Kansas City daily journal., 1895-11-14
VERDICT OF NOT. GUILTY..
GEORGE PHILLIPS ACQUITTED OF THE
MURDER OF WILLIAM MITCHELL.
Excitement In the Criminal Court Room mt
Independence When the Verdict Was
Rcad-Mrs. Phillips Faints and
Mrs. Mitchell Weeps.

I'VE, the jury, find the defendant not
guilty" Such was the verdict in the case
of George Phillips the cable car gripman
tried in the criminal court at lndepend-
ence for the murder of William Mitchell
The verdict was returned after n delib-
erItion OF thirty minutes upon the part of
the Jurors. Then a sensational scene fol-
lowed. The last word of the verdict had
hardly fallen from the lips of the clerk
when there was yell from crowd of
cable railway men standing on the benches
of the court room. Above the roar of
approval was heard the shrek of wom-
an, 1t came from Mrs. Phillips as she
fell in a faint into the arms of her hns-
band, who was seated beside her. The
deputy marshals rushed into the court room
threatening everybody in sight with arrest
The confusion lasted several minutes. 1t
was some time before the court officers
could restore order. In the meantime Mrs
Phillips assisted by her husband, was con-
vryed into an ante-room, where restora-
had hung in the BALANCE, for the FIRST time
showed nervousness Tears trickled down
his face. The cable car employees who gave
vent TO their approval of the verdict gath
cred around him and congratulated him up
on the verdict of the jury.
There was another scene which many
lost sight of during the moments excite
ment attendant upon the verdict 1t was
that of a woman leaving the court room
Tears streamed down her face, but they
We're tears of sadness, not Of JOY. II was
who had been killed by Phillips on the
night of August p, 1884. There were none
to gather around her, and her weeping was
The case was given to the jury, at 2:iO
o'clock yesterday afternoon, after long ar
thu 9f tate "THa ana tS tbe p. defense 9s o oaoS
there came a tapping at the door Of the
jury room, and request was made Tor
paper and ink Shortly afterwards tn"
Jurors filed into the court room and the
foreman handed the verdict 10 the clerk
only two ballots We're taken by me Jurors RS,
The tltTt was practlcally unanimous FOR
acquttal. Eleven votes We're for finding
the defendant not guilty The twelfth slip
Of paper was blank. 1t belonged to Juror
NJ L. Hutchns who put in a blank, he
said, in order to see how the informal bal
lot would terminates The next ballot stood
they found their verdict ON the ground OF
When court opened yesterday morning
ii was known that Judge WoGOrd's in
structions would include a possible COnvic-
torney Elliott opened the argument FOR
the state and briefly reviewed tho eyldencc:
He referred TO the defendants wife and
purpose Of creating sympathy. He dwClt
at length on the various phases of the
testimony and The fnces of the Jurors
showed interest in what he was saying
Attorney Lyman, for tho defense followed.
dbd M Sy Syp9ea the Re9GFy ytba of bS4 Rs
a right to deal Mitchell a fatal blow on
the head for using vile epithets against
j
Of the jurors and said that Mrs. Mitchelrs
damage suit against the cable railway COM
pany had much to do with the case.
Special Counsel John O'Grndy followed
MIR. Lyman. lie said the allegation that
Mitchell had attempted TO draw a revolver
before being fatally assaulted was nonsense
ann was only used as an ingenious defense
10 clear Philips from Il just verdict of
murder
Attorney Reebc followed Attorney
OGrady, He spoke for the defense ana
Assistant ProsecutiiS Attorneys Neal ana
Botsforl also spoke for the prosecution.
Mr.. Neal dWelt on the fallacy of the plea
OF self-defense and showed the character
Of Mitchell 10 he good and above suspi-
cion The supposItion that Mitchell was
4lmci or that he intended bodily harm to
Phillips was, he said the merost pretense
upon the part OF the defense. MIR, Bots
ford briefly dwelt on the Instructions of
the court to the jury and touched on GER
tain points of the testimony.
Phillips, who walked out of the Inde-
pendenee court room at Independence yes
terlay free man, has been in tho county
jail ever since his arrest on the charge OF
murder on August q, 1884, Judge Wof-
charged with murder in the first degree.