Orangeburg news and times. [volume] (Orangeburg, S.C.) 1875-1877, 1877-07-21

On arriving aL the place for trial the
latter case WIS set for trial first, and
Immediately AS. Norton, constable,
! began to spout law i'll his defence and
i'll opposition to nc in regard TO I he
irregular manner Of drawing the
jury. | III once saw that if these
worthy (?) officers Of the law were
permitted to DO rs they pleased that
force and injustice would take ne
place Of law and Justice. l Of course
strcnuously opposed all irregularities,
and would not suffer the igr anc c, j,
the spite, the envy nor the Gu, .ity Of
either o! t!icm 20 do dctrimcnt to my
client. In the case or Peter Laur-
cncc .juiy Of six white men was en-
pancllcd and tried the case, and dcs-
ritc the most monstrous violation Of
all law and practice by the Trial
Justice i'll examining the witnesses
and charging the jury, The six white
persons rendered Il verdict of"not
guilty" Does this look rs if had
attempted to stir up strife or array
the whites against the blacks? 70
the contrary, there was not Il vii itc
man present who did not think that
This case WAS uniow AIDED and ought
not TO have been entertained, nor the
county placed TO the expense in nsti-
tuting ii. The next case was that Of
Saml Lewis, i respectable col o:cd
man Of some wealth, and IN appoint
cd ovcrsccr Of the high way in chat
district. la this ease II jury Of six
white persons was cmpancllcd, and
alter the most intense exhibition Of
feeling against the defendant by the
Trial Justice rs shown in his conduct
Of examinations of win sscs .nr the
Slate, i'll fact there wc re but two and
one c"ntradictcd the other directly rs
to the striking, asking tie witnesses
the most cxtravagant leading quc.-
tons, and ut one time dared force
witness to testify Il, he desired say
ing to him Ill protect you, also re
iuslng TO refer to he testimony for
the defendant, there being six Wit
ncsscs for the defence, except to make
it appear as helping the po- ecu,ion,
and also refusing to charge ,hc iury
with the law III po;u, Is rcll bY thc
counsel for the dctcndlnt; vet these
six white persons were unable to
agree upon verdict OF guilty anrl Il
inlstrla! was rendered How was
this? More tllan fifty persons, black
and white, will verify ;hi .t.t.n..
that this worthy (?) Trial Justice,
Harmon Rnsh, after giving The case
TO the jury, WAS aitcrward seen, and
l.clorc Il conclusion was reached hy
the jury, III private consultation ut
the door % the building in which lhc
jury were consulting, With the fore.
man Of the jury, and in the absence
Of counsel ] threatened this minis
ter ~ Of the law with presentation TO
our Grand Jury for official ni>con
duct. | was then asked 10 hear what
had already been said, and which |
could not confirm being ut the time
absent. 1t was afterwards discover
cd that the said juror in consultation
with the Trial Justice was The cause
Of a miatrial.
This conduct OH the part Of The
Trial Justice was condemned by ali
persons, black and white, rs outrage.
Gus, and the best Of feeling existed be-
tween the races, each sympathizins
with the poor man, Sam Lewis, who
was TO be tried by such Trial Jus
t;cc. Il is we'll TO state tha, Sam'l
Lewis offence consisted in trying 10
proven, West Jones thc plaintiff from
shooting Peter Lawrence, cnc Of the
men repairing the Highway under
his charge OH the day iii question.
The case was next set for rchcarinc-
on Thursday llth inst, when the
aforesaid scenes, and exhibition Of
feeling intensified, reappearci. A