The Bourbon news. [volume] (Paris, Ky.) 1895-19??, 1900-08-03
POWERS ON THE STAND
A Motion by Defense for a Verdict
of Acquittal Was Overruled.
The Accused COntradfcted the Most
Important Evidence of Wharton
Golden, Robert NOaks, Gull
ton and Anderson.

ers as an alleged accessory in the
murder of GOebel closed its testimony
Saturday afternoon, rested the case
and requested that the jury be sent
to Frankfort to view the scene of the
tragedy. The defense did not object
to the jury going to Frankfort, but it
viii not go till all the testimony is in
Georgetown, KY, July 31.-The
trial of Caleb Powers, charged with
being an accessory before the fact to
the murder of William Goebel, was
resumed at o'clock Monday morning
The jury was polled, and then eX-
Guided, during which eX-Gov. Brown.
for the defense, made a motion for
peremptoTy instructions for a verdict
of acquittal. The motion was sub
mitted without argument and was
pro1hptly overruled by the court.
Lawyer Faulkner, of Barboursville,
stated the case, giving the line of evil
dence for the defense. He reviewed
the political events for the last nine
months, and said the defense would
show that the contests over the state
Offices were not tried on judicial lines,
but on a partisan basis, and that pol
itics was responsible for the present
prosecutions. He intimated that the
prosecution knows the identity of the
assassin, but has concealed him. He
said it would be admitted that Caleb
Powers and Chas. Finley organized
Cnd brought to Frankfort the crowd
of mountain men, who arrived there
January %, but that this was only to
petition the legislature and not to in
timidate that body. He claimed it
would be shown that the men who
composed the mountain army were
not bad characters, as charged by the
other side, and he charged also that
the democrats at that time had large
bodies OF men in Frankfort to back
up the contestants.
He said Powers had in his pocket
at the time of the killing the keys to
his office, which the prosecution al
leges had been given to Youtsey; that
Powers never even, conferred with
Noutsey, Berry Howard, Jim Howard,
Green Golden of Dick Combs, and that
Jim Howard was not on the capitol
grounds till after the killing. 1t
would be proved, he claimed, that the
witness. Weaver, one of the main wit
nesses for the prosecution, was never
in Frankfort till Sunday; that Fin
ley Anderson and Robert Noakes tes-
tilted for money, and w. H. Culton, in
the hope of obtaining immunity from
prosecution, and that Wharton Col
den would also be successfully con-
tradicted.
Caleb Powers then took the stand in
his own behalf, but did not complete
his testimony on direct examination.
His defense will be an admission that
he organized the body of armed
mountaineers who went to Frankfort
on several occasions last winter to in
tiuence the state contest board and
the legislature, and not to intimidate
it, and a denial of the damaging
charges made against him by Wit
nesses Culton, Golden, Noakes and
others.
Powers denied that Henry Youtsey
had the keys to his office on the day
of the assassination but said there
were two keys to the office one of
which was in the possession of former
Assistant Secretary of State w. j. Da-
wilson and another in possession of
Ben Rowe, Gov. Taylor's colored por-
ter. Powers says neither of these
keys was ever in his possession, and
that he had his own key in his pocket
in Louisville the day of the assassina-
ton.
Georgetown, KY, Aug. Caleb
Powers resumed the witness stand III
his own behalf Tuesday. The witness
said that on the morning of the assas-
sination he was prep lring to go to
Louisville to make 3rr:.r gements for
bringing more people to Frankfort.
lie locked his office door, as described
by Witness Golden. Had no recol-
lection of anything being said con-
corning suspicious actions which Col
den had referred to, and was certain
nothing of this sort was said. At La
grange the party heard that Goebel
had been assassinated, and that the
Sdot had been fired from the second
or third story of the executive build
ing.
The witness continued: 81 said it
was shame and an outrsAe, and that
1t would blight the chance of all of
us whose offices were in contest. l
expressed similar sentiments to other
people that day. We went on to
Louisville, but as the assassination of
MI. Goebel had upset our political
plans, we, of course, abandoned the
ldea of bringing more men to Frank
fort"
Witness said that the statement of
Golden that he spoke derisively when
told of the shooting was absolutely
false Il thought it my duty" he
continued, ''to return to Frankfort as
soon as possible, and did SO that after.
noon. / went to the executive build
ing, and with my key, the only one L
ever had to the office, unlocked the
door. l found that the lock had been
battered and had difficulty in getting
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