Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1898-03-07
TRIAL NEARLY ENDED.
DEPUTIES CASE WILL GO TO THE
JURY THIS WEEK.

Every TIece VI ENiucnCe
| duced by the Defense Has Been Con-
| tradicted by the Prosecution-OnIyo One
Deputy Acknowledged That He Fired.
The trial of Sheriff Martin and his de-
| puties is expected to end this week.
| The evidence is all in, the law points of
| the case have been heard and nothing
now remains to be given the jury but
| the closing speeches of the attorneys
| and the charge of the judge.
On Saturday the legal battle on the
| points of law was fierce and long and
every point was gone over carefully and
| in detail. Attorney Frank w. Wheaton,
for the defense, occupied nearly two
hours. He made a thorough argument
of all the points, quoting numerous
points of law from stack Of books as
vate person may lawfully endeavor to
prevent those whom he sees engaged in
riot or rout from executing their pur-
pose, and he may stop those whom he
shall see coming to join them, and may
arrest those who are not engaged in it.
| hbu ioi WIS Puipooc uc may id"iullS
arm himself and make use of his arms
in suppresslng the riots
Attorney Scarlet, for the prosecution,
made an able argument in reply to Mr..
Wheaton, lasting for over an hour He
said that the deputies where not the
| sheriff's posse, and were not properly
brought together to serve.
Referring to the arms Mr.. Scarett said
the sheriff should state how the men
should be armed and said it would not
be right for the sheriff to tell his men to
come armed and they respond with
Calling gun. He said they should
guard against an excessive loss of life.
| He insisted there was no justification
shown for the shooting and said the
| jury should be instructed for convc-
| tion.
Mr.. McGahren, Mr.. Garman and the
district attorney also discussed the mat
ter briefly in support of Mr.. Scarlett.
| At 12.45 o'clock court was adjourned
until Monday morning, and the attor-
neys will make their closing pleas to
the jury today. Mr.. Scarlett will open
for the prosecution. He will be follow
ed by Mr. Lenahan and Mr.. Palmer for
the defense, and District Attorney Mar
tin will close for the commonwealth
The taking of testimony on behalf of
the defense suddenly collapsed on FRI
day.. Less than a dozen of the men ac-
cused of murder were placed on the
stand. Among the few who were called
upon to testify to save their necks only
one had the courage to acknowledge
that he fired a shot, and he fired only
once. Were it not for the seriousness
of the case, the efforts of the defense to
save the defendants from punishment
would be considered ludicrous. AS it is,
the high-priced attorneys who were paid
to get the sheriff and his posse clear
were unable to produce evidence to
| justify the shooting, and II favorable
verdict must be obtained some other
way.
Deputy A. L. Hess was captain of
Company A, of the sheriff's posse, at
Lattimer. Hess swore positively in
reiteraton of his former statement that
he did not give the order to fire, and
that he did not fire.
The commonwealth then tried to es-
tablsh the fact that the deputies had
made light of the killing; that they held
convivial parties and joked and laughed
about the carnage at Lattimer. Hess
admitted that the deputies met in re-
union, but it was purely social. Attor-
ney Garman wanted to know the name
of the deputies organization, whether it
was the Deputy Sheriifs' Social Club"
Hess said there was no name, so far as
he was aware.
John A. Salem, of Harrisburg, for
merly of Hazleton, testified to being a
deputy for four days. He said he never
fired a shot and returned his gun after
the trouble just as it had been handed
to him.
Il fired one shot," said Charles j.
Haens. He was the first and only one
of the deputies to admit that he shot.
He acknowledged that at West Halle
ton he saw Deputy Platt level gun at
| striker. On croSs-eXaminaton the
witness said he did not fire at any par
ticuar point of the mems body; that he
did not take aim and that he did not de-
sire to kill and did not think he shot to
take life.
Thomas Hall, captain Of one Of the
companies, told about Lattimer and ap-
proximately the same story as before re-
lated. He denied having fired. He did
not assist with the wounded, for he was
detailed to stand on guard.
When Mr.. Hall left the stand Sheriff
Martin was recalled. He testified that
many OF the strikers whom he met at
West Hazleton were armed. He saw
three men who had their coats off with
revolvcrS in their hip pockets. The