The age-herald., 1900-05-01
FIVE PRISONERS
 WERE ARRAIGNED Charged as Accessories in Mur- der of William Goebel. ALL PLEAD NOT GUILTY Pardons Issued by Governor Taylor Were Offered as Bar to Prose-
 cution, But Judge Cantri1
 Overruled Motion
ALL PLEAD NOT GUILTY

Frankfort, ky, April 3O.-Five of the de-
 fendants charged with complicity or as ac-
 cessories in the murder of William Goebel
 were arraigned this afternoon before Judge
 CantriIl. They were Republican Secretary
 of State Caleb Powers, Captain John ".
 Davis, Harland Whitaker, w. H. Culton and Richard Combs, colored. All of them
 entered pleas of not guilty.
 Henry D. Youtzey, who had previously been arraigned and pleaded not guilty, was
 also in court and his attorney asked for
 a change of venue. The prosecution waived
 notice and allowed the motion to come up
 along with a similar motion filed in the
 cases of Powers, Davis, Whitaker and
 Combs. The defendant was represented by Ex-Governor John Young Brown, Judge J. c. Sims, R. W. Nelson. L. J. Crawford, K. | C. Kinkead, Wood Dunlop, John W. Rod man, General D. w. Lindsay, E. E. Hogs | and w. R. Ramsay
 The prosecution was represented by Com
 monwealths Attorney R. B. Franklin, Col
 onel T. c. Campbell Judge B. G. Williams
 and others. The court room was crowded to suffocation when the prisoners were brought into court.
 Ex-Governor Brown insisted that the mo- t10n TOT a change OI venue US paSSSu uPoiA
 before the arraignment of the prisoners
 but the court overruled the motion on the
 ground that the defendants were not tech
 nically before the court till after the ar-
 raignment. To this ruling, the defense
 saved an exception. After the arraignment
 ex-Governor Brown for the defense ten
 dered pardons granted by republican Gov
 ernor Taylor to Caleb Powers and John
 Davis, and offered them as bar to the
 prosecution. In presenting the pardons,
 Governor Brown said:
 Taylor's Pardons Introduced
 We present these pardons, issued by the governor of Kentucky, and plead them as bar to further prosecution. We make formal demand for dismissal of the indict- ment. We do this as a matter of form, not with the hope that the court will suspend the notion
 Judge Cantrill said:
 ''The alleged pardons are not good in law The title to the office of governor is | in dispute, and the litigation over 1t is | still pending in the courts. Several of the l courts have passed on the questions at l issue and those that have so passed there l on decided that MT. Taylor Is not governor, | and was not at the time these pretended pardons were granted. The motion to dis miss the indictments is oyerruled.' l The petitions for changes of venue were l then made. The prosecution entered an ob- | jection and filed counter affidavits. Both | sides presented lengthy list of witnesses | to give testimony as to the state of feel | ing and the question as to whether a fair l trial can be obtained here.
 Colonel R. w. Nelson of the defense made 1 a lengthy argument, oh'"~sing to the intro- l duction of proof the q1estion of a change l of venue IIis statemsnl, he said was pro- ! Iesssonal, and his reasons for asking a change of venue for the defendants without hearing proof were that the court house | here was in charge of armed soldiery, who recognize one of the contending parties to the political controversy. And that there were other evidences of local excitement of which the court could take judicial knowl- edge and about which it was not necessary to have oral proof to show that the condi- tions here are such as to interfere with the dispensation of justice.
 Not Under Guard Judge Cantrill denied that the court house was under guard of the soldiers, but said they were in charge of the jaier by order of the county judge He overruled the ob- jection of Colonel Nelson, and three wit
 nesses were heard of the prosecution in re- gard to the change of venue.
 They gave it as their opinion that there was no sentiment in the county that would prevent fair trial. The court adjourned at 5 o'clock. The hearing of proof in this | question will probably take most of the day tomorrow.
 | Governor Taylor returned to the city to- night having spent last night and today l in Louisville conferring with political | friends. He declined to discuss the work of the grand jury, which was finally dis l charged today.