Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1902-08-26
The Nelson Trial.

The Nelson Trial.
Only one witness was examined yes
terday in the County Court in the trial
of John c. Nelson, charged with the
crime of arson as the result OF the burn
ing of the a'e~,l gambling houses at
Jackson Ci,y on the night Of July a..
Almost the entire time from the cllling
of the case at 1920 a. m, TO 4:3O p. m,
was consumed in the preliminary mo-
tons of the counsel and the impaneling
of the jury. When the case was called
Attorney Moore, counsel for the defense,
addressing the court, withdrew the plea
of not guilty which was entered by the
defendant at the last term of court,
when Nelson was arraigned before the
grand jury, and introduced a written
plea in abatement. He then moved to
quash, and entered q demurrer The
plea in abatement, the motion to quash,
and the demurrer were all Overruled by
the court
The plea in abatement was designed
to present the point that the grand jurors
who returned the ten indictments against
Tishe and Nelson were not legally
gu lifted to sit as such at the time they
were summoned and served. This con
tcntion was based on the fact that under
the new constitution for the State they
were not registered voters.
The counsel for the defense admitte !
the right of the jurors to vote under the
constitution which expired on July 10,
but insisted that until new voting class
had been established in the Common
wealth there were no qualified voters in
tn county, and, therefore, no qualified
jurors. The plea of abatement was en-
tered with the expectation that the court
would oyerruie it, and for the purpose
of paving the way for an appeal to the
higher courts if the present trial resulted
disadvantageously to the defense.
After the court had oyerruled the
plea, the motion to quash and the de
murrer bill of exceptions to the ruling
of the court was filed, and then the
counsel for the defense entered plea Of
not guilty to the charge in the indict-
ment.
The prisoner was brought into court to
answer to the indictment read against
him by the clerk
The impaneling of the jury was not
begun until after II o'clock. 1t was
after in the afternoon before the selec
tions were finally made. The court
then adjourned for an hour. The jury
as constituted is as follows I. I.
Burke, George A. Donaldson, Silas W.
Decide, George G. Crossman, Henry
Chapman, Henry Parker, j. b. Merrett,
George r. Reeves, John w. Gibson,
Robert Shreye, Walter :. Tucker and
William f. Stewart.
After recess the case was formally
opened by Mr. Clements, the prosecuting
attorney, who outlined the points which
the Commonwealth expects to prove.
Mr.. Bendheim replied for the defense,
and the prosecution then called its first
witness. This was Mr.. William j.
Smith, the driver of the bus in which
Nelson is alleged to have ridden to Jack
son City on the night Of the fire.
Smith testified to transporting Nelson
and Tighe from the Bureau of Engraving
in Washington to Jackson City
Nelson, the witness said, went through
he approach to the house which VS.
burned first. He said that he had hearu
Tighe ask Nelson if the latter had the
kew to the house. Upon the prisoner
replying that he had not, Tighe gave
him the key, Nelson then asked Tighe
if he had any kerosene Tighe replied:
"No: but Nose has some" Smith
testified that he did not know who
Nose was. He said that he saw both
Nelson and Tighe 90 into the building
which was first burned He then drove
around to an cid shed about hundred
feet away. 1t was about ten minutes
after this that he discovered the fire in
the building The witness said at
burnt out pretty rapidly" Smith said
that he next saw Tighe on the turnpike
with bundle in his hands. lie saw
Nelson again shortly afterward coming
ND the railroad track. He saw neither
Of them leave the building, nor anywhere
in tie vicinity of the fire.
At four O'Clock the court took recess
until this morning.
The session of the court was resumed
shortly after 10 o'clock when the evil
dence for the prosecution was again taken
up. The evidence against the defendant
Nelson was strong, particularly that of
James La Fontaine, who is the main wit
ness for the Commonwealth. The
taking of evidence for the State
will not be concluded before 4
O'Clock this evening, at which
time the court will take a recess until to-
morrow morning. There is some talk to
the effect that Nelson will try to prove
az, alibi