The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1905-04-28
FRIDAYS PROCEEDINGS

FRIDAYS PROCEEDINGS
The third day of the Koch trial open
ed with four jurors drawn, eleven mem
bers of the first special venire to be
examined, and the second venire for
thirty jurors returned. Yesterday
thirty three talesmen on the first
special venire were examined, and six
were excused. Three jurors were OBJ
tanned, or one to each eleven examined
The venire that was ordered yester-
day afternoon was served by Coroner
Kennedy, owing to the affidavit of pref
udice filed by Senator Somerville
against Sheriff Williams. The latter
was taken completely by surprise by
the affidavit.
Sheriff Williams did not care to be
interviewed at length about the matter,
but he did put in a strong denial
of the charge that he was partial and
prcjudiced. He said that he had Sc
lected the names of fifty persons wnom
he thought would make good jurors,
and he thought that the peronnel of the
venire showed this. He had not in
quired as to how they stood on the
case, nor did he have any idea. He
went out through the county, picking
up people that he thought would make
good jury timber.
Bailiff p. w. Pitcher, who summoned
twenty men from this city on the ven
ire, was just as positive as Sheriff Will
Jams in denying that there was any
Partially shown. He said that he had
assisted Mr.. Williams in making out
the list, and that they had picked out
persons that they thought would be
good men on the jury.
Senator SomervilIe, when asked about
The affidavit, said that the defense had
strong reason to believe that the
sheriff had selected persons favorable
to the state He said that something
had been learned that practically made
this certain, but ne would not mention
what it was. He said that the defense
| first became aware of this when the
On looking over the list of names, they
had become convinced that the sheriff
had been unfair to the defense. Mr.
Someryille did not care to specify the
things that led the attorneys for the
defense to this conclusion.
An attorney who is connected with
| the case made a statement last eve.
ming that throws much light upon the
matter. He said that glance at the
list of talesmen returned by Sheriff
Williams shows that there are very
| few German American citizens on it.
Out of the twenty selected from the
city there were but two, and one of
these was excused on account Of mis- age
and the other was disqualified on ac-
colunt of his strong disposition against
the death penalty. Out of the thirty
selected from the country, only four
were from German extraction. The at
torncy stated that the defense wants
to get German-Americans on the jury,
but as long as there were so few of
| these on the list it was next to impos
| sible to do SO.
While there have been reports spread
to the effect that there is going to be
lot of new evidence introduced, the at
torneys on both sides stick to the state
ment that the case in this city will be
practically a repetition of the New Ulm
testimony tied down little more
closely and definitely, particularly in
reference to the alibi. The defense will
have more evidence on this point than
it had at the New UIm trial, and posi-
bly, the state will also.
In examining the jurors as to their
qualifications for service, the attorneys
change off. One win examine few,
and then another will take up the task.
The size of the audience increases as
the trial progresses, and the afternoon
sessions are particularly well attended.
Yesterday Afternoon.
John G. Gjervig, Decoria farmer,
was called and was challenged for ac-
tual bias. He said that he had no
opinion and that his mind is absolutely
free from prejudice. He was examined
at mucn length by the defense, partly
as to his general qualifications, such as
understanding the language, etc. The
triers found the challenge untrue. The
defense challenged on general qualii
cations, and the court held the chal-
lenge to be untrue. The defense then
used its sixth peremptory challenge.