The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-11-21
First Strong Point Scored in
 Fight for Life
VENIREMEN ARE DISCHARGED
Men Summoned From Harrison Coun- ty, Which Is Heavily Democratic, Are Relieved From Any Jury
 Duty In This Case.

Georgetown, Ky. November 2O.-The attorneys for Caleb Powers in his fourth trial. won for him today the first sub stantial victory in his fight for life or for his liberty when Special Judge Morris sustained the motion to discharge the second venire. The main contention throughout the proceedings so far has been that politics has been joined to the case at all previous trials, that an effort to continue the condition has been made in the selection of the venire of 200 men summoned from Harrison county, and that the defendant could not obtain jus tice at the hands of a jury composed entirely of political opponents.
 It has been argued that it is reason able to suppose that the F men ulti- mately selected to try the case would all be democrats. For this reason, coun- SC. for Caleb Powers attacked the ve- hires drawn from Harrison county. Testi- mony was introduced to sustain this view but was intellectual until proof was forth coming as to the political character of those sections of Harrison county from which the veniremen were summoned, which demonstrated that these precincts were largely democratic, so much so as to create a suspecion whether well or i'll founded, that undue influence had been used in directing the deupties from Scott county toward these democratic precincts.
 The weight of testimony introduced the sheriff of Scott county and his dep uties. but the result of their work in Harrison county led the court to the expression of an opinion that created a sensation. In sustaining the motion of the defense, Special Judge Morris, an ardent democrat and appontee Of Governor Beckham, said:
 Judge Morris View.
 '"rhe proof indicates that the demo- cratic majority in Harrison county is somewhere in the neighborhood of 1000, perhaps more in the last election. The proof indicates that in the precincts where the yeniremen were summoned there is an overwhelming predominance of democrats, not so much in the last election as in previous elections, perhaps. Now in looking over these lists in proof here, it must be striking that so many democrats were summoned on these ve- hires and so few republicans"
 Concluding this important opinion, Judge Morris said:
 'I do not want to preside at the trial of any man when there Is any just ground of suspicion that he has not had a fair trial, and that there has been any discrimination against him in the selection of the jury, for that is the vital point of the trial, and because there might be well grounded suspicion of discrimination and I do not think 1t more than that. I am going tC sustain the motion to discharge the second ve- nire."
 Following the order discharging the second venire, Judge Morris overruled the motion to discharge the nrst, declar- ing that the objection had not been sus- tained. But four of the veniremen main and they may tomorrow present excuses that may relieve them from jury duty.
 Motion Overruled.
 Judge Morris overruled the .efense's motion for the appointment of an elisor to summon the next venire, and an alter native motion that Sheriff Warning be re- quired to select one of six republicans named in the motion as his deputy and directed that a venire of 150 men be sum- moned for Friday and the same number for Monday. all to be drawn from Grant county, democratic county, which joins Scott on the north.
 The effort of the defense to get a ve- nire from Fayette was without avail.
 Never in the history of this famous case have surprises come more rapidly. After the effort of the defense to have Sheriff Warning superseded, for fear of his partisanship, for which reason they had asked for a republican deputy, the sheriff suggested to Judge Morris that there would be no personal objection on the part of the officer to a friend of Powers accompanying him through Grant county, while on his official duty and promising due courtesy to the gen. tleman. The offer when announced was accepted by the defense's attorneys. The defense lost out in its motion to have James Howard brought to Georgetown jail to be near Powers for consultation, the court declining for want of authority.