The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-10-02
A HARD FIGHT FOR DuRRANr.
The PawnbrOker Not InfaIIibIe at
Identification.


San Francisco, Cal, oct. 1.-When the
Durrant trial was resumed this morning
Judge Murphy created a sensation by
announcing that one of the. jufors had
told him that some one had spoken to
him about the case. Juror Truman was
then called to the stand. He stated that
on Thursday last while riding with Juror
Crocker in a car, Henry ]. Mccoy, sec
retary of the Young Mems Christian AS
sociation, who entered .ae car, said to
him: IF you don't hang him (meaning
DurranD, we will hang you" Truman
said the remark was probably made in
his duty to bring the matter to the atten-
tion of the court. Judge Murphy there
upon issued an order for Mccoy to be
brought before him on Thursday next.
During the examination of the wit
nesses in the DurEant case this morning
the prosecution brought out the fact that
members of the signal corps, to which
Durrant belonged, had contributed to a
fund for the prisoners defense.
The defense proved by four witnesses
this morning that Adolph Oppenheim, the
pawnbroker who says Durrant tried to sell
him one of Blanche Lamont's rings is not
infallible an Identifying witness. Dur
rants attorneys recently had four young
men visit Oppenheim with articles Of jew
elry, ostensibly to pawn them. When he
gave his testimony against Durrant, OPP
penheim was asked about these visitors
and gave descriptions Of them which were
altogether at variance with the appear
ance of the young men who were called
to the stand this morning. Two of these
witnesses were forced to admit that they
were members of Durrants signal CORPS
and that they contributed to the fund for
his defense. Where Durranfs funds have
come from has mystified the police.
The proposition of admitting inferential
testimony to show the unreliability of the
roll call at Cooper College lectures, has
been in abeyance for some time but it
was brought up and probably settled fin
ally to-day. The reliability of those roll
calls is the most vital point in the de-
fense. The prosecution has sought to
to answer the roll call for absentees and
has witnesses who at other times have
answered for Durrant and others whom he
asked to answer. But none OF them was
connected with April 3.
The defense today, in addition to at
tackng Oppenheim on his inability to
properly describe persons visiting his
store, began to destroy his evidence by ALI
bi, by which it proposes to show whore he
was at 10 o'clock on the mornings between
April 3 and 10 within the dates Oppenheim
said Durrant had tried to sell the rings.
The roll call at the lecture delivered at
10 O'Clock on April 4 at Cooper College.
with Durrant marked present, was In
troduced, and IL was. in connection with
it, that the court ruled out the inferential
testimony. 1t is probable that the prose-
cution will have to put on the seventy
four students Of Durrants class and en-
deavor to find who answered for him
The students have been pOlled on the
question, but no one has yet been found
who will admit that he answered for fhe
alleged murderer. The defense foIlowe0
up its alibi on Oppenheim's testimony Nv
showing that on April g. soon after ii
O'Clock, Durrant was at the Lick Techni-
cal School, two miles from Oppenheirl' IS
store.