The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-04-03
GIVEN Ten YEARS
SLAYER OF SAM GREEN GUILTY of
VOLUNTARY MANsLAUGHTER.
THE JURY so DECIDED.
AND RECOMMENDED THE PRISONER
TO THE COURTS MERCY.

ternoon of March Rs, Tried for
Observation-Disclosures Was Conflicting.
Savage Claimed He Was Retreat
Him with Knife When He
Fired-A Woman ut the Bottom OF
the Trouble-she Caused the Omar
rel That Ended I'm Green's Death.
Moses Savage, coored, was tried in the
Superior Court yesterday for murder. The
jury returned verdict of voluntary man.
slaughter and recommended Savage to the
mercy of the court. Judge Falligant i'm
posed sentence of ten years at hard la
Dor in the penitentiary.
On the Afternoon of Monday, a week
ago, Savage shot and fatally wounded
Samuel Green, colored, in the trolley sta
ton near Bonaventure Cemetery. Green
died at the Georgia Infrmary last We'd
nesday. From the time he was fatally
wounded until his soul passed from his
body, he never made a statement of the
circumstances surrounding the shooting.
of character permitting it's introduction
in evidence.
w Hell tue case CdiiSIs SCtS tHs
state, represented by the solicitor gen.
eral, and the defense. represented by Mr..
Raiford Falligant, announced ready. The
prisoner pleaded not guilty. But httle
time was consumed in the selection of
jury, which was as follows: Leslie E.
Rotereau, Charles e. Harvey, Lawrence
A. Beranc, Frank Werm, Henry W. Fow-
Ter, John NJ. Davis, William ]. Malloy,
Richard F. McKenna, Stephen S. Purse,
Jr. Thomas Griffin, l.. A. Nelson and
Russell F. Walthour.
The principal witness for the state was
Mrs w. W. Starr, who CHANGED to be
driving past the scene of the homicide
at the time of it's commission. Mrs. Starr
had seen little or nothing Of the quarrel
by which the shooting was preceded, but
was positive as 10 the events of that i'm
mediate time.
She said that when the fatal shot was
fired the man who was shot was falling
back from the man who did the shoot
ing. She saw both men distinctly and
from a distance of not more than sixty
feet
At that time Savage had already drawn
and presented his revolver Green, the
man who was shot, had no weapon and
his hands were hanging Imply by his
side. He was not at that time making
any threatening gesture, nor was there
any indication from his appearance or
manner that he meditated the commission
of an assault of any character upon the
assaflant. On the contrary, to Mrs. Starr,
Savage seemed to be the who was MAX
ing the attack
After the shooting, when Green had
fallen to the ground, Savage stood for a
moment or two regarding the PROSTATE
form of his victim and then walked quietly
and deliberately away, in the direction
of Thunderbolt. AS he walked away he
stopped to speak casual word or two
to Willie Robinson, another man, who
was standing near when the difficulty
occurred and the shooting was done, but
had made no attempt to stop or prevent
either.
This was the states case. On the part
of the defendant three witnesses were in
troduced, who said that when the shot
was fired Green had a knife in his hand
and that he was brandishing this weapon
in the air and threatening Savage with
it, The statements of these witnesses
contradicted each other in essentials, but
that they had seen the knife, that they
had caught the CLEAN of that blade
flashing free in air. no one of them could
be persuaded to doubt for a single mo
ment. Indeed, this was all that one of
them had seen. Every other incident of
the tragedy he either had not seen at all
or il had passed completely from his
memory.
As usual. there was a woman in the
case, and it was about her that the quar-
rel occurred. 1t appeared that Green
thought much Of this dusky damsel, Bes-
sic williams by name, and that he Bit
terly resented Savage's interference with
his fixed monopoly in this quarter. In his
statement to the jury, in which he re-
peated what had been said by his wit
nesses in regard 10 the knife, the prison
er said the woman was his cousin, and
that he had only given her some infor-
nation about Green that ne thought
ought to be in her possession. Green had
said that his statement was a dirty lie"
and from this comparatively mild begin
ming sprang the quarrel that eliminated
in the taking of human life.
The knife which the witnesses for the
defendant had said was fiourished and
used in a threatening manner by Green,
was introduced in evidence 1t is a cheap
clasp knife, OF the kind usually carried
by country darkies. The evidence show
cd that it was found in Green's, pocket
after he was wounded, and the solicitor
general made good use ofthis fact to dis
credit the statement that it had been
hourished in the air. This strongly cor
roborative fact, said Mr.. Osborne, added
TO the positive evidence Of Mrs. Starr,
that she had seen no knife and would
have seen it had it been drawn, made II
impossible for the jury to accept the de-
PENDANTS statement and the evidence OF
his witnesses as to the manner of the
crimes commission.
The testimony and arguments had all
been concluded at O'Clock, when the us
ual recess was taken until in the after
noon. At the latter hour Judge Falligant
charged the jury and an hour after his
charge had ben concluded the jury return
ed with a verdict Of guilty of voluntary
manslaughter, with accommodation 10
the mercy Of the court.
Sentence was imposed Immediately, Saw
age being condemned to spend the next
ten years Of his life in the penitntiary. His
interest in the proceedings had seemed 10
be mild throughout and he was not visibly
stirred by the verdict of the jury. Indeed,
If the verdict and sentence caused him
any emotion IL was one OF relief and sat
isfaction, for he included court and jury
iu a comprehensive bow Of thanks as he