The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1900-01-24
JURY RECOMMENDED MERCY.
JAKE MoULTHIE SENTENCED TO
THE PEXITENTIARY FOR LIFE.


Verdict Returned When Court Con-
vened and Sentence Was Inhmedi-
afely IrlpOsed-Judge TwTggs Gave
Notice He Would Move for a New
Trial for His Ciient-The Verdict n
Shock to Counsel, But the Prisoner
Heard His Sentence UnmOved-How
the Jury Reached the Verdict Rem
dered-The Failure to Find or Ac-
count for the Knife Hurt the Pris-
oner.
When the Superior Court convened yes
terday morning, The jury that had had
under consideration during the night the
case of Jake Moultrie, charged with the
murder of Moses Williams, announced
that it had agreed upon verdict. The
verdict was guilty, with a recommendation
to the mercy Of the court.
When the announcement was made that
the jury had agreed, the prisoner was
brought into che court room and the jury.
from the room in which they had debated
and considered the case, We're summoned
to face him and state the results of their
! elaboration. The foreman announced that
the verdict had been agreed upon, and it
was handed to Clerk Carr. Il was as
stated above guilty, with a recommended
| ton to the mercy of the court
Judge Fangaut imposed sentence at
once In a few words his honor explained
| to the prisoner that but for the recon-
mendation contained in the finding of the
| jury, the punishment for the offense of
which he had been convicted must have
been death. AS it was this rigorous pen
| atty was not to be imposed, and in its
stead Judge Falligant sentenced Moultrie
| to confinement al hard labor in the peni-
tertiary of the state, for the term of his
natural life. The prisoner received the
! sentence without visible emotion. His
| stolid black face remained unchanged
! though 1t had shown some little surprise
and establishment when the verdict of the
! jury was read in his hearing.
Judge Twiggs. counsel for the defend
| ant gave immediate notice that he would
move the court for a new trial, on the
| grounds that the verdict was decidedly
! and strongly against the weight of the
| evidence and contrary to the evidence as
! presented to the jury. These accus Toned
! grounds for new trial will be modified
| perhaps, and ampiihed certainly, before
the motion is heard by Judge Falligant.
! Judge Twiggs stated that he was never
| more surprised and astonished in his life
| than by the nature of the verdict and
! that he fully and confidently expec ted that
! his client would be acquitted. That he
! was not was worse than a surprise-it
was positive shock
! 1t is understood that a variety of cir
cumstances induced the jurys agreement
upon the verdict finally rendered in the
! M, nf
physical, undisputed and indisputable fact
! that the wounds from which death result
| ed were in Williams back This point had
| been strongly and eoquently urged by the
! Solicitor General and il seemed to the
/ jury that it negatived. or at any rate dis
/ credited. the prisoners plea of sef-de-
! tense.
Another point was that while AIoutrie
and the woman, Stella Williams, swore
| that when Moses Williams entered the
house in which he met his death he had
an open knife in his hand, no other wit
ness, either for the state or the defense,
/ had seen Williams with the knife before
he entered, and none saw the knife near
the mans body, or anywhere else in the
( room, after the homicide had been COM
mitted. If it ever had existence it had
disappeared. and there was no evidence of
hostility to Moultrie, on The part of those
who had been in the room, to explain the
Still another fact that argued against
the jury's acceptance of the statement of
the witness, Stella Williams, was that her
/ statement on the stand had differed from
1 her statement TO the coroner, a the in
/ quest, and become even more favorable to
Moultrie than it was then. AS the wo-
man. at the time of the homicide, had been
detained, and for a while strongly suspect
ed of completely in the murder and in
danger of an Indictment as an accessory,
the jury thought she had more potent rea-
| sons TO color her evidence in favor of the
defendant than to give straight, unvar-
nished story of the killing
All of these points in the case combined
to influence the jurys verdict, in the face
of the fact that the only eye witness to
/ the homicide had made out very fair
story of self-defense for the prisoner The
| Solicitor General ranged the points that
argued against acceptance of the defend
ants conteNtions in logical order and Sc
! quence, and the jury retired with this i'm
preston fresh upon the minds of it's mem
bers. 1t is said that the verdict was ar
rived al without much trouble and after
very few ballots.