The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1908-02-27
ORATORY
IN SHEETS CASE
Thurman Thanks God That De-
tense Is Not Identified With
Confessed Crooks.
HANSON TALKS FOR STATE
TRIAL OF FORMER CHIEF WILL
BE FINISHED TODAY.

Before nightfall the fate of George
A. Sheets. formerly chief of police. will
probably be known. The case will go
to the jury about the middle of the
afternoon. Both sides look for an early
verdict in the case.
The afternoon session ,of court yes
terday was occupied by the arguments
Of County Attorney Hanson on the part
of the prosecution, Judge Samuel r.
Thurman and Attorney Soren X
Christensen. Mr.. Christensen will COM
plete his plea 10 the jury this morn
ing, after which District Attorney Fred
c. LOofbOurOw will close for the state
The instructions of Judge Morse will
be brief, and the case will be delivered
into the hands of the jury by $3.50
o'clock this afternoon.
County Attorney Hanson began his
argument to the jury shortly after 2
O'Clock yesterday afternoon. He paint
ed wildly the picture of the McWhir-
tiers after the robbery, homeless and
penniless, going to the police station
with one of the robbers, there meeting
the chief of police, IAN accomplice in
the crime, a man who had an arrange
ment by which and through which the
grafters operating in Salt Lake could
continue to operate, provided that
Chief Sheets should get his share of the
amount secured
Law for the Stranger.
There is an ancient axiom" said
Mr.. Hanson, inscribed ON the archives
of the Almighty that there shall be one
and the same law for the people of Il
city and the stranger within the gates.
Remember this, that though the Nc
Whittier brothers were tourists pass
ing through the city at the time of the
swindle, they were entitled to just as
much protection from the crooks and
thieves as the taxpayers of the city.
'Oh, it is easy to simulate and easy
to deceive, and Sheets found no diff
Guilty in foOling the simple Scotch
They have their excuses to offer, but
oh, how fiimsy they are when exam
ined closely.
You can compromise felonies for
$1,000, and you can buy George Sheets
for thirty pieces of silver. Gentlemen,
are you going to allow the fair name
of the city to be smirched and blotted
with the reputation that we do not
protect the strangers within our gates?
Do you want the crooks to know that
Salt Lake is a place where they can
ply their occupation without molesta-
ton. and where the police assist them
in their enterprises and aid them to
get the victims out of the city through
the payment of a few dollars to the
chief of police?"
Seeks to Show ConniVance.
The county attorney then read por-
tions of the testimony in the case to
the jury. which, he said tended to
show that there was an understanding
and connivance between Sheets and
Bell with reference to the McWhirter
robbery. Mr.. Hanson pointed out that
Immediately after telephoning to the
police from the Sun drug store on Mar
ket and West Temple streets, he took
McWhirter to the police station, and
when he got there Sheets was waiting
at headquarters. This, said MIR. Han
son, was one of the many circum-
stances tending to implicate Sheets in
the acceptance of the bride for his part
in the affair.
At o'clock Mr.. Hanson was followed
by Judge Samuel r. Thurman, who
began the presentation of the case to
the jury for the defense. Judge Thur
mans address to the jury was an elO-
quent effort. He made an appeal to the
jurors for simple justice, and nothing
more, for the defendant. His talk was
filled with the keeneSt of satire. He
fiayed the attorneys for the prosecu-
ton for allowing Parent to escape
scot free, and for doing all in their
power in every way possible, by fair
means or foul, to attempt to railroad
the defendant to the penitentiary"
Mr.. Hanson has just told YOU his
version of this case from the viewpoint
of a prosecutor" said Judge Thurman.
In this connection / want you to bear
in mind that there are always at least
two views to be taken on every matter
and 1 now come to tell you of our side
of the case.
Identifies State With Crooks.
First of ali | want 20 denoUnce the
McWhirter robbery as one of the most
damnable outrages i'm the criminal his
tory of Salt Lake and lack words bit
ter enough to express my condemna-
ton of the perpetrators of this robbery
And / thank God that we are not COM
ing before you cheek by jowl with the
elf-confessed crooks who are here to
testify against this defendant. I thank
The nIear-headed active