Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1903-10-09
CRIMINAL 0~FFENSES?
The States Attorney Proceeds
Against Liquor Sellers.
Jury Disagreed in One Case and in
the other Verdict Was Not Guilty
Other Prosecutions Continued.

Jury Disagreed in One Case and in
the other Verdict Was Not Guilty
other Prosecutions Continued.
Tho second sensation in the series Of
prosecutions for violations Of the license
law in Brattleboro was sprung Saturday,
when States Attorney a. f. Schwenk
issued warrants for the arrest OF IL per-
sons. proceeding under that section OF
the license law which provides that pros
ecution for criminal offense shall De in
stituted against a licensee whenever a
board of license commissioners declares
his license forfeited for violation Of its
conditions. The warrants were for the
arrest Of Edward G.. Frost. one of the
partners of the Valley Bottling company.
Orlin II. Ellis and William G. Shaffner,
employees OF the Valley Bottling company;
Harry Flood. Charles Houston and James
Austin. bartenders at the Brattleboro
House. T. Frank Turner. proprietor OF the
American House, Daniel DOnahue and
Charles English, bartenders at the Ameri-
can House; Levi j. Strong, proprietor Of
the Melrose House, Harry ~Stockwell. an
emplOye at the Melrose House; Clinton
Pratt and Harry Gould. minors. who tes-
tihed before the commissioners two
weeks ago that they falsely represented
their ages in order to get liquor. The
warrants were served Saturday forenoon
by Deputy Sheriff +. S. Hall.
Clinton Pratt pleaded guilty before Jus
tlce Newton to the charge Of falsely rep
resenting his age to l.. j. Strong. He
was fined S20, the amount specified in sec
ton - Of the license law, which he paid,
with costs. Harry Gould pleaded guilty
to falsely representing his age to I.
Frank Turner and was fined the same
amount. which he paid. +. G.. Frost then
was arraigned on the charge of selling
liquor TO Guy Jones. a minor. He pleaded
-. N. ---V IL fAE n frfnl lT fHrxH
His case and all the others not disposed
of were continued to go o'clock in the
afternoon.
Constable E. r. Thayer drew the jury,
but it was not until after 8 o'colck at
night that the jury finally was inn
panelled. some being excused for cause,
some being out Of reach Of the officer,
and some being laid aside for other rea-
sons. The jury as finally made up con-
sisted of NJ. J. Moran. foreman, a. w.
Roel. George +. Foster. H.. W. Sargent,
jerome knight and Frank a. Bagg.
Jones testified that he made a purchase
Of Frost at the Valley Bottling company
saloon on Flat street one evening in June
He said he was not asked his age by any
person and that nothing was said about
his age. Frost remembered making tn,
sale. but said he asked Jones IL he was
q and that Jones replied that he was
most q. Frost said he had not the
slightest doubt but that Jones was over
q and did not know why he asked the
question. He said he never took any
other means to find out Jones's age anc
that he never would have sold him any
liquor if there had been any doubt as tC
whether he was entitled to 1t.
W. G.. Shaffner remembered hearing
Frost ask Jones his age on the occasion
in question. He testified that the occa-
sion was fixed in his mind because Jone:
asked him about going to a dance il
r,gtgL~I cr-tr. -. ef1ar ..fI that "a,
a subsequent occasion he tShaffner
asked Jones his age, although he ha'
heard Jones tell his age TO Frost. .. II
Ellis remembered the June incident, anC
recalled hearing Jones tell Frost that n
was over y. He said he had had no tail
with Frost about Jones since the hearing
before the commissioners.
States Attorney Schwenk made th'
opening argument. X. c. Bacon and +
W. Gibson, counsel for the respondent
stated their contention and States At
torney Schwenk closed. The substance
of the argument for the state was tina
the evidence was conclusive, that b.
Frostls own admission he was guilty o
selling to a minor, and that that wa
sufficient under the law. The law did no
state that a person who sold to a mino
knowingly was guilty, but that H.
was guilty if he sold to a minor at all
whether knowingly or otherwise. TIL,
respondents lawyers quoted opinions ant
decisions in other states which the.
claimed showed that a person could no
commit a crime by an act alone, but tina
the act must be accompanied by an inten
to commit crime. They held that in thi
case there was no criminal intent anc
50 the respondent was not guilty.
The jury went out at 1l.3 and re
turned at 12.25 Sunday morning. Fore
man Moran announced to the court tina
the jury did not agree and that it woul,
he t1Ga1GGE for than 70 Aa1ilnra to an III.
matter any longer. The jury was dis
missed and the case continued to Mon
day morning.
On Monday moraing. Justice Newton
being busy with other matters, it wa
agreed to try the case before Justice j
IL. Merritield and a jury, The jury wa
drawn and the hearing was set for
O'Clock. The jury consisted of G.. f.. Gil
man, foreman. Albert a. Smith, G. w
Puffer. Leslie Smith, a. W. Rockwell anC
j. +. Gleason. The evidence INTRODUCES
was in substance the same as at the frs
hearing. but the arguments were more
prOtracted. The Only new witness wa:
Frank Pratt, who testified that he haC
been employed to open a set of book.
for the Valley Bottling company and t.
look after the bookkeeping to a certain
extent. lie said that, Judging from wha'
he saw and heard, the intent of the Val
ley BOt;ling company had been to b,
careful about selling to minors. He sale
he had heard them ask young men theil
ages and had seen them turn dowr
young men and men who were more THAI
u. The jury rendered "A verdict of no.
guilty after being out 10 minutes.
After the jury was dismissed State.
Attorney Schwenk announced that OF
account Of the necessary absence of tn,
attorneys for the defense the other
prosecutions were continued FRIDAY
morning today at 9 o'clock, before Jus.
1ipp Merrifipll that beinR the aPrqpment
Of counsel.