Los Angeles daily herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1884-1890, 1886-05-21


tion was commenced at o'clock and
continued until o'clock this afternoon.
The State was represented by As.
sistant District Attorney Joy, assisted
by T. j. De Puy. ESQ.,, while Mr. Wicks
was represented by Hon. s. NJ. White.
The first testimony was that of the
complaining witness, j. Ii. lowering,
who swore substantially as follows: /
was sitting in chair between 8 and 10
this morning in this room on one side of
the table. l was near the center leg OF
the table. Mr.. Wicks sat on the oppo-
site side Of the table. diagonally across
from me. about two feet nearer the end
of the table nearest the door leading to
the clerks office. We were there talk.
ing about the papers. Mr.. Wicks drew
a pistol and said he would shoot me.
Right after this came shot. The pistol
was pointing towards me, generally
speaking. was looking at him and saw
the barrel of the pistol. l was looking
right into the muszle of the pistol.
When the shot was fired could not see
where it pointed, but the shot came
close upon the words that he would
shoot me, and Just after saw the pistol
pointed at me. 1 felt the force of the pow
der on my face and smelled it. | felt it
on the right side OF my face. was
made dizzy by the shot. Soon after
came the second shot / cannot tell
what took place between the two shots.
As he fired the first shot stood up.
He was also getting to his feet. /
looked down upon his pistol. was
higher than his pistol was. have ex-
aminsd the holes in the wall since. The
one in the door and one in the wall.
THE holes were here measured, and the
one in the door leading from the Board
OF Supervisors room into an old passage
way going into the rooms of the County
Auditor, was found to be 7 feet above
the floor; the other in the plaster, some
four feet further west, is feet and /
inch above the floor. The platform on
which the men were seated is 7 inches
above the foor.l The witness, continu-
ing, stated: At the time Of the first shot
be held the pistol in both hands, one being
under the barrel of the pistol. 1 think
the hole in the door would be about the
level of my head. 1t was short time,
Eve to ten seconds, between the two
shots. did not see the pistol at the
time the second shot was fred. He
seemed to be excited at the time. As to
the exact place sat at the table can
not say.
ON CRoss.RXAMINATIoN
He stated: / could not say which side
of the center leg Of the table was sit
ting on. I might have been straddling
1t. | could not say just bow much fur
Their down the table Mr.. Wicks was. |
am sure was rising at the time of the
first shot saw him take out the pistol
and cock it. When be fred
it / could not say Just how he
held it. 1t was near his lap. | was not
running away. wanted TO get hold Of
the pistol, / do not know If 1 leaned
over the table to catch it. rose to my
feet. Cannot say how near up was.
At the time of the second shot l cannot
tell where was.
was on my feet. There was a mo-
IL ent of time when could not say what
happened. / have not looked to see if
there is any powder on my face. l do
not know if there is any powder burn On
my face The effect of the shot was to
give me headache, not the smart of q
burn. | felt a conclusion. l do not
know if it was the ball or the powder
that produced it. / have had lots Of
talks with Mr.. Wicks. do not re.
member that at any time l told him he
had stolen the papers. think he did
take some OF the exhibits. Ihass said
so to several people. do not weaken
on that. Them is my sentiments"
may have said so to him, l do net
know why / should not. l am sure /
was in this room when the second shot
was fired. do not think had passed
more than a couple of steps.
Mr.. Wicks may have said before he
| fired the second shot that he did not
want to shoot me, but only to scare me.
think the first shot went into the door.
Mr.. THEo. SEELEY,
One of the Deputy County Clerks, was
the next witness. He stated: | was
speaking to Mr.. Hammond, at my seat
in the corner of the room. / was look
ing towards the place where the diff
Guilty occurred. listened to their con.
versation because | was interested in the
papers they were speaking about. Mr..
| Wicks told lowering two or three times
not to speak to him any more, that he
wished to meet him as a stranger. Lew
ering said he would speak as he pleased
about it. Mr.. Wicks told him to leave
the room and he said he would not.
Then Mr.. Wieks jumped up and shot
lowering was still sitting in the chair
and at the shot threw back his
head. He was sitting nearly
opposite TO lowering. ran up and saw
lowering trying to get over at Wicks,
and was afraid there would be some
trouble. SO got hold of Levering and
tried to get him out of the room. / said
"For Gods sake do not shoot" Mr..
| Wicks said: II do not want TO shoot
him, only wanted to scare him." and
| then he fired again. lowering was sit
ing down when Mr.. Wicks fred the
first shot. The latter fired as he rose
up. He was halfway up. could not
tell Just where the pistol was aimed.
just before the shot saw it, looked
to see how LeverinR was taking it. He
was sitting down. am positively cer-
tain of it. Mr.. Weeks seemed to handle
the pistol as an expert. Before the seu-
ond shot he held it up and played with
the hammer Familiarity. When the sec.
ond shot was fred / stood between the
two men. | think from the rela-
tive position of the parties it
was the first ball that took effect in the
plaster. 1.-THE highest up and the fur
thest out of range Of Leveringl. If
had any thought Mr.. Wicks was going
to shoot him would not have got be-
tween them. did not think was in
any danger in getting there. had no
idea that he meant to shoot lowering. /
called out not to shoot because of the
lady who was in the room. She was
badly frightened. This witness here
located the parties at the table at the
time Of the first shot They were d.
rectly opposite according to Mr.. Nicely,
and the range Of the ball away to the
right Of lowering. He stated further
that the pistol did not seem to be point
ed at Leveringl, Continuing, he said:
| could not see clearly the position he
held the pistol in, but Judging from
where they sat and where the ball
struck am sure il could not have
been aimed near him. / ran between
because was sure he was not shooting
with intent to hit lowering. At the
| firing Of the second shst lowering was
some 5 feet east of the center leg OF the
table and off the platform. From this
statement the second shot would seem
to have been directed away 10 to - feet
west of lowering. did not hear Mr..
Wicks say 81 will shoot you" II he
had aaid Al / ahnuld have haas..1 IL hs