The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-11-17
DEATH SENTENCE FOR MILLER WAS
 VERDICT OF JURY For First Time In Five Years Penalty Is Imposed on
 White Man
PRISONER UNAFFECTED
 BY THE ANNOUNCEMENT
Convicted of the Murder of Fred w. Rainbow, Whom Miller Slashed and Cut Fatally In Saloon
 On Twentieth Street.


 been sentenced to hang for the crime
 which he is alleged to have committed
 on June 22, 1907. The verdict of the jury,
 renndered yesterday morning, infiicts on
 the defendant the supreme penalty of the law, that of death by hanging. Not since Frank Duncan was convicted of highway robbery in connection with the famous Standard Oil robbery in
 June, 1901, and suffered death on the gallows for the offense, has white man been punished with the death sentence. The verdict rendered by the jury yes- terday caused surprise to the great num- Der of people who have followed the pro- | gross of the prosecution.
 The following verdict was that returned l by the jury yesterday morning at $40 o'clock, being out for nearly 20 hours:
 I've, the jury, find the defendant | guilty of murder in the first degree, as charged in the indictment, and say he shall suffer death. I'll. V. HENRY, Foreman" After hearing four lengthy arguments and the judges charge the jury was closeted in the jury room Friday after noon shortly before 1 o'clock, and being unable to reach a verdict Friday night they retired at o'clock. Shortly after court convened yesterday morning, how
 ever the foreman knocked at the door and announced that the jury was ready | to render it's verdict.
 Prisoner Is Unaffected. A The verdict was handed to John G. pradIav olarlr of tba cri1ninal oourt and he read it in the presence of the defen-
 dant. When he heard the verdict he was apparently unaffected, and the announce l ment that he should suffer the death penalty for the deed committed was re- ceived with the same indifference which
 he had shown throughout the entire trial. Silence reigned supreme in the court
 room for a moment or two, and then
 atfer each juror was questioned as to his individual verdict Miller was remanded to the county jail and afterward placed
 in the condemned cell. He spoke only few words to the bailiff in charge. The fight in the jury room was long and hard one. There was no doubt in l the mind of any of the jurors as to | the guilt of the defendant and they diff | fered among themselves only on the pen I alty that should be imposed. The ver- 1 diet stood between a life Imprisonment l and death by hanging during the whole 1 time the jury was out.
 l Ten ballots were taken. At the first
 ballot the vote stood seven for death and 1 five for life Imprisonment; at the second,
 eight were for the death penalty, against ! four for a life sentence; at the third, i the vote stood 9 to 3; and so on the
 ratio gradually increased, until Friday
 night the jury stood Il for the supreme
 penalty against one for life imprison-
 ment On the first ballot yesterday morn- ing the jury voted unanimously for the | death penalty.
 The members of the jury were the fol-
 lowing: S. F. Norwood, J. M. Baird, J.
 II. Parsons, F. c. Jolley, M. V. Henry,
 J. A Stark, G T. Brazelton and Robert | T. Pittman.
 Caused Some Surprise.
 The verdict of the jury caused some | surprise to every one in the court room. | The fact that they had been out so long | caused a general impression that dis | agreement or a compromise verdict would
 be the probable result of the jury's work. 1 Miller has intimated once or twice since sentence He had nothing to say last | night, however.
 Owing to the fact that the jury had been out so long verdict was expected yesterday morning and expectation was ! great. The court room was crowded, I and when the verdict was read there was | a death-like silence. Among the spec l tators were c. T. Rainbow, the brother
 of the late Fred w. Rainbow, and former | Sheriff Joe Smith, who arrested Ram | bows slayer in his flight
 Crime Was Sensational. The crime which Miller Is alleged to l have committed was a most sensational | one, and one that attracted much in
 terest on account of the prominence of | the deceased. The facts in the case l are familiarly known to the general pub l lie.
 | Rainbow is said to have been at work behind the bar in his saloon, on the southwest corner of Twentieth street and First alley, when Miller, as the prepond- erance of testimony shows, became en- ragged at some remark of one of the negro bartenders, which is said to have been intended for one of the negroes in the rear of the saloon and not for Miller. With few words, however, it is said that as Mr. Rainbow stepped fr.m be- hind the bar Miller stepped up to him and slashed him fatally. He died at St. Vincents hospital a few hours after ward.
 Attorneys John M. Caldwell and Der nard L. Chappell have defended Miller in his fight for life. Solicitor II. P.
 Hefiin and Assistant Solicitor J. B. Aird were the prosecuting attorneys. MT. Caldwell announced yesterday that an appeal would be taken in the case.