The Savannah morning news., 1901-06-08
WELLS WENT FREE
JURY COULDN'T BELIEVE STORY
OF PROSECUTING WITNESS
AND GAVE HIM HIS LIBERTY.
HE WAS CHARGED WITH CRIMI-
NALLY AssAULTING ELLA BOONE.

Defendant n Very Small Negro.
While His Alleged Victim Owned
Up to $50 Pounds and Looked Like
She Weighed More-Jury Could
Not Reconcile This Physical Dis
crepancy with Her story and Re
turned "a Verdict of Not Guilty.
Two Burglars Sent to the Peniten-
tiary for Five Years and One 10
the Gang fer Twelve Months-GoOd
Omcer ReappOinted.
The trial of criminal cases in the Su-
perior Court was continued yesterday,
the most important case on trial being
that against Joe Wells, who was charg-
ed with having committed a criminal as
sault upon Ella Boone. The jury found
the defendant not guilty
Wells is a comparatively small negro
man and the prosecuting witness a per-
fectly enormous negro woman. She own
ed up to weighing $50 pounds, and 20 the
minds of jurymen and spectators this
seemed too moderate estimate. In adj
dition to the assault which she said had
been committed upon her by the defend
ant, she charged Wells with having rop-
bed her of 65 cents in money.
The case only consumed about half an
hour in it's trial. The prosecuting wit
ness was the only one placed on the
stand by the state, and the defense Of
fered nothing but the statement of the
defendant himself. This was simply to
the effect that on the night when the
crime was charged to have been COM
mitted he was at Lincoln Park and knew
nothing whatever of the occurrence. Mr.
r. L. Coldng, who represented the state,
made no argument and Mr.. John T. Chap
man, who represented the defendant
spoke only four or five minutes. Judge
Failigant summed up briefly the law bear
ing on the charge against Wells, and the
case went to the jury.
The jury spent ten or fifteen minutes in
its room before returning with its YER
dict of not guilty, but members of the
panel stated that an agreement had ac-
tually been reached before they entered
the jury room. The jurymen just
could not believe that Wells could
have accomplished what he was
charged with accomplishing with
Ella Boone as his antagonist. They Gould
not be made to think that the story told
by the woman was possible, and for this
reason a verdict of not guilty was found
and returned.
James Lewis was found guilty of bur
glary, the indictment on which he was
tried charging that he broke and entered,
with intent to steal the storehouse of
the NJ. OMara Company. Lewis told a
long, drawn out story, the burden of which
was that he was not the man who had
done the stealing, but to the jury the
evidence offered it in behalf of the state
seemed to warrant a verdict of guilty.
1t was returned, therefore, and Judge
Falligant sentenced Lewis to spend the
next five years of his life in the peniten-
tiary.
like sentence was inflicted upon Joe
Law, whom jury found guilty of like
offense. Law had broken and entered,
with intent to commit a larceny, the
dwelling house of Estella Jackson and,
unfortunately for him, he had been
caught in the act. If he had had sense
enough to own up and plead guilty he
might have saved himself some years of
Imprisonment. but he wanted a trial
and got it. AS a consequence he was found
guilty and sentenced to serve five years
in the penitentiary.
Lewis Green. indicted also for burglary,
got off lighter than either of the others.
Green must have had what the gamblers
call a 'hunch," that told him he was
going to be found guilty if he were tried.
Therefore he entered plea of guilty and
was given sentence that permits him to
expiate his offense by serving a year on
the county chain-gang