The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1889-01-12
HASTINGS COURT.


tnoEf WIN
In the Hastings Court yesterday the
first case was that % James Sydnor lcol-
ofedA convicted of assault and battery
on the person Of Simon Cohen lcoloredl
hv the Police Court and sent 10 jail Tor
ninety DAYS with fine OF $40 and costs.
Cohen stated that he wasN shoemaker,
and kent n shop near the Richmond,
Fredericksburg and Potomac depot; that
the accused had left pair Of shoes with
him for repairs, and that on calling Tor
the shoes ON the 5ih Of December, with
.ort any provocation whatsoever, the
prisoner assaulted him, striking him over
the head with the heal Of one OF the
shoes many times, and that from the
severe injuries sustained he was unable
to work for several days
The accused took the stand and said
that on the Saturday previous TO the
difficulty hc left the shoes with Cohen
for repairs. saving that he would call for
chem ON the following Monday; thai he
went to the country and old not return
mill Two or three DAYS after the ap-
nointod time. and that when he went for
Inc shoes the old man had just com
mcnced mcnding them; that PEE work
WAS being done where he wanted them
-ewed and he eudeav0red 90 Get the
shoes and Offered 10 pay for the work
which had been done but that Cohen re-
fused 10 let him have them, and tried TO
cut him with knife. Thereupon he
lthc prisoner. ia sclf-defense, struck the
old man with his fist. and as soon as he
wa. cxtricatcd, ran out Of the house ana
called for help.
The iurv reversed the judgment of the
Police Court and set the prisoner free
Philip Branch tcolored). WAS tried on
a warrant charging that lac did, on the
the 25th day of December, feloniously
break and enter I'm the nighttime Of that
dav the store of DR. George 4. Book.
with intent 10 commit larceny therein.
The Jury found the accused not guilty.
James Howard was arraigned on an
indictment for felony, in that he did on
the night on the nth day Of December
feloniolsly take and carry away from
the person of Charles Kondrick Sls -
I'm United States currency This case Is
similar one 10 thatsof Edward Casper,
reported in Yesterday mornings TIMES.
MI kcn6mck was the first witness in
ir0duCed by the Commonwealth. lie
stated that he and several of the girls
who performed in the Musee were down
In the wiue.room drinking together
when James Howard and Edward Cas-.
per came into The room; that they al
were drinking together that he set mp
drinks for the crowd, and admitted that
he did not know the amount which be
spent in doing so. that he got drunk,
and the amount specified was stolen
from him He said that the currency
produced in court was .tac sMtt OF thai
which was lost by HIM, and which was
recovered of The prisoner
Mable Steel testified that she saw the
two men have their hands on kendrick
bot did not see them take the money
from him: that she knew he had a large
amount of money, having seen hin
handle it that the men, after they left
the plaintiff exchanged some money
from one 10 the other
Mr. Thompson. the proprietor, testified
that ten dollars was found behind the
door of the room i'm which the robbery
was alleged % have been committed, anf
said That he could Identify the money pro
duced i'm court as of the same denomina
ton as that which was found
Policeman Foster testified as 90 the
arrest
The rest of the testimony In the cast
was similar TO the evidence in the Casper
case. which was reported in the TIME oil
Yesterday. The evidence closed about
O'Clock. when the Commonwealth aitOr
ncv lead the argument in a speech oil
about fifteen minutes lie was followed
bv Mr. Samuel Page, counsel for The
prisoner, who spoke fiity-seyen minutes
i'm warm advocacy of the innocence OF
his client
Colonel Spotswood closed the argu
ment with q very forcible and eloquent
speech. He handled the evidence in
good STYLE, and commended the cOnsid
Grafton of all who heard him The jury
however, did not consider the evidence
of nature 10 justify the conviction OF
the prisoner and soon returned verdict
of not guilty.
Colonel Npotswood yesterday had in
his possession kilograms which showed
that Casper and Howard were not known
in the community in which they said thai
they lived.
After the prisoners were dismissed
Sergeant Tomlnson told them that they
would be allowed twenty minutes in
which time to nd the city Of their pres
enCe