The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-02-18
MAGGIE JOHNSON ALSO
 ACQUITTED BY A JURY
After DeliberatIOu of Twelve Hours She is Found Not Guilty of Murder Charge in the
 GreenVille Trial.

Greenvilie. Feb. 1I.-(Special.)-- Maggie Johnson, like her sister Katie, was today freed of the charge or the muroer of George Bryan by a jury or baCler C0unty. Alter dehDeratlns for tweIve hours the Jury tnIs afternoon at
 ociock brought Tn a verdlct or noC guIlCy and the second of the unfortu- ndIe slsGers was free to so her way
 without rear or prison or scAtfoId.
 The Jury whlcn brought m the verdict came m for some DrIer, but caustIc, crItlcism from Judge j. C. hichardson.
 When the verdict mad been read, the judge tod the Jury that the supreme Court of Alabama had with the same facts before it as was before the jury declared that the two defendants were guilty of murder in the first degree. he told the Jury that 1t was discharged from any further attendance upon the court.
 But the criticism by Judge Richard son of the acqulttal of the prisoner was not the only sensa tional features attendant upon the rendering of the verdict. In the first place the verdict
 was heartily cheered by the crowd
 which filled the court room. The de- fendant, her sister and her mother
 sobbed aloud. They were heartily con-
 graduated by the people of the court
 room. In fact, so many congratula-
 tions were extended the late prisoners at the bar, Katie and Maggie Johnson,
 that they were almost given an ova-
 tion. The sympathy of the people who crowded around them was expressed in more substantial form by a number of
 those present and various sums of money were pressed upon them.
 Interest In Result.
 The jury which had under considera- tion the case of Maggie Johnson re- tired to deliberate at o'clock Thurs all the day was spent in { fruitless ef- fort to reach a verdict. The town of Grcenville felt an intense interest in the case. It was rumored about on the streets that the jury stood eight for acquittal and four for conviction. At o'clock a message was sent out that the jury had agreed and was wait ing to report to Judge Richardson. who had left the court house. While the jury was waiting the coming of Judge Richardson, the court room was rap idly filled with the town people of Greenville and the country people who were in town on court or private busI- ness.
 The verdict, amid intense silence. was passed over to the clerk who read, we, the jury, find the defendant, Mag gie Johnson, not guilty"
 A cheer instantly went up from the crowded court room. Judge Richard son immediately ordered the sheriff to suppress the disorder. but Sheriff was striving to restore order before the judge gave his command The prisoner. who, with her elder sis ter, had passed through such a terrible and nerve racking ordeal. wept and sobbed aloud. Her mother and her sister. who had had the same terrible trial and who had found the same joy at the end of her troubles, wept and sobbed with the young girl from whose soul the heavy weight had been lifted.
 When order had been restored and while the echoes Of the popular de- monstrations were yet ringing Judge said:
 Gentlemen, the Supreme Court of Alabama with the same evidence that was before you found that the defen. nant Katie Johnson. who was acquit- ted yesterday and the defendant, Mag gie Johnson, whom you have just &C., quilted were guilty of murder in the first degree. More capital offenaea are in Butler County than in-I any other county of this section. You | are excused from further attendance 1 upon the court"
 When court adjourned a few min utes later the aged mother and the | two daughters retired to a jury room. | There crowded into this room a ma iority of those who had formed the | crowd in the court room all shaking l hands with the two girls and express | Ing their pleasure at the verdict. A | number of them pressed various sums | of money upon the lately freed prison ers. It is said that over fifty dollars | were thrust upon the girls during the | handshaki9g and some estimated the | amount as high as a hundred dollars. |
 The case attracted more attention | In Grcenville than any murder trial | In recent years. Popular sentiment | favored the acquittaI of the girls al- though there were many who thought | that the law should have some satis- faction fer the killing of George | Bryan. an officer of Butler County. | who fell while performing his duty.
 Johnson In Jail.
 John Johnson, the father of the | girls. and who fired the shots which |