The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1902-07-15
Found Guilty Of. Unprofessiona|
Conduct in His Practice.
CAVE BOGUS DIVORCE DECREE
Difference Of Opinion as to Whether
Norfolk Was Wetter Than Usual or
Wholly Dry Last Sunday-A
Sloop Master Disappears.


NORFOLK, VA. July 1.-THE case OF
Peter j. Morris an attorney. against
whom the Norfolk and Portsmouth Bar
Association has made a motion to disbar
from practice, was called in the Circuit
Court of Law and Chancery this morn
ing.
Captain ". w. Old stated the case to
the jury as being one In which P. J.
Morris was charged with malpractice.
He stated the specific charge as that of
having given a client, Julia Ann Ander-
son. paper purporting to be a di-
vorce decree P. J. Morris knew that the
decree of divorce was false, and that he
knew it to be false. But that he re-
ceved a fee Of $50 for bringing suit
which he never brought in the courts
here or in South Dakota
Mr.. Morris said that he would plead
his own case because there was no one
else who could appear without embar-
raSsment. He made statement of the
client coming to him and asked him to
bring suit for q divorce from her hus-
band, Anderson. He stated that Julia
Ann Anderson came to him again and
again, saying that she could not face
her parents without some kind Of
paper He admitted that he had fixed up
paper for her. telling her that it would
do until the real decree was obtained.
THE WOMAN TEST1FIEs.
Mrs Julia Ann Anderson was sworn
with other witnesses, She testified to the
facts Of having been a client of Mr.. Nor
ris. and to having paid him $50 to obtain
a divorce decree, and as to the paper
which Mr.. Morris gave to her. All of
which the defendant admits. She Is from
CASTOR. N. c., but is living in Norfolk.
She came here for the purpose Of Sc
curing a divorce in October. 1901. The
bill of divorce and complaint were read
and recognized by Mrs. Anderson.
Mr.. Morris contested every point Wig
orousy. took exceptions to the rulings
and cross-questioned witnesses savagely.
Still he admitted that he had done all
that was charged. but had returned the
fee that Mrs. Anderson gave to him and
was innocent Of doing anything but CIV
ing a bogus paper to a client to accom-
nodate her and az a kindness.
The court instructed the jury that de-
spite the fact Of Mrs. Anderson's knowl-
edge that the decree was false, if that
was a fact, the finding must be on the
evidence that Mr.. Morris had been
guilty of unprofessionaI conduct.
A PLAIN CASE.
Robert Hughes, one Of the counsel for
the prosecution. made a few remarks
stating that the case Of guilt was so
plain from the evidence and the con-
lessons of the accused that the jury had
no lcIOulSS buI 10 llUu inc OeIcNQa0C
guilty
Mr.. Morris. speaking in his own de-
Tense. declared that the Bar Association
should not prosecute him unjustly, but
should seek higher game; that a SEN
tence of guilty would follow him to the
grave: that he had acknowledged his
error and asked the opportunity to make
amends which had been denied; that he
had returned the money to the woman
and. therefore. could not hope to profit
by this Kindness to her. which like other
kindnesses had brought him into trouble
CONVICTION.
The jury required fOrty-fiye minutes to
decide Morris guilty, and recommended
him to the clemency Of the court
Judge Martin declared that he could
net do otherwise than protect the people
and uphold the reputation of the bar He
declared that Morris cannot practice In
law and chancery That has the effect
OF disbarring P. J. Morris who has been
a. prominent lawyers here for ten years,
from every court In the State; also the
United States courts.
WET OR DRY.
There are two opinions as to the cond-
ton of the city yesterday. One is that
it was wetter than usual; the other is
that all of the saloons were closed. How
ever that may be. there was a large dock
ct, consisting Of arrests for drunk and dis
orderly conduct. in the Police Court for
Sunday. That may be accounted for to
some extent by the fact that the police
being in a measure on trial. We're unusu-
ally active. On the other hand. the crit
les of the new administration Of Dr. Rid
dick may be unusually querulous and cap
ticus.
They may be expecting greater things
than it is possible to accomplish. and
finding fault because expectations
we're not met 1t was not a dry
Sunday. A man could go into a saloon
and get a drink. and many men were ar
rested for being drunk.
The funeral OF James T. Williams.
freight agent OF the New York. Philadel-
phia and Norfolk Railway, will occur
to- morrow. He was widely known in
transportation circles as a capable Off
cial,
The Methodist ministers meeting to-day
protested against hawking newspapers on
Sunday. and called ON Mayor Riddick to
suppress dissertation
MISSING MEN.
Captain George Green, Of the sloop
Alice. disappeared from Berkeley Thursday
ard it is feared that he is drowned.
of the Virginia Life Insurance Company,
has been missing from Berkeley since
Tuesday. He had SIPS on his person. and
foul play is suspected.
The body of Paymaster's Clrek Krouach-
er. of the United States receiving ship
FrnCAlin, who was drowned at Ocean
View Sunday, has not been found
OSBORNE IDENTIFIED