，他正在路易斯安那地区建立一个新的定居点，但这只是一个骗局；伯尔已经发现西部各州的人民将不会支持任何试图将这些州脱离合众国的企图，所以，伯尔决定占领新奥尔良市。总统最后说，毫无疑问，伯尔犯罪了。

伯尔犯罪在法院并没有得到证实，但对许多美国人来说，杰斐逊的声明当然是真的，有些人要求以叛国罪判处伯尔死刑。叛国罪，按照美国宪法的解释是某一公民武装对抗美国。伯尔于1807年2月被捕，并被带到了维吉尼亚州的里士满。一个联邦大陪审团在即将举行的听证会上听取对伯尔的指控，以决定是否有足够的证据将他推上审判台。在6月，这个大陪审团正式指控他犯有叛国罪。伯尔将站在美国首席大法官约翰.马歇尔的面前接受审判。

在法院上，伯尔为自己辩护说：“叛国罪，在没有任何行动的情况下，这是不可能的，我正在受到攻击，这种攻击依据的不是事实，而是那些虚假的报道，那些虚假的报道说我可能做什么。整个国家都转而反对我，这公正吗？威尔金森以他有关我的报告来恐吓总统，然后，总统又恐吓人民。”

杰斐逊总统确实想要证明伯尔有罪，他命令全国各地的政府官员寻找能够提供证据证明伯尔有罪的证人。有些杰斐逊的反对者说，杰斐逊之所以这么做是为了将此次审判转变成一场政治斗争。他们认为总统想利用这次审判来攻击首席大法官马歇尔，因为首席大法官是反对党联邦党人。杰斐逊反对马歇尔控制最高法院的做法，他觉得马歇尔利用他的地位威胁总统和国会的权力。首席大法官马歇尔知道杰斐逊在指控伯尔的案件中扮演什么样的角色，他非常细致而又公平提出他的意见和裁决。

在8月底，首席大法官马歇尔结束了取证，他对法院说，根据宪法，一项叛国罪的指控必须有两名证人。他说政府的主张不能由一名证人来证实，他命令陪审团来决定此案件。在9月1日，陪审团宣布了他们的决定，该决定说：“我们陪审国宣布，我们没有得到任何的证据证明亚伦.伯尔有罪，因此，我们判决他无罪。”伯尔和他的律师非常生气地**该判决的表达方式，他们说陪审团说了太多的“有罪”而不是“无罪”，这是不对的。马歇尔首席大法官对此表示同意，他命令此判决调整说法，只说“无罪”。这次审判结束了。

亚伦.伯尔继续生活了二十九年，他在欧洲呆过一段时间，然后到纽约市居住。在他去逝的几个小时前，有一位朋友问他是否曾经密谋，作为夺取墨西哥计划的一部分，要分裂美国。伯尔回答说：“不!我只是在想，一旦我夺取月球，我就通知我的朋友们，我要将月球在他们之中进行分配。”

简评：

一个人是否有罪，不在于他是否想过要犯罪，而在于他是否真的实施了犯罪行为。

一个人是否有罪，不在于某人说他有罪就有罪，而在于法院的审理，在于法院的判决。

一个人是否有罪，不能凭一些似是而非的东西，不能让人自证其罪，不能凭空捏造，不能严刑逼供，不能靠推理，不能靠想象。一切的一切，必须靠证据。没有足够的证据，就是天才的想象，也不能推断其有罪。一旦法院不能确定其有罪，就必须当庭无罪放人。

法院，是体现社会公平的最后底线之所在。在和平时期，它关系到每一个人的生与死。因此，法院的宗旨就是公平、公正。而要做到公平与公正，就必须坚守司法的独立，法院必须独立审判；要做到公平与公正，法院就必须公开审理，就必须有广泛性和专业性兼具的陪审团，一个人是否有罪应该有陪审团来定，如何量刑，应该由法官来定；要做到公平与公正，法院就必须受到最严格的监督。何谓最严格的监督？那就是监督的权力要远远大于被监督者，监督者有权对被监督者实施最严厉的惩罚，从而使被监督者再也不敢枉法，再也不敢执法犯法。

The Treason Trial of Aaron Burr, Former VP 

Aaron Burr was vice president of the United States. His term came to an end in eighteen hundred and five. He was heavily in debt and his political future did not look promising.  Burr was not without plans, however. For some time, he had been considering an idea. He wanted to seize Mexico from Spain. Burr made secret deals with a number of people. He told them different things to get their help or their money for his plan.  What was Aaron Burr's real goal? Was it to seize Mexico? Or was it to create a country of his own out of some of America's western lands? The facts are not clear. This week in our series, we tell about Burr's secret activities, and the trial that ended them.

Burr traveled west in the spring of eighteen-oh-five. His trip would take him down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers to the port city of New Orleans. In that city, he talked with a number of rich, powerful men. He explained his plan. And he found support among those who wished to end Spanish control of Mexico.  Burr was then ready to return east and put his plan into action. 

