Wilmington daily commercial. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1866-1877, 1873-01-15
THE swrEHEY MURDER TRIAL.



The Court Of Oyer ard Terminer for Cumber- |
land c6tnts, Convened, this morning, for the
purpose Of trying Hash r. Sweeney, for man
IslAdgtfsr, I'D August last. 10 noila hi.e ,.ld
Hon. B. v6nsyckel President Judge of this |
Ct-cuit ia on the bench. with bis ASaoeiAtes,
Judges Doughty, Sheppard and Harris,
The State is represented by James Il. Hoag-
land, Esq, Prosecutor OF the Pleas, and Vim Il.
Potter FAD !. Of Dridgotors Jem QByrne. Esqa
Of Philadelphia, and John s. Mitchell, ESD. OF
tits city, represent the prisoner.
The parsnts Of, the prisoner we're preseRt and
sat near him during the entire day.
THE following gentlemen were empanneled
~ F ssH y Bddget6h ;johh L 1 Sharp, Of
Melville; Aaron Vannaman, of Millville /; Mar
] tin y. B. Powell, Of BTidgeten; Lewis NJ. Hires,
lot HopeweHS Daniel Sites, Iot Fairfield John
| daiscom. of Greenwich; Geo. II. Foster, Of Mill
| Vile: Walter s Goff, OF Fairfield; Theodore
| Rogers, of Maurice River Enoch d. Garrison,
/ OF Stoe Greek. u ~ ..-s. FL
i MIR. HeagIand briefly addressed the jury in
which lie explained voluntary and involuntary
mansianghtsr, and would prove by Witnesses
Il that the prisoner at the bar was the person who
struck Geo. Dayis. ai.. -y.rl ,.-y a. ~.
/ He called, as the first witness, James.O. Rock
Il well, OF Roadstown, who said he saw the defend
4 ant Strike George Davis that Davis was stand-
ing at the carving table, IN the act Of carving
| meat, when the defendant struck him on the left
/ side OF the head the deceaAe staggered and fell
OYER on inc tdDiCs Onhh. OhNih WhS uinD
struck with something black : George was
/ struck a second time, Charles thought he was
/ lAt with q chair; he told Charles he had no black
/ chairs; the uIBn who struck Charles Was very
/ small man; would recognize him again II he saw
/ him; saw the defendant when he was taken from
! the lookup TO the jail. The witness, in his
l cross examination, sad he was not warm friend
| d the deceased; the man who struck George
| had on . blue shirt the blow was struck
With clerched fist heard the prisoner make
/ Violent threats; heard him say, cd DIN
INN, ri mash him the next Time" George. was
! not standing on his feet when the second blow
Il was struck the second blow was on the back Of
the head.
John s. MeGear testified to making diagram
/ Of the room. showing the distances from the
window TO where the arrest was made.
VIM. Wi4itts, colored, a waiter at the hotel
te titled that he was standing by George Davis
. when he was struck both times /; recognized the
prisoner az the man who struck him; said the
blows were given by the fist; thought he was
itruck on the temple both times; said Charles
Davis WAS struck by little man, and that George
l aolped 20 put tho llitla man ont never saw the
prisoner afterward till to-day.
| Henry Reeves testified that he was in thu
/ dining room, aud saw the prisoner strike Georg
| Davis he hit him on fhe head was endeavorin(
| TO get him out of the room saw no one els
hit him kneg the prisoner by sight; had seen
, / him in Philadelphia before that occurrence; wa
| present when the last blow was struck the mar
| Bho struck George had on a purple vest say
J | him when he was taken to the lockup WAS il
n bearing distance when the blows were struck.
Vim. McKim said he was in the dining roof
and saw a plan who looked like the prisons
t strike George Davis with his fist, diagram wa
e shown to the witness Of the dining room; saw
A | ANAL man strike Charles DaYla; saw the defen
: dAnt in the street and Helped 70 arrest linn tn
p | prisoner resembles the man who struck Davis
|, | but would not positively swear to it.
l Samuel I, Strang, pohce officer, testified
;, seeing the pTlsohar IA the dining room and {
= tle fact Of bis arresting hm In the street tina
told fynria
D. aud demanded his arrest Sweeney offered no re
, sstance; Georgy saw the prisoners face whe
be ordered his arrest
g. Robert Nansaht, 3 policeman, corroborate
" the above witness, aud testified to assisting il
"a One arrest. He corroborated the other witnesse
81 to the dress Of the prisoner.
| JOHN Davis constable, was sworn and said h
Id assisted III the a. fest heard DAVIS tell the OH
Robert Merritt testified to being about fou
AZ feet away from Davis when he was struck hear
IN Sweeney say he meant business, and saw hi
or folfing up his sleeves saw small man strik
=. the officer.
81 Or. VIM. Elmer testified to attending the d.
I'd ceased, after he was hurt, and to making pos
It. morten examination; he said blow from til
or fist would produce fracture OF the skull suft
- eient to produce death, and exhibited skull I
the fury to explain to them the force Of = bio
that would cause fracture; he found d.
pressed fracture OF the temporal bone, clotte
w NTH blood he had no doubt that the fractul
examined Sweeney's hand after the occurrence
tz and found the second knuckle Of his hand vel
ke red. The doctor underwent lengthy cross-el
ia animation as to the probabilities OF blow fro
w the fist and also from billy or blackjack.
I'd DR.. Henry Elmer, son Of the last witness
by baw there was ring on the temple Of the d,
se ceased, caused by the blow, in which the fl
d would lit there was red line along the temp
az from the eyebrow to the ear he had i
n doubt but that the fracture produced death.
i. John Bishop, Jr., was sworn, who testife
re that Sweeney won't into the dining room to see
fi.e1d but was resisted by Davis, who told hit
at to go out, the deft struck George in the giant
All | Of the neck; didn't see any one else h
IA. bun; saw several chairs raised, but could n,
N, say whether any one was hit with the chair
adj cav a small, dark complicated man get up fror
gs the table, as if to strike, but was not posity
le- whether he struck any one or net the
on was great confusion in the room; Sweer
was noisy and excited; heard Davis te
he the officers to arrest Sweeny; saw
NJ dark complicated man strike officer Vansan
,ss he struck him with his fist it was not Sweene
Il who struck him. The witness underwent
al lengthy cross-exaunation but nothing Of impo
nv tance was ELECTED.
lst The Court adjourned until9 "a A NJ on Thur
lal day morning. CHARLES.
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