Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1905-07-07
COURT CLOSED.
A LARGE VOLUME OF BUSI-
NESS TRANSACTED.
A Longer June Term than Usual.
In Session Twenty-Five Days.
Docket Cleaner than for MANY
TREpnS

of the month and was formally de-
clared adjourned by Sheriff Smith by
direction Of Judge Watson at 10 :40
o'clock last Friday forenoon. the court
of chancery rising twenty minutes later
at 1l:O5 o'clock. The Registers fore
cast of the probable length of the term
was that it would last through the
month and possibly longer, which al
though of course only guess work
turned out to have been pretty ac-
curate.
The term opened on June and there
were sessions on % days during which
large quantity of business was got
through with. Besides brief and minor
court hearings, one civil case was fully
tried by jury, one was settled after a
partial trial and in two others the trial
was stopped after going part way
through and the juries directed to re-
turn verdicts for the defendants Seven
criminal cases were tried and out of
these only one respondent escaped YER
dict of guilty. -Four respondents plead
ed guilty to the various charges against
them l3 old and somewhat musty
criminal cases were mol pressed and in
four cases the bail was called and for
feited. Only nine out of the many
divorce cases on the docket were heard
and in these the bills were granted in
all but one. -Four respondents received
state prison sentences, two were
sentenced to the House of Correction
and four were let off with fines. There
was large amount of miscellaneous
court business transacted at odd in
tervals during the term and on the last
two days.
When we closed our report last week
the case on trial was that of State vs..
Minnie Lewis. In this case the respond
ent was a sxty-three year old Hancock
widow and she was charged in differ
ent counts of an information with hav-
ing killed a deer in the closed season
and with having in her possession dur
ing the closed season at Hancock on
August 18th last parts of the carcass
of deer killed contrary to law. Some
pieces of meat were found by sus-
picious officers with a search warrant
under tree on the respondents land
and covered with an undescribed gar
ment, so that it was constructively in
her possession whether she had any
knowledge that it was there or not.
There was some little question made
as to whether or not the meat was
actually the flesh of a deer and that
was practically the only question in the
case. The woman and her three grown
sons were arrested at the time and
at hearing before Hancock justice
the woman pleaded guilty on an under
standing that if she did so the young
men would be discharged, which was
done; and this case came into court
on an appeal from the judgment on
the plea of guilty in the Justice court.
States Attorney Russell prosecuted and
Lawyer Ira H. LaFleur defended. The
jury got the case at 3 o'clock Tuesday
afternoon and after an absence of an
hour and a half returned verdict of
guilty. The statutory fine of $fO0 and
costs was imposed. This was subse-
quently paid and the respondent re-
leased. The costs were s77.33 making it
pretty dear deer meat.
The last jury trial of the term was
started very soon after the jury
in the Lewis case went out Tuesday
afternoon, and when the jury in the
case had been empanelled all the other
jurors except those on the Lewis case
were discharged for the term and paid
off by the clerk. This last case was
that of State VS.. John McSweeney for
intoxication, the respondent being
charged with being intoxicated in Mid
dlebury on the night of July 4th last
year. The case came up on appeal from
the justice court, the respondent having
been found guilty there. Former States
Attorney James B. Donoway of Middle
bury who had conducted the prosecu-
ton in the lower court, also had charge
of the county court prosecution and
Lawyer Button of Nliddlebury managed
the defense. Only two witnesses were
called for the State and three for the
respondent, among whom was the re-
spondent himself, Mr.. McSweeney testi-
fled that he was SO years of age and
had never before been arrested for in
toxication or for anything else and
that he knew he was not intoxicated
at the time alleged. He admitted, how
ever, that he had gone to Brandon on
that glorious day taken three drinks
of beer and bought bottle of "high
wines" out of which, after being proper
ly reduced, he took one drink in the
evening after returning to town and
aOme hours Drior IN his arrast which