The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1900-06-28
WOMAN GOT LIFE SENTENCE.
sIGNORA MITCHELL WILL GO TO
THE PENITENTIARY FOR LIFE.

recon me ndntion of Jury Saved the
Neck of the Murdercss of James
Harris-verdict of Guilty Reached
in Half m Hour After the Jury.s
Retirement From the Court Room
for Deliberations - Evidence OF
states Witnesses Made Out Clear
Case of Deliberate Murder-James
Small Placed ON the Stand for the
Defense, but Jury Didn't Believe
Him.
Judge Failigant pronounced sentence in
the case of Signora Mitchell, condemning
her, in accordance with the verdict of
the jury, to imprisonment in the peniten-
tisry the rest of her life. In this man
ner she will expiate the murder of James
Harris.
The second murder trial Of the week was
begun in the Superior Court yesterday
morning at 10 O'Clock. The case was well
known to the public. The woman who
was charged with the crime was notori-
GUS for her many ill-deeds, the evidence
was to some extent conflicting, and a
hard1fought, legal battle was expected. 1t
was these facts, doubtless. that drew TO
the court room the comparatively large
number of spectators, who came early and
stayed late. The prisoner entered the
court room in company with her counsel.
Messrs. Shelby Myrick and Richard NJ
Lester. The interests of the state we're
represented In the person Of Solicitor Gen
erai w. w. Osborne
The important witnesses for the state
we're Dan Glover. Gus Thompson and
Owens Martin. the two later having been
in the room with the woman and James
Harris when the fatal shots were fired
Coroner Goette was also a witness for
the state, but testified merely as TO the
nature of the wound that had produced
death. stating that Harris had died from
tire effects OF pistol wound In the SON.
ach. Still other Witnesses Joined in the
recitation Of the facts OF the night and
saFiy morning at Signora Mitehelrs house.
which led up to the commission Of the
tragedy. a
Gus Thompson's story is typical of that
Of the ether witnesses for the state He
said that late Sunday night. May "a, a
crowd Of negroes foregathered at the
house of Sisnora Mitchell and before a
great while had elapsed a game of skin
was in progress. Thompson. Glover. Mar
Tin. Smalls. Harris and the woman were
among the players
Luck went steadily against Harris, said
the witness. Again and again he placed
his bets and with equal regularity he
lost. Possibly he was not in the best
OF .hiirnor, for a quarrel arose between
him and the woman. which was with din
Guilty quoted and the game resumed. The
interlude did not serve to change Harris
luck, for he continued to be as unfortu-
nate as he had been from the first.
On the ten spot of hearts, which had
been turned in a way that contributed
much to hts ill-luck, Harris heaped some
of his displeasure. as he lost one of the
bets he made he picked this card from
the deck and stated that If it turned
again he would tear it to pieces. Then he
showed his last remaining chips on the
table. Ten of hearts was turned. Harris
lost and his anger was again aroused.
Its horse deck, anyhow" he said, and
tore the card in two.
What do You mean by tearing my
cards?',. asked signors.
'"Oh, it's horse deck repeated Har-
ris, and with this the woman drew a re-
vqlver and. attempted to shoot the man
who had offended her. The others about
the table frustrated this purpose. Harris
was hustled into one room and the woman
into another. Some of the party stayed
with each of the belligerents, represent
ing to them how unwise it would be to
have serious quarrel and it was thought
thas all danger of trouble had been re-
moved
At last Harris walked to the door of the
room In which the woman was at the
time AS his foot crossed the threshold
signora raised her revolver and fired, but
Smalls, who was with her, knocked up
her hand and the bullet went wide. She
fined second and third shot and the
last one took effect. Harris sank to the
ground with a moan of agony and most
of the party left the house. Enough re-
mained to help the wounded man to
bed, where he lay until he breathed his
last
In the meantime. however. Signora left
the house. and the officers arrived and
took charge. 1t appeared that Signora
crawled under the adjoining house and
lay there until she sunk peacefully to
sleep. Her snores attracted the attention
of one of the men. he spprised one of the
officere of their probable source, and the
woman was pulled out of her hiding place
and arrested. She was then brought back
into the house and remained there watch
ing Harris slowly and painfully expire.
Then she was taken to the station house.
This, in effect. was the story Of
Thompson, and that of the other wit
nesses for the state served but TO empha-
size some of its features and lend the
weight of corroborative evidence to 9TH
ers None of the witnesses for the state
saw a knife in the hands of James Har-
ris, none of them saw him make any eff
fort to assault che woman. none of them
saw anything done by him that would
have justified her in the belief that
serious bodily assault was about to be
committed on her. On the contrary the
woman had been the aggressor at every
stage Of the quarrel that eliminated in
thas homicide.
James Snslls was placed on the stand.
After detailing the facts of the evening
and telling Of the quarrel that resulted
from Harris tearing the card, during
Monday mornings early hours, Smalls