The Savannah morning news., 1900-07-26
FIFTEEN YEARS FOR READ.
JURY FOUND HIM GUILTY OF VOL
UNTARY GRANDDAUGHTER.

without ton, and the
Others Divided Between Guilty,
with a RecOmme ndation, and Man
slaughter, when the First Ballot
Was Taken-ArGume for State
and Acknowledgement Is Content
and There VIII Be No Motion for
New Trial.
I'VE the jury, find the defendant guilty
of voluntary mans aughter. Joseph E.
Delaney, foreman"
This is the verdict returned by the
jury in the ca e Of j. J. Read, indicted for
the murder of William Stewart and on
trial in the Superior Court since Tuesday
morning. Il was returned when court con-
vened after the noon recess yesterday,
the jury having been out at that time
about two hours and a half. Judge F alli-
giant Immediately sentenced Read TO
fifteen years in the penitentiary.
Solicitor General Osborne began his
opening argument to the jury at 10 o clock.
He occupied but few minutes in outlining
his contentious of law and fact to the
court and jury. He would contend, he
said that under the overpower.ng weight
of the evidence there could be no other
finding by the jury, than that the killing
of Stewart was a brutal, wanton and
cowardly murder not redeemed or miti-
gated by a single circumstance that could
entite the prisoner at the bar TO any re-
commentator 10 the clemency or mercy
of the court.
The solicitor general was followed by
Mr. r. l.. Coldlng. for the defense, whose
argument took the form of the bold con-
tention that Reads action in shooting
Stewart was dictated entirely by mo
tives of self preservation. and that the
defendant was entirely within his degal
rights when he fred the fatal shot. Mr..
Colding drew contrasts between the tes-
timony of the witnesses for the state, en-
deavoring to show that they had contra
dicted each other materially and frequent
". Mr.. Colding attacked also the
evidence OF Philip Varilla, the Greek fruit
dealer, crticising him for his alleged pre-
tended inability to understand Eng ish
when he was in the court room and his
apparent ability to do so when he was in
his own shop
I Judge H. D. D. Twiggs followed MIR
Colding and made a brilliantly effective
argument. Judge Twiggs contended
that his client was a much-abused
and ill-treated man, and that he
was placed in his present unfortu-
nate predicament through the carrying
out of conspiracy, Matched and planned
among the friends of the dead man, who
had CHANGED to be. witnesses of the homi-
eide Read had been alone at the time
and had been attacked, so Judge Twiggs
argued, by two or more negroes. The
bruises and blood on his face and the
bruises on his hip had spoken dumbly,
but eloquently aud convincinly, for the
truth of this contention. The defendant
had been attacked, and it was to save his
own life or to prevent the commission of
some serious bodily injury upon him,
| that he had fired the fatal shot
Quite as usual the family of the defend
ant, his aged mother and weeping wife
| and the little children who played about
| her knee, were made use of as arguments
| in favor of his acquittal. Their grief and
agony. their suffering and humiliation,
were dwet upon at length, Judge Twiggs
picturing with facile strokes of descrip-
ton all that they must undergo should
the son. husband and father be convicted
of the Infamous crime with which he
! stood charged Equally usual, the fam
| lily of Stewart, if he had one, was for
| gotten.
The solicitor general made the conclud'
! ing argument. He reviewed the evil
/ dence as 1t had been given TO the jury
| on the stand, showing the consistency Of
! the stories told by the witnesses for the
state. describing the patient endurance
with which Stewart had listened to the
! Wiley abusive epithets of the defendant
and recalling, with force and vigeF, The
elimination of the atrocity, when Stew
art had been shot down in cold blood
without reason, provocation or excuse.
The evidence given by DR.. Corbin and
20 - hoo Of he hr-1T &c
found by them on Reads person, the So
| Hcitor general laughed out of court. The
| most that could be said of this evidence,
said the solicitor, was that 1t showed the
| bruises might have been produced by the
toe of a shoe and by the clenched hand.
| 1t had been conceded by the witnesses
themselves that they could as well have
been produced in half dozen different
WAYS beside Opposed to this unsatisfac-
tory evidence was the positive and I'M
| contra dicted and unimpeached testimony
of the eye witnesses to the homicide, who
| had stated without dissent that no one
had attacked Read from the time he APP
peared on the scene until he had fatally
wounded Stewart and gone his way Add
ed to this was the undlsputed fact that
| between Read and the negroes was q
nile of watermelons that would have
made physical attack absolutely impossi-
| BILE.
II was the old story said Mr. Osborne.
Given the proper kind of rowdy, fill him
half fun of mean whiskey, arm him with
a revolver and send him on the streets,
and the result is inevitable. Some In
offensive person will suffer In life or limb.
This was what had happened in the case
at bar The solicitor general called at
tention to the fact that the defendant,
when he made his statement, had omit
ted TO show that Stewart had
either assaulted or threatened him
before he fired, and that his counsel had
to remind him of the omission before the
ALLEGED facts as to the apparent attempt
10 draw a revolver. the kick and the blow
came out He asked an unqualified YER
| dict of guilty.
Judge Falligant began his charge TO the
jury at a few minutes after o'clock and
| concluded ii in about twenty minutes. He
exhorted the jury 70 do its duty honest
| ly and fearlessly and in accordance with
the terms of the oath. The rest of the
charge was in substance that usually
| given in murder cases. Reads wife and
mother wept as Judge Fallisant explained
the grades of unlawful homicide
When the jury reached it's room a
ballot was taken. 1t was found that one
juryman was for murder and that the
eleven others were divided between ver-
diet of guilty, with a recommendation to
mercy. and manslaughter. Those who
favored the more severe penalties were
brouOht ovar n the view NJ the m ga held