The morning call., 1893-06-16
FLOOD is GUILTY.
Convicted by the Verdict
of a Jury.
HIS NONCHALANT DEMEANOR.
General Surprise at the Result, as
the Jury Disagreed for
Nearly Six Hours.

Ex-Cashier Flood wore a look of su-
preme Indifference, nay, even content, as
he sat in Judge Seawel's court yesterday.
Yet it was to all intents and purposes the
supreme moment of his life. for he was
listening to the Judges charge to the jury
on the question as to whether or not he
should be sentenced to q number of years
in San Quentin for embezzlement.
Judge Seawell appeared with a volumn-
GUS roll of typewriter paper in his hand.
and. adjusting his spectacles. proceeded
without comment to deliver his charge.
He very briefly informed the jury of the
nature Of the case they were called upon
to decide, and after commenting upon
Floods position with both the old firm of
Donohoe, Kelly & Co.. and afterward with
the incorporation bearing that name, said
that he would read a few instructions S
which had been suggested by the attorney
for the defense, w. w. Foote. FOote was
not present in court. having an important
engagement in the McWhirter trial at
Fresno.
The instructions were somewhat lengthy.
They cautioned the jury that in order to
convict they must be certain that Flood
took this S164.000 or whatever sum it was,
u not while the old firm was in existence, but
since Its incorporation as a company. n o
fact of there being a general deficiency
must influence thsm without an absolute
conviction that Flood was not only respon-
sble for such deficiency but had fraudu-
lently appropriated the money to his own
use. Proof of the neglect of the defend
ant to account for money received by him
as clerk, agent or servant of the company
n alOnp
the crime of embezzlement
Returning to his own charge, Judge Sea-
well said while the evidence produced
by the prosecution tends To overthrow the
presumption of the defendants lnnOceGc ce
the jury cannot put aside the evidence of
the defendants previous goad character.
In fact careful consideration should be
given to the evidence OF the defendants
good character at the time the accusation
was made The crime charged against
the defendant is purely statutory one,
and the jury should be satisfied that every
element of the crime had been proved by
the Prosecution before bringing IN verdict
Of guilty against the defendant"
The Judge further instructed the jury
that a defendants confession of his guilt
was not sufficient to convict, butif the jury
found that 1t had been proved that there
was an amount of money taken, and that
subsequent to the discovery of the theft
the defendant voluntarily confessed that
he took the money, The jury might con-
slider that confession as evidence against
the defendant.
On the other hand, the mere fact of
Floods assertion that he had paid the
money over the counter being proved 10 be
true would be no bar to his conviction.
After duly instrueting the jury upon the
form of verdict it would be necessary 10
give in either of the two cases the Judge
dismissed them to consider.
At this point A. w. Manning, foreman
of the jury, rose and said: 'Y our Hon or,
l would like to state before the charge is
finally finished that you give US some ln-
struction as regards the elder Donohue.
am pretty sure that some of the jurors will
fad some XcrptionS because he was not
put on the witness-stand, and l would like
10 hear something Oh that head.
Some of the jurors muttered things here
| and shook their heads in dissension. and
one juror, L. P. Jacobs. went so far as to
say, you're very foolish"
well, that's all right" said Manning,
Pm merely doing this to save time. l
want to hear from his Honor"
Judge Seawell looked surprised, but
after moment said: "Well. do not see
that there is anything in the case that
justifes me in giving you instructions on
that subject"
"Only that we are not to draw any infer
ence because he was not placed ON the
SIanQ {! asked Manning.
Il see no reason why the Jury should
draw any inference from his failure to tes-
tlfy in the case" was the reply.
1t was Just quarter to II when the
jury retired to deliberate. Flood immed-
ately lit big cigar and conversed good
humoredly with his junior counsel, w. C..
Chapman, and with everybody else that
happy. too. for be laughed and joked all
the time.
At noon the jury sent word that they
had not agreed. and Judge Seaweli thought
II they had something to eat they might be
brought to better frame of mind. So
Deputy Sheriff Clancy took them out and
treated them.
Al half-past 1 every one trooped into
court again. but the jury still argued In
the room set apart for its use. All sorts
OF conJectures were distributed, from their
standing eleven to one in favor of convic-
ton to presumption that they stood ex-
actly the other way. Flood came back.
sim smoking, and, remarking that he felt
better after his lunch. sat comfortably
down to await the result.
And so the afternoon wore on. Barnes
had given up all hope of the jury finding a
verdict and had betaken himself to an
other court. Assistant District Attorney
Hinkle kept watch alone. There were one
or two false alarms" which sent every
body flocking into court, but 1t was not
until quarter to O'Clock that a loud
knocking at the juryroom door intimated
that some conclusion had been arrived at.
The jury came into court, Barnes hurried
in, the Judge was called and the following
verdict handed in ana read:
In the case of The People versus Johu
w. Flood.
'We, the jury, find the defendant guilty
as charged. and fix the amount which he
fclonionsly misappropriated at S163, 700.
And We recommend the defendant to
the mercy of the court.
"A. w. MANNING, Foreman"
Judge Seawell accepted the verdict, and
discharged the jury. He fixed the 23d
inst for passing sentence
The verdict took all by surprise. 1t was
thought that there was at least one Juror
who had made up his mind to stand out.
and when the verdict was given there was
hush of some moments duration.
Flood was evidently taken aback. He
sat for awhile with his head lowered and
his hands nervously playing with the rail
of his chair. Almost Immediately. how
ever, he recovered and taking fresh cigar
from his pocket lit it and smoked as calmly
as if nothing had haprened Ha shooI,