The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-06-14

woman. was then placed on the stand. l The defense objected to his testifying'
 on the ground that he had talked with
 the witnesses and with the solicitor. The
 motion was overruled.
 Mir Patterson said he had known Bis
 sett about three years. and that he had
 seen him frequently. In his opinion Bis
 sett Is a perfectly sane man. He said he had seen Bissett drink and that his l conduct was not that of gentleman
 when under the influence of whisky ] The witness said Bissetts wife had been | at his house about one week prior to
 the killing. She had gone there for pro- l lection. He had only seen Bissett once l and that was the night before the kill 1 ing. Bissett had been to the house, he 1 said, raising a disturbance and he com
 plained to the police. MT. Patterson at l tackled certain statements In Mrs. Dodd's S
 deposition. He denied her statement that l he had been to the sheriff's office for
 the purpose of having Bissett taken into
 custody The witness said Mrs. Bissett, wife of the accused, had been to the
 sheriff's office to swear out warrant
 against Bissett on charge of assault to l kill.
 This concluded the rebuttal testimony 1 for the state
 C. P Beddow took the stand in sur l rebuttal He was asked concerning con-
 versation he had in the corridor of tho 1 court house with one of the witnesses | relative to Bissetts actions. The testi-
 mony was not important.
 Frank A. Bissett, Sr., was called next
 and questioned about the ownership of ! the store which Frank Bissett was rum
 ming at one time. Witness testified that l he owned the store and that his son ran
 1t so badly it was closed up in about
 two months. Asked relative to seeing Baldy Davis on the day of the killing, | witness said that Davis had met him and
 expressed sympathy for him and his fam | ily and said that Frank had come to his saloon that morning and had acted like | he was raving crazy.
 1 With this testimony the case was closed. Aird Argued for Prosecution. l After a few moments intermission As- | sistant Solicitor J. B. Aird began the ar
 gument. He presented the facts of the l killing of Mrs. Patterson, declaring that | the defendant Frank Bissett, had com
 mltted the greatest crime in the statutes, | that it was malicious, premeditated and unlawful
 The attorney set forth the pleas of the 1 defendant In the case and told the jury | that if they were convinced that the de- l fendant was sane at the time of the kill
 ing they must convict, if not they must
 acouit on the plea of insanity. | Taking up the history of the case MT. | Aird condemned the act of the defendant in shooting down a defenseless woman Tn | the strongest terms, and declared it was | the act of a brute nature influenced by drink and not. that of an Insane man. i Reviewing the testimony In the case, MT. Aird declared that the acts of the defendant in running his switch engine | showed that he was reckless character
 and that the testimony tending to show
 insanity was frivolous and not worthy | of consideration by an intelligent jury. He | attacked with vigor all the testimony re- | latiye to Frank Bissetts boyish acts and I said that If jury should call the defend-
 ant insane on the full testimony then
 every one in Jefferson county should be | declared insane and the insane hospital | at Tuscaloosa enlarged to ten times It's l present capacity.
 | While Mir Aird was speaking the wife I of the defendant brought her baby in and
 held 1t in her arms.
 MT. Aird spoke for an hour and a half | and at 12:9 p. m. court was adjourned until the afternoon session.
 Beddow for the Defense. l When court convened in the afternoon | c. P. Beddow, attorney for the defense
 began his argument. He declared that
 he would present argument to support the | plea of insanity on the part of the de- | fendant and would not attempt to befud- l dle or to becloud the minds of the jury relative to the facts in the case. | MT. Beddow said he would first take up the matter of beredty as applicable to l the case of the defendant and began to read from a medical work upon the sub- ! ject of heredity
 Judge Greene interrupted the attorney