The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1903-06-30

.t. license. He SAID in part:
WOODARD'S ARGUMENT.
the wise ruling of His Honor
b- sand the proper place Tor a trial
the court house and not on the
er bv the newspapers. A method
....4ure has been prescribed by law.
...meo. there devolves On you the re
'...nIty of passing upon the evidence
.t.- ,9se. His Honor is Judge of the
while YOU are a Judge of the facts.
81 - YOU then have a duty to perform
Co.. .r. here instructed by the law to
imam the facts in this case.
.t could charge you that the mere
that these men have been indicted
.at argue that they are guilty: you
To consider them innocent until they
.. proven guilty. | have no sympathy
..,f rhr crime which was committed. and
.r,-,p that the guilty should be punished.
1.r when this crime came to my knoWl-
.t... There also came to my mlnd the fact
+s.. q man was living here IN sight OF a
.n.fch steeple IN adultery with a negro
.onan. When he was led from his room
t. the officer there were good men ii
f.r.ou who SAID hat this nan ought to
IL. driven out OF town. Aud had he gotten
onar his acts deserved he would have
F,.n driven out and this horrible killing
.sg.d have been averteG.
.0u what evidence are you asked to
.qryjct these men of murder in the sec
and degree? Silt it and l nave no fear of
.our verdict. This evidence is circum-
|.tautial. No. | had forgotten the evi-
r.ucr of Bib Barnes and it deserved to be
FORGOTTEN. You would not convict the
caulu0nest dog on such testimony. The
rIu-ecution realizes the Worthlessness OF
barnes testimony, and | Will venture the
assertion that as the years pass by the
gentlemen who are prosecuting these men
ELL see that their zeal in the prosecution
has led them into methods which they
will regret. The law says you can be
ItYe an accompice when he comes OF his
own free will, but 1T also says that it Is
DANGEROUS to convict on the unsupported
testimony of an accomplish, so Barnes
wanting to get out OF the affair, made a
confession. He was acting on advice from
his counsel, through his brother, Jeff
Barnes. He did not make this statement
for lack OF money to hire counsel, be
cause he had counsel who had appeared
for him at every stage OF this case. No,
h. did this because it was one of the ten
thousand lies which Bill Barnes admitted
A4lEA III ANtb VIM ~ ti'' N"|> N>iN
tItmcn of the jury, would you doom
an ola man like Gill Ward to spend the
remainder OF mis- natural life III the peni-
t~antlary on such evidence? When you
come to consider that Barnes made this
statement on a promise of immunity you
viii not allow yourself to convict any
one on such testimony. Would you rely
on this statement when you know that
Barnes had given Mr.. Sid Woodland an
affidavit, swore TO it, in which he said
he knew nothing about it? Would you
send men to the penitentiary on such evil
dence as this? l do not believe you will.
Eliminate Bill Barnes testimony and
YOU must do it. and you have nothing to
rely on except circumstantlal evidence
You cannot convict a man because the
hand of suspicion points to him. These
circumstance must convince you beyond
a reasonable doubt; and l claim that in
the case Of some of these men the EVIL
dence does not even cause a suspicion
that they are guilty. There Is no testl-
mOny which shows a motive why any OF
these defendants should ave wanted to
kill Jones or do him an injury, nor Is
there any testimony which shows that
any OF the defendants were IN Jones room
except Allen, and unless the testimony
NtlInu'N you DeyOnu all ItdSOIdDle uOubt
that these men are guilty, then it is your
duty to acquit.
"Wlo are these men? Gill Ward, not 9
perfect man, one who at times has yielded
TO his desire for strong drlnk But he
brought here from his old home good me1
who testified to his good character. He
comes out of an honorable service for hi:
country with a good character. He wa:
tl..1 md o.,,,,++nl On - c1,ap0n of nplr
der by those who knew him. II Gil
Ward had wanted to whip Percy Jones he
would have gone to him on the street II
the light OF day and not iii the deat
hours OF the night. He has led a siren.
uous lie for sixty years, 1 grant you, but
during all these years his ~nelghbors sa!
he has lived an honest life, a brave lite
There has been no evidence produced
winch connccts Ward with this killing.
II. Rich is also charged with thl
Killing. Look at the men who have com
here ta swear to his truth. to his integrity
ana to has good character. When thes
men who have known him for years com
mere and tell you that he is u man OF trutl
can You doubt him When he comes her
ana tells You that he knows nothing abou
,Ie killing? Is there any evidence agalns
NO mere IS nOthllS III the eNl
o'hee tending to show that he made al
eloIt TO conceal his movements on tn
hisht OF the killing, either before or afte
.Ir shooting took place. He went wit
amen 10 the sanitarium just as any goo
,IeHo would have done. There is no ev1
1'"e mat he was ever in a conspiracy t
-' Jones ana injury. What he did was ty
1.'' vi the true manly man which he Is
mikes no effort to conceal anything
,''" you. Rich tells you that he did no
""[f as pistol on the night Jones wa
&n''D1 He tells YOU that the nurse j
s 5.'ut'r1um was mistaken when sh
'D she saw a pistol in his possession i
"e bah room.
- "h@} Is the evidence against Morgan?
"V'e Is not a particle of testimony, ex
~. mat OF Bill Barnes, which in an.
killing 'eo "ois'h Win ~
~. what about Whitley? 1t is in evidenc
raa " h'lIey went to Jones room at tn
Pom. ,.s oil one OF his own friends. Ate
warT up There Jones swore out a peac
'AtLH md NIf