The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1899-06-23
SIX YEARS.
Haggerty Convicted and Gets
His Sentence.
Edward Caswell Goes to Saltwater for
Two Years, After duplicating
Another.

The jury in the Haggerty case re-
tired at about 4:30 o'clock Friday at
ternoon and at $50 o'clock in the eve
ming came in with verdict of guilty.
The Jury was unanimous for convic-
ton from the start. but one or two of
the jurors favored reducing the charge
to robbery in the second degree, in
stead of the first degree, as the indict-
ment read. The verdict found him
guilty of robbery in the first degree.
At two o'clock that afternoon. Hag
gerty and Edward Caswell were
brought into the court room to receive
their sentences. Caswell was the first
called up, having pleaded guilty to the
charge of grand larceny in the second
degree, in stealing a pocket book con-
tanning $40 from Sylvester Abbott's
house, where he was boarding at the
time. To the courts questions, he
stated that he was twenty-four years
of age and had no trade, but had been
farmer. He said that his parents are
dead and that he has lived in Mankato
ten or twelve years.
The court asked him whether he was
a user of intoxicating liquor to excess.
He replied that he was not, but had
been drunk once orstwice, and had been
arrested once for being drunk. The
court asked him whether he did not
think that if he had confined himself to
water that he would have gotten along
better.
= The court asked Caswell why he stole
the money and to state the circum-
stances of the case, and he replied that
he stole it for some one else. The court
asked who that party was, and Caswell
replied that his name was Bronson.
S. B. Wilson, attorney for Caswell
and Haggerty, asked for the clemency
of the court for Caswell for two reasons
The first was because the defendant had
confessed to the states attorney on the
promise of leniency, and the second was
because he had turned states evidence
against Bronson with the states pro-
mise of leniency. Bronson had been
arrested but the the action against him
had been dismissed.
County Attorney Hughes stated that
he had dismissed the case against
Bronson because he did not think that
there was sufficient evidence to hold
him. There was none, except that OF
Caswell although there were some sus-
picious incidents. He thought that
there was somebody implicated with
the defendant.
The court then sentenced Caswell to
two years in Saltwater penetentiary.
VIM. Haggerty Jr. was next directed
to stand up He stated that he is
thirty.three years of age and has been a
brakeman. When asked whether he
had anything to say why sentence
should not be passed upon him, he re-
piled that he had. He said that he
Z was not guilty of the crime of which he
had been convicted and that beyond
that he had nothing to say.
Judge Severance said that he was
obliged to act on the assumption that he
was guilty, as long as the jury had con-
victed him Possibly he was not guilty,
but the circumstances were strongly
against him. He considered it perfectly
wonderful that young man who had
been confined as much as Haggerty had
should run the risk Of imprisonment
again. He had previously been sem
fenced for robbery and had been par
doned at the instrumentality of certain
parties After his return to Mankato
: he had been out late nights, drinking
and carouslng. The court said that he
would have supposed that after Hag-
gerty's bitter experience in prison he
would have abandoned the use of liquor,
which was the curse of his life, setting
every criminal instinct in his heart go
ing as soon as he was under its infiu-
ence, At such times he was dangerous
1 to himself and others.
The court then sentenced Haggerty
to serve six years at Saltwater
! The minimum sentence for the crime
for which Haggerty was convicted was
five years and the maximum twenty
years. With good behavior, Haggerty
will obtain his freedom in about five
wears, unless sooner pardoned.
49,. -CrIrp TN Nc DHnc