The record-union., 1898-12-24
A BATCH OF PARDOhS.
NINE CONVICTS TO BE LIBER-
ATED TO-DAY.
The History of Their Cases and the
Grimes They Were Sen
fenced For.

sentenced in 1882.
Charles Gibson, Kern County-Mur
der; life; sentenced in 1898.
w. A Gibson, Kern County-Mur-
der; life; sentenced in 1898
William Ryan, Kings County-Mur-
der in the second degree; fourteen
years; sentenced in 1895.
Thomas II. Maupin, Shasta County
| Murder in the second degree; twelve
years; sentenced in 1897.
Burr Beebe, Modoc County-Murder;
life; sentenced in 1884
Cornelius J. Hooly, San Luis Obispo
County-Assault to murder; one and
half years sentenced in 1898.
Al Cobble, Los Angeles County--Em-
bezzlement; five years; sentenced in
| 1896.
John W. Flood, San Francisco-Fel-
ony; seven years; sentenced in 1896.
The foregoing named men will this
morning step out of prison-free. Glenn
ency has been granted them by Cover
nor Budd, and their Christmas presents
will be liberty
While the acts. of the Governor, so
| far as personal liberty is concerned,
amounts to the issuance of pardons,
the men have not been restored to citi-
zenship-not been vested with their
erstwhile civil rights. The documents
they so free on are called "commuta-
tions." Ever since one of Californias
Governors made wholesale Jail deliv
cry, the word pardon has been in
disrepute, and Governor Budd seems to
have preferred the word almost
equally ful-'commutation.'
| lria of ha ariv, fpr n h
the men were convicted, and Of the rea-
sons on which communications" were
granted, follow:
convicted in Fresno County of the crime
of murder in the second degree, and
was sentenced to serve fifty years at
| San Quentin Prison. A petition for the
pardon of the prisoner had been pre-
| sented to Governor Markham, who
shifted the responsibility to the shoul-
ders of his successor. In 1894 the State
Board Of Prison Directors recommend
ed a communication of sentence from fifty
to thirty-five years. The report of the
present Board Of Prison Directors sets
forth that Sullivan had been poorly and
inadequately defended in his trial. The
prosecuting attorneys in the case and
| N.
case was tried, all believed that the
ends Of justice would have been sub
served by a conviction of manslaughter,
the extreme penalty for which is ten
years imprisonment. Eight of the jul
rors who convicted Sullivan and sixty
eight Senators and Assemblymen sign
ed the petition for his pardon, and upon
these showings Governor Budd COM
/ II.
In March, 1893, Charles Gibson was
convicted of murder and sentenced to
prison for the term of his natural life.
! The crime was committed in Bakers
field, Kern County, Fletcher Burton be-
| ing the victim. There seems to be
grave doubts as to whether Gibson was
really guilty, new evidence having been
| found since the trial showing him to be
| innocent. Two brothers of Fletcher
| Burton, the man killed, make affidavit
! that they do not believe Gibson was
| guilty, and ask that he be pardoned.
| The petition for pardon was also sign
ed by the prosecuting attorney, the
trial Judge and each of the twelve
| jurymen who heard the case. On these
| grounds his sentence was commuted,
and he will spend Christmas a. free
! man.
W A. Gibson, a brother Of Charles
| Gibson, was convicted jointly with his
brother for the murder of Burton. He,
| too goes free to-day.
! In March, 1895, William Ryan was
convicted of murder in the second de-
| gree for shooting a man named Nc
| Caffery, and was sentenced to serve
/ fourteen years. The killing was done
| in Kings County. 1t was set forth in
the petition for pardon that the kill
ing of McCaffery was really acci
| dental Ryan, it appears, was trying
| to shoot another man who had just
shot and killed his Ryan's) father. He
missed the man he was after and the
| bullet, going through a wall, struck and
killed McCaffery. The petition for par
don was signed by ten of the jurymen
who tried the case, and by numerous
citizens of prominence in Kings Coun-
ty. Ryan goes free to-day.
| Way up in Shasta County in March,
| 1897, Thomas H. Maupin killed a man
named RAIDER, and was convicted of
murder in the second degree and SEN
| fenced to serve twelve years. He is
| among the lucky ones, and from the
body of the petition, it would appear
| that lucky is the right word, Maui
pin, according to officials and others in
Shasta County, bore an excellent rep
utation before the killing, and was the
father of a large family. The meat of
| the petition was that RAIDER the man
/ killed, was of a violent and dangerous
disposition, and was probably the ag-
| gressor in the controversy out of which
the offense grew" and on that show
ing the communication was granted.
Eleven of the jurors and the trial Judge
| joined in the request for a pardon. It
was set forth that RAIDER was a bully
and that he dragged Maupin around
| by the hair before the latter killed him.
On July &c, 1884, Burr Beebe was
confined in San Quentin for the term
of his natural life for the murder Of a
| neighbor named Phillips in Modoc
| County Phillips, according to the rec
| ords and the affidavits accompanying
| the petition, was a bully, and upon ev-
cry possible occasion made life miser-
/ able for Beebe. He is said to have
abused the latter's children, drove his
| cattle into his field and paStured them
| there. turned the water out of his ir-
rigating ditch and finally held him up
and beat him shamefully. The petit
| tion was signed by most of the promi-
nent people in the county.
About two years ago Cornelius J.
Hooley. a young man in his teens, liv-
ing in San Luis Obispo County, fired
| two shots at a man named Hubbard
one of which wounded the horse the
latter was riding. Young Hooley was
| convicted on a charge of assault to
| commit murder and abol1t nine months