Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1905-03-09
.N[N HOPE FOR BUSS[
Attorneys For the Murderer
Claim to Have Found Flaw
In the Indictment
WE'RE ONLY SIX GRAND JURORS
Law Provides That an Indictment May
Be Returned on the Affirmative Vote
of Seven Members, Whereas 1t Is
Claimed Only Six Members Voted
Busse Charges.

Des Moines, March 9.-It is claimed
that Louis Busse, the Bremen county
wife murderer who is under sentence OF
death, was not legally indicted.
This discovery cannot be urged on
the supreme court in the argument on
the petition for a rehearins IN May,
and probably will not be called to the
o+4an+;on Of the court at any time ou.
a. vii, form the basis Of an application
to the United States supreme court .oA
,,r;+ of habeas corpus in case the
Iowa court eventually and hnaliy al
firms the death penalty for Busse'
II is improbable that the question
-. ha raised even at any time were
tho sentence Of death commu'eu ~
life Imprisonment the best LOT "nlsA
ara his friends and lawyers
now are asking. a,a+mant
aau ha returned on the affirmative
, me-. ~ seven members of grand
NV, Tn the case of Busse the TACT IS
that there were but six iegal Juio.s - ,.A
insufficient number In naVor W ..1a
inc him for murder in the nrst oes.e'
the crime Of which he was convle. .,. :.
The true bill was returned ps .ne
grand Jury as whole, but Wnsh so..
"a on the record shows tnat thele
we're but six instead of seven jurors.
rhe law provides that q delenoah ).
NAV object to the panel OF gfano
iury. hut IL he valves objection 10 the
nanel he cannot afterwards chalehge
an individual member OF the jury. IN
th,s case the attorneys for Busse WalV-
ed objection to the panel OF the srano
Jury which afterwards indicted busse.
This Of course, prevented their making
objection to the individual members OIL
the Jury later. However, the court
discovered that one Of the grand jurors
was not qualified to sit In the case OF
Russe. and was directed by formal Or
der not to participate in the Jury's oe-
liberations or findings respecting the
charge against the wife murderer. The
result was that the indictment was
voted nv six Jurors instead OF seven
as required by law.
Not having made the first and formal
objection to the panel of the grano
jury, the attorneys for Busse were
powerless to question the suftlc1ency
of the Indictment in the state court. II
is not clear that the fact that the IN
dictment was voted by six instead OF
the legal number Of grand Jurors was
known at that time.
The attorneys for Busse are pressing
upon the attention of the supreme court
other matters of Importance to their
client seeking rehearing and rever-
sal of the judgment of the lower court
and which will hang Busse If not set
aside. The claim as to the invalidity
of the indictment on which Busse was
put on trial awaits exploitation before
the United States supreme court If all
means to save Busse's life thru the
state courts come to naught.
The state supreme court will hear
the arguments in the Busse case In
May. At that time his attorneys will
argue upon the attention of the court
the fact, as they view it, that the lower
court failed to instruct the trial jury as
to second degree murder, and did not
allow the jury, in effect, to find Busse
guilty of a crime intermediate between
manslaughter and first degree murder.
This error, they claim, was fatally
prejudicial to the interests Of Busse.
who being innocent until proved guilty.
was entitled to every protection Of the
strong arm Of justice.
1t is said that the sentiment in
Bremen county in reference to the
Busse case is changing rapidly since
the discovery that the indictment on
which he was tried was defective. The
trial jurors are quoted as saying that
they hope the supreme court at least
may modify the death sentence for
which they were responsible.