The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-12-20
HUMMELL CASE ID
 GO ID JURY TODAY

with conspiracy and subornation of per jury in connection with the Dodge Morse divorce proceedings. will be given to a jury tomorrow morning.
 Hummell, who has been on trial for I nearly a week, elected today to have his case go to the jury without offering a defense, his attorneys arguing that no ease had been made out by the prose- cntion.
 When court adjourned tonight both sides had summed up. Tomorrow the charge to the jury will be made.
 John B. stanehheld and Delaney Nieo dressed the Jury today in their clients behalf -s.ss
 Assistant District Attorney Rand closed for the state.
 The defendants attorneys dwelt upon the fact that Chas. F Dodge, one of the states witnesses and one of the prin- cipa1s in the divorce tangle was a self-admltted pefjurer, and could not be believed in any of his statements It was asserted he had become a states wit ness to save himself from prison. A point was made of the fact that Mrs. Morse. who was Mrs. Dodge, was not introduced as witness MT. Nicol de- claring that she knew she had no right to marry Morse.
 Mir Rand. replying to these assertions, said he took full responsibility for not calling Mrs. Morse to testify, saying she knew absolutely nothing about the ser 1 vice of the divorce papers on her former husband, and therefore was not mate | rial witness.
 Mr. Rand said that Dodge had not be- come perjurer until the agents of Hum mell had been to see him several times, and it dawned upon him that a game was on foot by which he might profit
 No Excuses for Dodge.
 The assistant district attorney made no excuses for Dodge further than this. He declared Dodge's perjury was corrob- 1 orated by the action of the two wit nesses-Kaffenburg and Cohn, employees Of | HummeT. who declined to testify at the trial on the ground that their evidence might incriminate them. He further as- serted that the defendants counsel throughout the trial had been endeavor- ing to lead the judge into an error or 1 law.
 Mr. Nieol objected to thIs last state | ment and it was afterwards withdrawn
 
 | by MT. Rand.
 The prosecution finished it's case yes- terday and when the trial was resumed today counsel for Hummell announced that they were prepared to rest thelr case. They did not desire to offer any evidence in defense. Hummells counsel contended that the jury should not be- ileye the testimony of Chas F. Dodge, building their argument for the defend- | ant around this point.
 Dodge was the first husband of Mrs. C. W. Morse. He testified yesterday that Hummell gave him several thou- sand dollars and that he perjured hin- self in giving testimony to proving illegal his original divorce from Mrs. Morse. 'There is but one point In this case for the jury to decide" said John B. Stanch- field of Hummelfs counsel and that is "do they believe that Dodge, in the pr- vacy of a law office, told Hummell that he had been served with the summons in his wife's divorce case Dodge has ad- mitted that he Is a perjuror and don think the jury can believe liar who becomes witness for the prosecution so as to escape from going to prison Tor perjury
 NlcoIs to the Jury.
 Delaney Nicol of Hummell's counsel said to the jury;
 "This crime which Is charged is not one punishable by state prison, but Is only misdemeanor. The district attorney has described transaction as conspiracy to break up legal marriage and happy home. We have the facts that Mrs. Lodge Morse herself believed that the divorce she had secured from Dodge was tainted and that she had no right to marry again. If a wrong had been committed against her why was she not called at this frlal! The best we know of her Is that she is a fugitive in New Jersey. She was not called because she well knew that she had no right to marry Morse. And as to Dodge. I thought we would see an old infrm man, broken down in health by dissipation Instead of that we found him to be a prosperous and alert man in the best of health and with an acute mind T can say that Capt. James T. Morse is not to be condemned for his action in the case. for as guardian of the children he had to protect them in any legal way possible, declared MT. Nicol'
 MT. Nicol concluded his speech by saying:
 Why should you be asked to visit all the vengeance of the law on Hummell and allow others to go free? What is to be- come of the two millionaires? Are you going to allow one law for the poor and another for the rich in the persons of lit tie Hummell and the rich and powerful
 
 Has the time not arrived for you to say we will not be a party to one law for the rich and another for the poor, and ask you to say it.
 Prosecutions Argument.
 The argument of the prosecution was made by Assistant District Attorney Rand who said: If l believed Captain Morse had any idea of the means to which Hummell was going to resort to to accomplish his pu1- pose then l would be glad to prosecute Dodge never questioned his wife's divorce nor were there any proceedings on foot until Captain Morse had retained Hum mell. Now as to the question of perjury Of course Dodge Is an utterly depraved and wretehed creature. Mir. Ncol describ- ed Dodge as being spruce and bright but he ought to have seen Dodge when brought here from Texas.
 "Of course you cannot believe whai Dodge says because he says II. We say that discredited as Dodge is. the man who hired him to commit perjury has nc right to warrant to stand here and say don't believe him I admit that Dodge is perjurer. On direct examination Dodge admitted that he Is a liar
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