The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1900-11-23
Sheriff Shca'S Case.

| A special dispatch to the Baltimore Sun
from L.. Plata says:
"The November term of the Circuit
Court for Charles county convened on
Monday, with Associate Judge George c.
Merrick on the bench. William Nick.
Burroughs was appointed foreman of the
grand jury and Judge Merrick delivered
the charge.
"When the case of Edward Shea, late
| Sheriff of Prince Georges county, and
William Shea, William Todd Fox, Leo
Smith and Herbert Boetler, for alleged
assault upon Lucy Hart, which was re-
moved from Prince Georges county, was
reached on the docket Congressman S. E..
Mudd entered his appearance as associate
counsel for the defense and filed Il plea in
abatement. claiming that the Prince
Georges grand jury which found the pre-
sentiment and Indictment was not proper
ly constituted and legally sworn. The
plea asserted that there had never been
more than % jurors.
On Wednesday IA motion was first made
by Nessrs. Wilmer and Levin, for the
State, to dismiss the plea in abatement
filed by the traversers on Monday, be-
cause of the alleged fact that the grand
jury which indicted the prisoners had
only 90 members. Arguments on the
motion were made by Messrs. Levin for
the State and Rodgers for the prisoners.
The motion Was overruled. The State
then filed the general traverser to the plea
and upon issues joined testimony was
offered b. the traversers in support of
the plea. Clerk of the Court James B.
Belt was examined and showed by the
court dockets that as a matter of fact
Samuel E. Sweeney, wa,se name was
drawn as grand juror of Prince Geoge's
county for the October term, 1900, was
excused from jury service before being
sworn, and that the last grand jury for
Prince Georges county consisted of a
foreman and 81 jurors.
The State then placed Associate Judge
George c. Merrick on the witness stand.
His testimony in substance corroborated
the evidence given by Mr. Belt Judge
Merrick stated that he did excuse Samuel
E. Sweeney because the latter had been
appointed elisor for the term, and he felt
that the pecuniary interest which the elisor
might have in the conviction of the Sheriff,
whose office he temporarily held, hi ght
tend to prejudice Sweeney in his duties
as Il grand juror against the prisoner.
The counsel for the traversers ably agued
the question as to what constitutes valid
grand jury, and commended that since but
% names has been sworn on the panel it
was never legally constituted body, and
since its work was null and void it was
argued that when Judge Merrick was
confronted by the delicate question raised
by his own testimony he should have ex-
cused Mr.. Sweeney as elisor, since under
the local law of Prince Georges county
there was no legal way of filling the
vacancy caused by excusing Sweeney
In support of this contention the case of
Vincent against the State, which was
recently decided by the Court of Appeals,
was cited. The contention of the State
was that the drawing of Mr.. Sweeney's
name was sufficient to fill the panel, and
since the Court had valid and plausible
grounds for excusing the elisor fran jury
service and no injury had been done the
prisoner the plea should be overruled.
The plea in abatement was overruled
yesterday, the accused were arraigned and
the case set for trial on Monday next.