The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-01-17
GIVES FITS TO JUDGE GoBER.
SENATOR CARTER BOBs UP WITH
FORMAL CHARGES.

The Doubling OF "a Prisoners Sent
cnce Out of Court After He Had
Been Formally Sentenced the
POpuIist Senator's Attncl<--He Con-
tends That the Act Was an Impair
dOnRbIe Violation of the COnstitu-
tiOnaI Rights of the Prisoner.
Atlanta, Ga. Jan. 16.-Formal charges
against Judge George Il. Gober of the
Blue Ridge circuit were filed with the leg
islatlve investigating committee by Sena-
tor Yancey Carter to-day. The charges
are as follows;
Atlanta, Ca, Jan 5, 1s9.-To Hon. T. B.
Fielder, Chairman. and COMMITTEES: Gen
tlemen-I beg to submit the following in
the case of Judge George f. Gober, 20
whom 1 referred in my official report to
the Senate. where 1 mention the Nixon
case. This report was transmitted to the
House Of Representatives, which you have
the honor TO represent. The papers in
this case are on file in the executive Of
flee, and sufficient, in my opinion, to make
out the following case:
The Judge and the solicitor admit that
the prisoner was brought into court and
formally sentenced, that he had been un-
der a pronounced sentence to jail for six
months, with an alternative fine imposed
That afterward, in a private converse
ton between the judge and the solicitor.
and in the absence of the prisoner, SEN
tence was knowingly and wifully entered
of record for a term of twelve months. 1t
appears, therefore, that the judge violated
the law and the most sacred rights of an
unprotected prisoner in the following par
ticulars:
First-He imposed years imprison-
ment on the prisoner In the absence of the
prisoner
second-He imposed the penalty OF a
years imprisonment on the prisoner not
In open court
Thlrd-He violated the constitutional
rights of the prisoner not to be placed IN
jeopardy twice for the same offense.
Fourth--He violated the constitutional
right OF the prisoner not TO be deprived
of his liberty without due process of law.
1t is no excuse for the judge that the
solicitor requested him TO do 1t, nor Is It
any excuse for the solicitor that the judge
sanctioned his proposition that Ignorance
of the law Is no excuse" Besides the
principles involved are too elementary for
| these gentlemen to plead ignorance. After
| the judge and the solicitor have pleaded
to the facts charged, what is there left
| for the court investigation to develop? All
| that could be added to the charges al
| ready pleaded to would be a disclaimer
/ from the solicitor that his motives, where
| bad or that In having the prisoners term
! doubled he was actuated byany thought
| that doubling the sentence would make
| the prisoner more likely to pay the alter
| native fine, to be divided between him and
| the other officers of the court. The rule
| applied by the judge and the solicitor 10
| persons coming before them for violations
| Of the law Is that the motive is not so
much to be arrived at by what the ac-
cused may say Of It, as by the maxim thar
a man not nOn-compos mentis must be
presumed to have intended the natural
consequences of his acts. The case, as
stands, Is ripe for judgment, and shows
at least an administration of the law In
reckless disregard Of the constitutional
rights Of the people, and in violation Of
all precedents made for the protection of
the helpless. Feeling sure that the
papers accessible to your committee and
on file in the executive office will make
out the above case, do not deem 1t nee
essary to furnish the names of witnesses
or put the state to that expense. / re-
quest the committee to look into this mat
ter thoroughly. l beg to cite the follow
ing elementary principles of law on this
case: Justice Harlan, in delivering the
opinion of the supreme court of the Unit
ed States In Hopt, Utah, 10 u. s. 5H QSSD
said: "Such being the relation which
citizen holds to the public, and the object
of punishment for public wrongs, the leg
slature has deemed it essential TO the
protection of one whose life or liberty
is involved in a prosecution for felony,
that he shall be personally present at the
trial, that is at every stage of the trial
when his substantial rights may be af-
fected by the proceedings against him. II
he be deprived Of his life or liberty with
out being so present, such deprivation
would be without due process of law re-
quired by the constitution"
Senator Carter also cites a list of other
eminent authorities on the same, closing
with this paragraph: 1.-THE furthest the
supreme court Of Georgia appears TO have
gone in derogation of these principles was
to hold that where the court had pro-
nounced its sentence, but 1t had not yet
been entered upon the minutes, the court
could, where the defendant requested 1t,
reconsider its sentence"
When the senator presented the charges
and specifications the committee ruled
that 1t had no jurisdiction to go outside
Of the cases OF Judges Reese and Sweat,
and, therefore, declined to go into that In
vestigation. Senator Carter also asked
the committee for its decision with ref
erence to allowing him to prefer charges
against other judges, according to hts
determination indicated on Jan. 4, when
he gave the names Of his witnesses In the
cases tried, and the committee ruled that
they could not take cognizance OF any
such charges, as the House had expressly
declined to pass a resolution permitting
the investigation Of any additional MEM
bers of the judiciary under the resolution
governing this investigation.