The morning journal-courier., 1908-01-31
NOT GUILTY IS STOWELL VERDICT Jury Brings in Unanimous Finding After Being
 Out But Twenty
 Minutes.
CHARGE OF JUDGE CURTIS
Final Summing Up of the Case by the States Attorney--Great Dem- onstration on Announce
 ment.

Booth of Meriden, foreman of the jury which has been hearing the triaI of Mason A. Stowell, at 42O yesterday afternoon. The jury had been out just twenty minutes, having been sent from the court room after hearing a carefully prepared and thoroughly just charge from Judge Curtis. The decision was unanimous. It was i'm mediately followed by the biggest demonstration of approval that has ever met jury verdict in a New Ha- ven court room, at least in years. The court room was packed to suffocation at the time and the sheriffs were ut terly at a loss to control the situation, Sheriff Spiegel at once rushed to the center of the court room and called loudly that the gallery be cleared of people at once, but almost as he spoke Judge Curtis dissolved the jury and ordered the term of the criminal court pronounced at an end.
 Y Thus ended one of the most sensa tional trials that New Haven has seen in some time. Ii was a trial in which to a greater or less extent the whole reputation of the police force was at stake. As the big crowd awaited the jury to come back to give in It's yer dict there was the most impressive silence all over the room. Stowell and his lawyer. MT. Goodhart were evidently very nervous Over near the doorway sat the wife of the accused, and her eldest daughter When the verdict of Not guilty!" was pro- nounced the wife sank into the arms of her daughter and cried as if her heart would break, but the tears that came were tears of joy. Stowell was at once the recipient of monster showing of approval from his many friends. They surged around him as he stood smiling, a free man, in the doorway, and shook his hands. There were the I-told you-so's' and the "I- expected It's" in great number
 Day of Sensations.
 The day had been one of sensations throughout In the morning Attorney Goodhart had made his argument for the defense. Each of the, attorneys were limited to an hour and a half. Just before Attorney Alling began his preliminary argument for the state there entered the court room the wife and four daughters of the prisoner. It was dramatic situation They walk ed right past the jury stand to their seats
 The three younger daughters were sent out of the room again as being under age
 After MT filings argument came MT Goodhart's for the prisoner, and then it was time for the noon-time re- cess
 Mir. Williams Argument.
 Directly after the recess Mir Will Hams, the states attorney, arose to speak. He said in part: Your honor and gentlemen of the jury: We have been told by the esteemed gentleman fthe defense that the situation the prisoner finds himself in Is series of unfortunate circumstances. I agree with him. He says it Is an attempt to railroad an innocent man to prison. We must not lose sight of the evil dence.
 Now gentlemen of the jury. the night of December 23 last was dark. foggy night and in the story of Mr. Brunt which is submitted to you, we find that about 10:l0 he was in his house, where he had been since 6 o'clock He had been engaged since o'clock Tn entertaining certain la dies Suddenly we are told he decid ed he wanted to go out to collect a bill from a certain man. Here he was living on Judson avenue. and he says he started out from there at 10:1O. | want to go over his story with some me as reasonable You believe Mir. Cornwall, his superior, who said that Stowell came to his house at o'clock in the morning? What did he go there for? To get his friend Brunt to help him out
 What urgence was there. anyway, for Brunt to go out on cold night to collect a bill from man he hadn't seen for nearly a year (referring to WilmotD He didn't even know where he lived, But. no, all of 8 sudden he was in 8 hurry to see Wilmot
 Next day after he'd had this early interview with Stowell. mind you. he called mp MT. Frederick by telephone to say he had been at Winthrop and Derby avenues the night before and had seen there two men in front of Jim Clark's and that he followed them down to Frederick's shed He realized that the consistent course would have been to have telephoned to the police as soon as he got home, if he had been honest Wouldn't it have? It simply isn't true; it is a made up story.
 No Reasonable Doubt.
 We can shut our eyes to oratory and talks of reasonable doubt There's no foundation for the claim that there were any suspicious characters, or any men acting suspiciously, even if he saw them and I don't believe he did, be- cause of the distance and the fog. That's all the evidence there is.
 Now. what must we do2 1 don't be- lieve Brunt: you may"
 MT. Williams in the course of his argument. paid a compliment to Chief Cowles, whose record for thirty years was spotless. he said.
 Tt is question of veracity between