The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1901-09-20
NO TIME LOST.
Jury Promptly ACquits Senator
Benedict.
The Senator Proved His InnIcf nee Of
the Charge Against Him, and
Roasted Agent Fullerton.

one snipe out of season was concludes
Thursday evening at st. Peter, the jur,
promptly returning verdict Of no
guilty.
The jury consisted of twelve persons
and the trial lasted all the Afternoon
in the presence of a crowd that fille'
the court room to overfowing. Mr.
Benedict conducted his own defense
assisted by former county attorney A
! A. Stone of st. Peter.
The first witness sworn was Chas
L. Key of st. Peter, the game warden
for Nicollet county. His testimon!
was unimportant, as he had nothing
to offer that implicated the defendant
Ed Gault, st. Peter man who haC
accompanied Mr.. Key to Swan lax
on Aug. 31st, the place and time whe1
the alleged violation of the law occur
red, gave practically the same testi
mony. ~.
A school teacher whose school Is OF
the road to New Ulm, and who was a
Swan Lake on Aug. 31st with tent
pitched, was the only other witness
for the state, and was the most i'm.
portanU witness He testified that he
saw Mr.. Benedict shoot duck AND
a snipe, and that he saw Oscar Bier
bauer and Frank Pohl each shoot a
duck. He said that his dog went into
the water and got one of the ducks.
He admitted that he was the first one
accosted by the game warden and was
told to stay where he was until the
warden returned from walk to the
point, where the others we're; that he
did not wait, but went to his tent and
got complete change of clothing ;
that he went to the o. E. Bennett cot
tage and changed his clothes; and
that he hid in the cottage to avoid the
warden.
The witnesses for the defense were
Senator Benedict, Oscar Bierbauer
Frank Pohl and Geo. Brooks. They
all told the same story. Mr. Benedict
denied that he had shot or shot at any
ducks srs saipe.- and. the OTHERS said
that they did not see him shoot at
any Messrs. Bierbauer and Pohl de-
MED that they had shot any ducks.
Mr.. Brooks, who lives on the island,
did not nave his gun with him, but
had gone to stop some shooting that
was heard on the point by all the wit
nesses previous to their going there.
The testimony of the four witnesses
for the defense was that they had left
the cottages together az about sun
down and had walked together to the
gravel point and remained together
there and walked back together. They
did not shoot at any game birds. They
had heard others shooting on the point
before they had started. It was while
on their way back to the cottages that
they had encountered Game Warden
Key. They had invited him to search
them. Mr.. Benedict gave the warden
the names of the party. None of them
had seen the school teacher, and it was
evident from his testimony as to his
location that he was forty rods from
the water. They had not seen his dog,
either.
County Attorney c. R. Davis ar
gued the case briefly on The part of the
state
Mr. Benedict argued the case on his
own behalf, speaking for an hour. He
paid particular attention to Executive
Agent Fullerton of st. Paul, Of the
state game and fish commission, who
was present during the trial but took
no part. He declared that Mr.. Fuller
ton was not fit person to hold state
Office, because he had put up such
baseless charge against reputable and
law abiding citizen. Mr., Benedict re-
ferred Indirectly to there being con-
spiracy Matched in st. Paul to injure
his good name at a time when his
chances for securing the appointment
as United States district attorney were
bright. He brought out the fact that
he and others had had trouble two
years ago with Nicollet county parties
at Swan lake, and intimated that this
prosecution was merely an outcome of
that.
Justice Miller charged the jury to
act according to the evidence. The
Jury retired at 6 80 p. M, and on the
first ballot agreed on a verdict of ac-
auittal. The jury was out but three
minutes.
Mr.. Benedict did not interpose any
motions or objections during the trial,
but stated to the court at the outset
that he wished to have the trial on the
merits of the case, without any tech
nical questions.
The verdict of the jury and the evil
dence in the case clears Mr.. Benedict
OF the charge against him. and the
outcome of the case will give general
Those who know Mr..
Benedict best were convinced all along
of his innocence. and it is gratifying
to have it officially declared. BE is
too honorable q man to violate the laws
that he helped to make. He is de-
fender rather than a violator of the
game laws.