Kansas City journal. [volume] (Kansas City, Mo.) 1897-1928, 1898-01-04
SEVENTEEN NOT GUILTY yERDICTS
INSTEAD OF TWELVE.
Says He Secured 15G Felony Convic-
tiOns in 1897, but the Records
Show There Were Only Six
ty-fOur-Mass of Mis-
statements.

u lUc COIuo
OF the criminal court for 1897, made yes
terday, proves that Mr.. Lowe deliberately
misstated the facts as to the work done
in the criminal court, and falsified the fig
ures. lie says in his report of the criminal
court work for the year:
Where convictions are referred to. only
tnose convictions where the punishment
was by imprisonment in the penitentiary
Is intended, unless otherwise designated,
and where verdicts of not guilty are re-
1erred to, is meant verdicts of not guilty in
felony cases only"
Mr.. Lowe says further in his report: For
the year 1887 the records of the criminal
court show that there were only twelve
Verdicts of not guilty."
The records show seventeen verdicts by
Jur1es OF not guilty, instead of twelve, as
ne gives 1t, and each of them was in n
leiony case, punishable, if found guilty, by
a term in the penitentiary. Here are the
seventeen, as copied from the criminal
court records for 1897:
January Is. Charles Jones, grand lar
ceny.
January 20. Albert Ridenour, burglary and
grand larceny.
January 20, Burt Allen, burglary and
January %. Joseph L. Graves, murder I'm
the first degree.
February u. Alice Platt, murder in the
first degree. |s
Eebruary j.. Della spaulding. murder.
february 70. Thomas Johnson. burglary
Siarch 10. Ernest Bell. burglary.
May l; Fred H. Waite, murder.
June y. James Claggett. robbery in the
Septemper u, J. A. Ryan, embezzlement.
September y. J; F: p: Keeran. seduction.
SSe epp,ennberr q =, Philip Wheeler. burglary.
conversion of property.
October u, John Kennedy. train robbery,
EEe ~ ~ John Schlegel. murder.
In first degree. o'''
BESIDES these verdicts of acquittal in fell
the Ben +. Gates murder case. which was
niais dismissed, amounting practically to
tHu \ 9'p peps ,eiHnX cases which were CON,
making practically twenty-five acouittsIs
in felony cases.
h. Mr. Ia Love GEs says in his report that in 1897
ne had lat felony convictions. The records
OF the court show that he had only sixty
four convictions by juries.
froDaniy the best test of a prosecutors
aunt! Is the percentage of convictions he
secures on jury trials. Thu records show
ehar M AR; 10 Lowe avoided jury trials when
erer ~ Souii; 70 avoid jury trials he COM
owed them to plead guilty, giving them
absurdly low sentences for doing so. In
t me entire year there We're only e~ighty-fve
trlais by jury in the criminal court and
slXty-four of them resulted in convictions
seventeen acquittals and four hung juries'
Inc following table shows the entire num-
Der OF felony cases disposed of in the Grim
maj court during the year:
Acquitted by juries II
Convicted by juries "a
Pleas of guilty accepted ...,,..... 1s9
Dismissed by state a
Total cases disposed of 2sO
The court records show that the 162
pleas nf pI1itfy annnnfa1 h,. A. - r..
felony cases were mostly from desperate
criminals. the most of them burglars. In
most of these cases he agreed to the i'm
position of sentences that were about one
fifth what a jury would have given il the
cases had gone to trial with a competent
prosecutor. A partial list of the 1852 cases,
and the sentences given, follows.
Charles Brinker, burglary, six months in
Jail. ~
George E. Ross. embezzlement, two years.
George Ray. grand larceny, three months.
Henry Clark. highway robbery, two
years.
Charles W. Home, grand larceny, ten
viii Wilson. burglary. sixty DAYS.
~. Swartz, assault to kill. six months.
William b. Porter. embezzlement, two
Walter Shorts, grand larceny. two years.
frank schouse. grand larceny. two years.
Mike Rowan. burglary. sixty days.
James Webb. assault to kill. one year.
Edward Rider. grand larceny. ten DAYS.
nsssr S RTiGsel higih nsi ia ra rSSbbbeTy, two Years.
-" io''0I oiit year.
James Williams. burglary. two years.
William Thistle. alias %"Juggy." assault to
Kill. four months.
Ernest Ridgeway. train robbery. one year.
Dave Harris. burglary, sixty days.
Henry Farmer. assault to kill. six months.
George Harris. burglary, two years.
James Hubbard. burglary. nine months.
Earl Hanley, burglary. thirty days.
GianGe E SnlIj9nn. Pb% nrsIaTy: thirty days.
Thomas Wilkes. assault to kill. six
William Dryden, highway robbery. six
months.
William Cox. assault to kill. one year.
Oscar Rollins. assault to kill. ninety days.
James Considine, grand larceny. three
years.
Oscar Hughes. assault to kill. six months.
I;en Smith. burglary. one year.
George anne assault to kill. six months.
Thomas Casey. murder. two years.
Ton sa Armstrong uf burglary eight months;
guilty by dozens, and escaping with from
tiary,, was never seen in the criminal court
till Mr.. Lowe became prosecutor. OF the
seventy.nine burglars who appeared in the
criminal court last year. twenty-nine were
convicted by juries. five We're acquitted.
one was dismissed. and forty-four were al
lowed to plead guilty and get short SEN
Until Mr.. Lowe became prosecutor the
man who tried to kill another was looked
assault with intent to kill" was placed
rext to murder and always vigorously pros
s seftsa; quoted asd here 4 Tef shoWs t,' to II! ms. I Ilsss Of Of
them off with a few days or months in Jail
if they ! loaded guilty. The whole number
of cases&'f assault with intent to kill'
disposed OF in the year was twenty-three.
OF this number five We're tried by jury and
teen were allowed to plead guilty.
A fair test of a prosecutors ability is
shown by his success in murder cases.
During the last year thirteen murder cases
came up in the criminal court. Six were
convicted by juries. one pleaded guilty and
was given two years. five were acquitted
by juries. and in one there were three
hung juries and it was dismissed. making
quittals of persons indicted for murder. OF
the seven convictions for murder. only one
was for murder in the first degree, and
he was William Williams. a negro who
was poorly defended. The six Others were
indicted for murder in the first degree.
hut escaped with verdicts of lesser degree.
Prosecutor Lowe compares his record with
that of Marcy X. Brown, but during his
term he secured seven convictions of first
degree murder.
An important item to the taxpayers.
which Mr.. Lowe did not refer to at all in
his report. is the aggregate of fines and
costs imposed in the criminal court. which
go into the revenue fund of the county to
institutions. During the term of Henry
Withers as prosecutor he averaged Sa.0 a
year in fines and costs, which was turned
into the revenue fund. Marcy X. Brown.
the revenue fund of the county from fines
and costs imposed.
The records of the criminal court show
that during the past year the total fines
which. If collected. would go into the rev
enue fund of the county. aggregated
sees 81. The total fines and costs collected
and turned over to the county treasurer