The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1903-05-21
EVIDENCE DID NOT
SHOW SHEA'S GUILT.
No Testimony That PatrOIman Rent
ed With knowledge of Gambling.

| No Testimony That PatrOIman Rent
ed With knowledge of Gambling.
After the introduction of all of the
evidence, the court directed the jury
return a verdict of not guilty in the
case of Policeman c. F. Shea, who was
tried yesterday in the Superior Court
on charge of renting a house with
the view or expectation that it would
be used for carrying on a game called
policy lottery.
While there was evidence to show
that Shea was aware of the fact that
his property was being used for
gambling purposes, there was no evil
dence to show that he rented the prop
erty with a view or expectation of its
| being used for gambling. The court
in directing the verdict, said in part:
The law is clear and is well de-
| fined, that the view or expectation
that the same will be used for such
purpose must be entertained by the
party al the time he rents the house.
| The crime that is aimed at by the law
| there is the renting of a house to an
other with the view or expectation
that it will be used for gambling or
| immoral purposes. 1t don't make any
difference how much you may find out,
| after you have rented your house, that
your tenant is using it for Illegal pur-
| poses; that is no crime of yours. You
| have bound yourself by contract to let
| the man have the house for year,
| for example, and you put him in pos
| session under his contract for a year.
| You may have entertained the conh-
! dent belief, at the time you let him go
into possession and rent the house.
| that he was going to use it for a store,
or a bank, or for an insurance once.
Three or four months after you have
| rented it, your agent comes to you
| and tells you that the man in your
house is running a gambling house
there. You may or you may not, put
him out You ought to put him out,
| but if you don't put him out you are
not guilty of any crime, because there
| is no law that makes 1T crime for a
man to have a tenant that violates the
| law The crime consists in putting IN
tenant and renting the property 10
him with the expectation or view that
he will use it for gambling purposes.
NOW, if there was any testimony IN
| this case to show that the defendant
knew what Frank Powelrs character
was and that it was bad, that he was
! carrying on the policy lottery business
if there was any testimony in this
| case to show that he was put upon
notice what Frank Powell wanted this
| house for, or if there were circum-
stances that would show that Mr.. Shea,
when he rented this house, was put
upon notice that it would be used for
| gambling purposes or policy business,
or anything in the testimony from
which you could infer that he rented
it with the view or expectation that
such business would be carried on in
the house.. then l would submit this
case to you. But the difficulty is that
| the testimony is wholly silent on that
| subject and The witness for the state
says that he does not know whether
or not Mr.. Shea expected, or enter
| tanned the view that it would be used
for gambling purposes at the time
he rented it, but he told him that it
was used for gambling purposes, after
| 1t was rented.
| II don't know what might be the
proof if more testimony was here, but
| the evidence in this case does not
authorize a conviction. There is
nothing in the evidence that would au-
thorize aVerdictl against this defend
ant. If he was q found guilty under
this evidence, and if 1 should overrule
a motion for a new trial, the Supreme
Court would giveghim a new trial upon
the ground that there was nd evidence
from which the jury could infer that
he knew, at the time he rented the
| house. that 1t would be used for
gambling purposes. You will, there =
fore, find a verdict for the defendant.
| Let Mr.. Bacon, one of your number,
sign such a verdict as foreman"