Arizona republican., 1906-06-01
WHITTLESY FREE
 TOOK TEN MINUTES
A Young Han From Tombstone Intro-
 duCed a BOmbSheII.

Roy Whittlesey became a free man yesterday afternoon ten minutes after his case had been submitted to the jury The case was resumed yester- day morning after the vacation which had been taken over the holiday The testimony of the defense was well un- der way when the court adjourned on Tuesday night and it was not thought that any more would be offered which would throw a great deal of additional light on the subject.
 But the prosecution was treated to a shocking surprise when young man by the name of Choate was put on the stand. The court was surprised to such an extent that after brief ex- animation of Choate mainly to get an insight into the workings of his mind he was excused. He was, however, afterward permitted to take the stand where he stuck to the story of his re- markable conduct. He could not be shaken and no doubt what he told had a great deal to do with the finding If the jury.
 Choate came forward as an eye wit ness of the shooting at Tombstone. though he remained silent through the former trial of the case when his word would have brought the matter to an end and would have saved Cochise county nearly s2,OOO.
 At the time of the shooting he was employed by Sheriff Hunt of Cochise county as jailer. He was not in the employ of the county; that is. he was not a deputy sheriff. He said that at the time of the shooting he was about 15O feet from the Engle residence and saw Whittlesey standing at the front door of the house. While he was there another man. who was J. L. Reisinger came around the corner of the house and drew a gun. WhittIesey left the place where he was standing and walked toward the man with the gum They apparently had some conversa- tion. when Reisinger lowered his gun and started away. A little girl ra1 after him and he stopped and stopped to kiss her. As his back was turned toward the corner of the house Reis- finger turned and fired at him. Whit tlesey fell, and falling he drew a gun and fired.
 This story of the shooting agreed with that told by two other witnesses at the former trial but who were not present at this one. but whose evidence was read from the record.
 But the remarkable part of the tes- timOny of Choate was in the contfnu- ation- He said that after the shooting he ran toward a telephone with the in tentiOn of telephoning Sheriff Hunt On his way he met the sheriff riding rapidly in the direction of the place Choate then said that his part in the affair ended, now that the sheriff had been informed of it and he never told what he saw to the sheriff or to any other living person. He reiterated this story under examination and then the court took him in hand. He asked him if he did not have charge of Whittlesey during his confinement in the Tombstone jail and if he did not know that his word would give him his freedom. Choate replied that that was all true. but that he was working for the sheriff and not for the county: that he felt that he owed no duty to any body else. It was al this point that the court dismissed him from the stand though he afterward permitted him to resume it.
 The testimony was concluded early in the afternoon and the judge orally Instructed the jury. The case was ar gued for the territory by District At torney Flannigan of Cochise county and Assistant District Attorney Bull lard. and by Alfred Franklin for the defense. The territory desired to con fine the deliberations of the jury te the question whether or not Whittlesey had fired the shot which had wound ed Mrs. Engle. The prosecuting attor- neys warned the jury that MT. Frank lin would probably aIlude in the course of his argument to matters which were entirely outside the case as to tina and circumstances and that no atten- tion should be given to his meander- ings.
 The very thing the attorneys for the prosecution surmised came to pass MT. Franklin not only alluded to but dwelt upon the fact that Whfttlesey had been robbed of his wife and chil- dren by Reisinger; that the latter hal shot and dangerously wounded the de- fendant when he called to bid his chil- dren goodbye and that Whittlesey was now carrying about in his lung the bullet which Reisinger had shot at him. In the opinion of the attorney for the defense to further heap misfortunes upon Whittlesey by sending him to the penitentiary for a crime which he never committed would be a stretching of justice to the point of breaking. The jury evidently coincided with this view of the case.
 FOR OVER SIXTY YEARS.