Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1900-02-16
or cHAs. n. LEWIS,


the County Court Monday as n ~
suit of his arrest on December II IA.
1899, and the action of the Justice
who fouad him guilty of the mali
clous burning of the canning factory
OF L. IL. FUiiiD, at Coan wharf. Va.
on July goth, 1893. The promi-
pence of the parties 10 the transac-
ton have been the means OF exciting
good deal of interest and LARGE
crowd was present. dispiie the lain
which fell all day. CONFERENCE.-The
Attorney, l.. L. Smith, is assisted by
Messrs. Howard and Walter Halba-
way, while the defeuse is being con-
Quoted by Messrs. A. S Rice, II. J.
Downing and JOS. Chiun, ir. Both
sides have able counsel aud promises
to make hard fight. At 2:30 the ac-
cused was brought in, looking none
the worse for bis long confinement.
neatly dressed i'm "a black suit and
smilingly took his seat among his
counsel. lie does not seem at all
bothered us to his fate. The Com.
monwealth stated to the court thai
II. X. Moore, one of their witnesses.
was absent, but would go on with
the case and try to get him there If
possible. The defense made motion
to quash venire and then a general
demurrer was rendered, but both were
overrnled. Upon the reading of the
indictment the prisoner pleaded not
guilty.
Jury was then called and cues
toned by the counsel for the defense
and all were found eligible except
Mr.. Blackwell, who was excused on
account of i'll health, and Messrs.
Hurst and I4ackey, both of whom
mad an opinion on the subject. J.
Nj. Omohundro, of Lillian, was next
examined by the counsel on both
sides and his position was so puz-
zling that it took the rest of the
evening to put him through the ex-
animation necessary to satisfy both
sides and six o'clock and darkness
came with the juror still unaccepted.
The evidence was that he had heard
the preliminary trial and, although
he had not formed an opinion, he
asked to be discharged, which was
perfectly agreeable 10 the common
wealth but was objected to by the de-
Tense. Court adjourned with the
question pending aud only 10 Jurors
sworn.
Court opened Tuesday morning Il
l0;2o with "a small number i'm at
tendance. Lewis was brought in
still smiling and cool. j. NJ. ONO
hundro was again put on the stand
and after a protracted examination
was dismissed and Mr.. Vanlanding-
ham was sworn in in his rlace.
During the examination OF the Juror
he said that he thought a man was
guilty until proven innocent, which
reverse statement of the established
principles OF law was received with
much laughter 10y the crowd. The
admission of the juror was argued
briefly 10y hathaway aud Rice. The
defense moved to exclude Mr.. Welsh !
on the ground of his proximity to
the scene of the fire, but was over
ruled by the court. At 1I:15 the |
fight over the jurors ended, the six
teen being sworn in, and after the
four were struck off the panel re-
maired as follows: Moreau Black
well, NJ. A. Booth, j. IL. Covington.
II. a. Clark, w. S. Diller, John ii. |
Ashburn, VIM. III. McGuiggan, +. p. |
Haynie, L. A. Jet, w. l.. Welsh, II. |
Ii. Selby, Seneca Vanlandingham.
The case was opened by the read
ing of the indictment. Common
wealth opened the case with his
statement and said in part that
owing to the great difficulty of see
ing the act of house burning that
condolences generally would have to |
be relied upon to reach a conclusion |
as to the facts. The Commonwealth
went to great length to show the
motives of Mr.. Lewis in burning the
barn.
Mr.. Chinn, for the defense, re-
piled that no matter how difficult
the proof, it was necessary to be prov
en- beyond all reasonable doubt, and |
that the burden was on the pait of |
the Commonwealth to show the ac-
cused was guilty and that conviction
could not be upon suspicion alone.
John Wallace was the first witness
for the prosecution. He stated that
he was native of Washington, ID.
O., and came to Lewisetta about four
years ago to shuck oysters. That Il
short time previous to the fire Lewis
came to his house, woke him up and
asked him if he did not want to make
some money? He said "yes" and he
and the accused started for Coan
wharf. The accused had a gun or
rifle and curions bundle that had
a handle like a bicycle pump. After
getting some distance up the river
they heard some one talking and
Capt. Charlie told him to turn
around that he would not 90 that
night. Didn't know what he was
going for. Three days later at about |
8 p. m. the accused called him out
and asked him to burn Il, Ii. Fallin's /
factory, which he refused to do.
II. III. Fallin was next examined
and testified to the burning as set
forth in the charge. Court adjourned
before Mr.. Fallin had finished giving
in his testimony. II. G. ID.
Maior.Genera Henry W. Lawton
~