The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1903-12-04
Under It Grand Jury Indict.s3
" ncnts Are Entirely I'm S
availing ssf
BEN CHI WAR RANTS WERE .S3
ISSUED By JUDGES
Attorneys Have a Chang ofil
Heart and Now G Conte1ld THAT
the Barksdales Law lis ot
III Efec City Authori- "A N
..s.2 & ties to- Take ActionI lin ss,g5sss
Certain ofthe; Cases. .5253 u s;S5

Certain OF the Ease q Sil.
4 /. So far as tho courts Of Ienrico ard 54i
concerned Walter ]. .sS Todd, n treasure
elect Of tho county, whose fight Il SO s3
hardly made and won, has attra cted the sy
wondering attention ofgtha State. e now
enabled, J, with legal entangements cast
off and skirts cleared. to eilte To- th--9g
with upon the duties Of the Office eh.
trusted to him by the sovereign people.S
Before the three election magistrate es ,$S
sitting III joint session., this treasure
4 elect was arraigned yesterday, y, tried a nd N
@acquitted. Two indictments stood against
\ him when the day began, on 9 char ms b
tn, en- ployment OF money in Il the pm ys,.ESs.
chase i OF votes and " the other alleginEss
$ the use OF whiskey or. beer for " He
same purposo..@ ii A 4 technical q obje ction5ss
raised in a demurrer and sustained by
i the court resulted iii the dismissal q fSs
the lndlctments;h but bench Il warrants
promptly issued in thelr ad .s5s; The V
form, not the signtf flcance or subs taneeI ii
or the case, had eeli ged lsssss
trial $proce ed ed /. the close thssS2
one casog the n tssttnony Y tes wed tselGsS
Into aSsimple qrlestl Oh Of veracl HI
svitnesses swore tols ono thing md tTnsis
others to the iden teal oppost tte irsss
THE Jud Ees wv ere EN-, ba rras sssd,, and theS
tdid4,th only thing possi urd tl1t,t
5oircums the i,e 3
4benefItBof the doubt. III the o the cA st I;
even the Comno nonwealth y admit tied h nat
tho evidence was tdlculously tt rlvi Al ;ss n;
Surrounded bys group OF elat ed fl ends t3ss
Mr. Todd then wal ksd ollt o s the cou rtGs
and the shadow of. the law ss3H ,3sS
e There Is now but, one other obstac
In Mr. Todd's path to the treas asury seal. t,
The Henrico grand Jury succeeasa "
discovering "a Gross violation N ot the u
Law, that occurred. however, "a In &, Rich
n ond. This will now be inyestlga ted bYSS
Tho Richmond authorities Witnesses Isl are N
already being summoned, If Mr.: Todd n
wins here, also, his victory WI II pe ID ID
complete. 5 f " E-F5 4; 81. 3
Another Flaw. m!
Ey far the most Interesting: featu OF ot.5s .58s
tho trial yesterday was anot therss oll ~ III
slaught. and a successful one, upon, us
'iIl-starred Barksdale law. Another flaw
has been discovered. and q IA ther griey'-8as
.ous ono to all appearances .s35 555
When the first Todd indictment w
read yesterday the; attorneys for the naWal
treasurer promptly announced #a &, ,denl
rer. THIS they did upon TOUR grouna - s.ss
Two had Ito deal with technlcalities IN Il y
which tho Indictments We're tnconl pletss;
and both were sustained. OneAs of 3tha 8
others declared the Barllsdale law to- ba ~
a thingless name nothing non esse, "a
not In effect. The court lodged this qlesy ~
ton. The fourth ground was the tnlportr,
ant one. 1t pointed out reas SON " ny ytfs
grand jurfes cannot act under the Barksr IA
dale law. When the right Of grand juries 81
to indict for mlsdemeanor offenses was
restored In part 1t was specid Ideally set i6
forth that It could reeosnlze only. sueh33
before March. 1896. The Barksdale lazy \
had not been heard of them # It's advo-y
Gates had wished to have It included sun-
der the grand jury indictable offenses @
3(before 1866 this should have been plainl ;Ela
set forth In the law, In whichJcas So eyery1-5
law Is silent on this point. For this reay
son the County Court with Its grand Jury NJ
,terrors., cannot move a peg under the ~
Barksdale law unless It Is changed. The s
magistrates only have a right to act, -5S
This fourth ground OF demurrer was 5
unanimously sustained BY tho three n
Judges. Infview ot&this development: all 81
ton indictments We're quashed and the 4
record OF the grand jury was erased,p as y
1t were. Then a series OF bench warrants e
We're issued. ana these cases will nowshs 81
tried on them Tho Hechler- Brausr case u
was thrown out, because 1t occurred IN 81
Richmond. The city authorities Will look III
after this matter, which is regarded by S
many as one or the most mportant@of u,
tho whole lot, II < N "a 4 {ti Nh d s.
A Curious Thing.
OF the trials OF Todd yesterday there
We're several interesting features The #
wonderful witness Rutherford held the 4
stand for some time. and frequently
stumped the attorneys who labored n-ss
dustrlally over him. a remarkable mali
is hits Rutherford, q young Englishmali, Isl
never at loss In a wordy war. His re. 81
plies were frequently Of the birthstone
sort, Now and then, everybody would he
calling somebody TO -Rutherford
che cross-eXamining attorneys, and tba
court rutherford He made numerous 81 81
remarks to the court to tho effect that
he was tired OF the Henrico mess that
he was losing valuable tims sitting ia
the witness stand. and that lie wanted 70 Y
cut 1t out ''5hoot your wad, /" he would u
say 10 Mr.. Coalter every now and then.
'.and hurry up, partner
One OF the most curious things in cons
ncotion with the case was t,.a apparent i
change undergone in the ."aily intelies-
tuality'' Of some of the persons engaged n
Before the County Committee, Mr.. Todd'a
attorneys fought for tho Harksaale law
and vigorously resisted any suggestion
thati was not In effect. Todd, the. Ccun #
IT, Committee candidate. fought his fight 3
under the banner OF the BarksdaIe LAW,
the committee pronounced itself as gps il
holding the Barksdale law ana Mr.. SoatY
Ter and Others spoke for Mr., TODD, Va fes-
terday one OF the grounds on wh.cf THE III
n, "A A. a ttnrp (snaltera and ~ E>laaitrty. &