On the way back, Burr stopped in Saint Louis to see General James Wilkinson, governor of the Louisiana Territory. Wilkinson was plotting with Burr.  At the same time, however, Wilkinson was spying for Spain. He did not want to lose the money Spain paid him for information. So he began to think about how he could pull out of Burr's plan. He advised Burr that it might be best to forget Mexico, that perhaps the time was not right. He offered to help Burr get back into politics as a congressman from Indiana.  Burr rejected Wilkinson's offer. He was not yet ready to give up his dream about Mexico. 

Burr had hoped to begin his move against Mexico in the spring of eighteen-oh-six. Without money, however, he could do nothing.  He tried to get money from people who might be interested in sharing the riches of Mexico. But he was not successful. Nor did he get the money and ships he had asked earlier from Britain. 

War between the United States and Spain was an important part of Burr's plan. Should there be such a war, Burr was sure the men of the western lands would join him against the Spanish in Mexico. Without war, the campaign might fail.  Burr received bad news after he returned to Washington. He met with President Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson made clear that there would be no war with Spain.  After his meeting with Jefferson, Burr began to make new plans. He would forget the idea of invading Mexico -- at least temporarily. Instead, he said he would build a settlement in Louisiana and wait for a better time.

While Aaron Burr had been traveling in the west, stories began to spread about his activities. Newspaper reports came close to accusing him of plotting to split the Union. People seemed willing to believe the reports. This was the situation General Wilkinson would use to pull out of Burr's plan.  Wilkinson wrote a letter to President Jefferson. He claimed that a force of ten thousand men was moving toward New Orleans. He said it was part of a campaign against Mexico. He gave details of the campaign, but claimed he did not know who was leading it. He warned the president that the force might try to seize Louisiana as well as Mexico.

It was not the first letter Jefferson received about Burr's Mexican campaign. Nor was it the first to say that Burr was, in fact, planning to split some western states from the Union. But, unlike the other letters, Jefferson accepted Wilkinson's as firm evidence against Burr.  The president called a cabinet meeting to discuss what should be done. The result of the meeting was this: all American military commanders were ordered to stop Burr.  President Jefferson then made a public declaration. He said a private military campaign was about to begin against the Spanish, and that anyone involved should leave it immediately. The declaration did not speak of Aaron Burr by name.

Jefferson also spoke of the private military campaign in his yearly State of the Union message to Congress. Congress asked for more information. In a special message, the president said Burr had several plans. One was to split the western states from the Union. Another was to seize Mexico. He said Burr wanted to make people believe he was building a settlement in Louisiana. But, he said, that was just a trick.  The president said Burr had discovered that the people of the western states would not support any attempt to take them out of the Union. So, the president said, Burr had decided to capture New Orleans. Jefferson said there was no question that Burr was guilty.

Burr's guilt had not been proved in court. But to many Americans, Jefferson's statement was taken as truth. Some demanded that Burr be put to death for treason.  The crime of treason, as explained in America's Constitution, is the act of a citizen making war against the United States.  Burr was arrested in February, eighteen-oh-seven, and taken to Richmond, Virginia. A federal grand jury hearing would be held to decide if there was enough evidence to bring him to trial. In June, the grand jury officially charged him with treason. Burr would stand trial before John Marshall, chief justice of the United States.

At one point in court, Burr spoke for himself. "Treason," he said, "is not possible without action. Yet I am being attacked -- not for acts -- but because of false reports about what I might do. The whole country has been turned against me. Is this justice? Wilkinson frightened the president with his reports about me. Then, the president frightened the people." 

It was true that President Jefferson wanted to prove Burr guilty. He ordered government officials in all parts of the country to find witnesses who could give evidence against Burr.  Some of Jefferson's opponents said he did this to turn the trial into a political battle. They believed he wanted to use the trial record to attack Chief Justice Marshall, who was a member of the opposition Federalist Party. Jefferson objected to the way Marshall controlled the Supreme Court. He felt Marshall used his position to threaten the powers of the presidency and Congress.  Chief Justice Marshall knew of Jefferson's part in the accusations against Burr. He was extremely careful and fair in giving his opinions and decisions. 

At the end of August, Chief Justice Marshall stopped taking evidence. He told the court that -- under the Constitution -- a charge of treason must be proved by two witnesses. He said the government's claim had not been proved by even one witness. He ordered the jury to decide the case.  On September first, the jury announced its decision. It said: "We of the jury declare that Aaron Burr is not proved guilty by any evidence offered to us. Therefore, we find him not guilty." Burr and his lawyers angrily protested the way the decision had been written. They said it was wrong for the jury to say more than "guilty" or "not guilty." Marshall agreed. He ordered the decision to be changed to read, simply, "not guilty." The trial was over. 

Aaron Burr lived another twenty-nine years. He spent some time in Europe, and then New York City. A few hours before he died, a friend asked if he had ever plotted -- as part of his plan to seize Mexico -- to split the Union of American states. Burr answered: "No! I would as soon have thought of seizing the moon and informing my friends that I would divide it among them."

http://www.wwenglish.com/m07/voa/spec/2008/07/wwenglish.com_nation080703.mp3