The Corvallis times. (Corvallis, Or.) 1888-1909, 1903-12-02
ACQUITTED LOGAN,

s-As<f.
OE THE MURDER OF GRANT,
THE sILETz. INDIAN
xll;@Nsy
Jury Scored by the. JudgeATh
Verdict characterized ;by Him
as Defeat of theEnds Of i.
Justice-Court Scenes.
Portland, Nov. 20 The Orego.
nian says: The jury in the case Of
Abe Logan, the Indian accused O.
numbering U. 8. Grant, upon the
Siletz reservation, DUN bfounded the
court and every one who heard the
evidence in the case by returning a
verdict Of not guilty1F yesterday
morning. Judge Bellinger took oc-
casion to express his surprise at the
outcome, and, also 10 administer a
gentle scoring to the jury for re-
turning sueh a DECISION. i. He then
scored the Indian,;. and told; him
that he was guilty ofeimplicaion in
the crime, even though be had been
declared innocent by the jury. The
judge declared that the jury was in
Auenced 10 coming to the idecision
it did by pity for the wife and chill.
dren Of the defendant.
When the verdict was announced
in the courtroom an audible express
sion of disapproval ofthe result went
over theentire audience. To those
who had listened, to the evidence
against both men accused of the
crime, it seemed a travesty upon
justice that Logan should be ret
Flree and Martin, against whom
there was less substantial evidence,
should have to serve time Tor man
slaughter.
+ After listening to the verdict the
judge turned to the jury and said:
"This has been a failure of JUS
tice. Out of respect and feeling for
the wife and little ones Of this de-
fendant, you have been led to ac-
quit. Such a verdict as this must
(resalt disastroIslY to all residents
Of the Siletz reservation ?
To. the acquitted prisoner he ad.
dressed these Worde:
Logan, you are acquitted; but /
think you are bad man and that
you killed Grant. The jury gave
you the beuefit of a reasonable
doubt, but had l been on the jury I
would at least have brought in a
verdict of manslaughter. The blood
Of Grant is on your hsnds, and I
give you. fair warning that your es-
cape from the punishment that you
no doubt deserve does. not argue
that you would 60 free 81 col d
time, and I advise you to keep out
of this court
How the jury could have found
Logan not guilty, after listening to
the testimony introduced against
him, is more than those who list
ened to the case can figure out, The
strange verdict was the ail-absorb-
ling topic of conversation around
the courthouse all day, and there
were a great many adverse criti-
Ecisms made about the verdict.
On the first ballot in the jury
room, there were seven for convic-
ton and FIVE for acquittal. That
this was the case was the statement
of officials who are in a position to
know. The minority held out for
an acquittal because, it is said, of
the feeling for the wifeand children
of the accused man. The fight was
a long one, but-the majority finally
sacrificed their convictions and cast
their votes with the fve..
The displeasure of the Indians at
the result of Martins trial was in-
creased by the result Of Logan's.
They did not hesitate to express it
as their opinion that there had been
a slip in justice somewhere. and
that it was the heig ht of injustice
to convict Martin upon the weak
testimony against him, and allow a
man against whom the strongest
evidence was introduced to 60 free.
Mr.. Hall severely arraigned Lo.
gan in his closing argume mt and the
Indian was visibly affected. He
shifted about uueasily. While Judge
Bellinger was charging the jury
Logan's eyes never left the face of
thecourt, and when His Honor stat
edsthat, while there was prepond-
erance Of evidence. which went to
prove that 10 urder had been commit
ted, there was a doubt In his mind,
as to whether there was malice and
that he believed that the killing
was the result of a drinking bout,
Logan seemed to take heart. While