Omaha daily bee., 1908-12-11

Nebraska and Charles n, Davis, the pris-
onsr at the bar, do find the defendant
not guilty. q. W. BARBER, Foreman.
BY returning this verdict after thirteen
hours Of deliberation, the jury in the
Charles E. Davis case freed Davis from
the charge Of numbering DE-. Frederick
Rustin on the morning of September and
left the death of DR.. Rustin involved in as
deep a mystery as 1t was the morning he
was found dying on his front porch.
The verdict was reached at 6I4 a. m.
Thursday. the jury having worked dill
gently since Sis Wednesday afternoon,
with only an hour out for dinner at 6
o clock.
Davis. who was in his apartments at
the Chatham with Deputy Sheriff Ed Gard
ipee, was notified to appear at 1880 to
hear the verdict read, and Judge Sears.
Attorneys Gurley and woodrough for
Davis, Frederick II. Davis. his brother.
and Tom L. Davis, his nephew. were sum-
moned.
1t was after o'clock before all these
interested were at the court room. and
just S:11 when Deputy District Clerk Asel
Steere read the document handed him by
the foreman. Davis and his attorneys
were at once congratulated by their friends
and Davis, who had been in charge of
deputy sheriff since the jury went out,
was released from custody. Judge Sears
spoke briefly to the jury, thanking them
for their services.
THE verdict" he said, "is no doubt the
one you deem proper. and 1 want to thank
you for your attendance, without reference
to the character of the verdict"
Judge Sears by mistake ordered the jury
to report again for duty the next morning.
until his attention was called to the fact
the time of service of the panel had al
ready expired.
Davis in Ladies' Department.
Davis, the defendant, left in company
with his friends. and apparently he was
the least concerned of those in the court
room. Less than two hours after he had
been acquitted of a capital offense he was
at work unconcernedly at his place in the
ladies' department at the First National
bank.
The thirteen hours OF balloting and de-
bate that led up to the verdict was caused
by a single or at most two Jurors. After
the jury went out two ballots were taken
on murder in the first degree and the
vote stood IL to /. The jury then went to
dinner at 6:l5, returning in about an hour.
MhSh NhC OdAiObAhB was IcS0lntus ne
fourth ballot resulted in a unanimous YER
dict OF not guilty on the first degree count.
Halloting Was then resumed on the charge
of murder in the second degree included in
the charge. Four ballots were taken, the
first one standing 10 to 2. the next two II
to and the fourth unanimous for acquittal.
The balloting on the manslaughter charge
lasted most of the night. The first two
ballots stood 10 to 2. the next six IL to l,
the ninth or the nineteenth taken by the
jury was taken at 6:14 and all twelve of
the jurors voted for acquittaL
Abbie Rice Not Accused.
While the verdict leaves the my stery un-
solved. jurors who discussed cautiously the
trend of the debate in the jury room de-
clared 1t " as 4ot the opinion of the Jurors
that Abbie Rice could have committed the
crime. The principal theory among the
jurors was that DR.. Rustin committed sui
eide. The absence of evidence that Davis
was in the neighborhood of the Rustln
home at the time the shooting was done
was weighty fact In the minds of some
of the jurors. He was last seen at II
o'clock, according to the evidence, a block
and half from the Rustin place, four
hours before the shooting.
Charles f. Davis spent an easy night in
spite of the fact his fate was hanging in
| the balance. He was in charge Of Deputy
Sheriff Gardipee, with whom he stay ed in
the sheriffs office waiting for the news
from the jury room until 1915 oc.ock
Then with the permission OF Sheriff Bral-
ley they went to Davis room at the Chat
ham, where they talked until about O'Clock
and then went to bed. Davis slept well
until about $50, when they We're reused By
a call from the court house that the Jury
had agreed. They were directed to be IN
the court room at 1880 TO hear the verdict
Davis ate a hearty breakfast and showed
no signs OF nervousness or loss of appetite
At the First National bank, where Day !
was found at work about 10 o'clock, he
said he did not care to say much for pub.
licatlon.
Davis Expresses Himself.
IT was confident of an acquittal all the
time" he said. II knew l was not guilty
and 1 never thought for a minute that tn,
jury would convict me. My confidence die
not leave me even when it failed to com,
in for several hours. l slept well and die
not feel worried over the result. I feel Il
| was q case where l was unjustly suspected
and on account Of the condition L was il
II was hard for me to remember clearly
just what happened 1t was just like III,
case Of a man who was intoxicated being
accused of doing something while he wa.
drunk. It would be hard for him to tel
Just what he had been doing all the time
1t was practically the same thing. excep
that had been taking this dope or NOR
phine. My health has been improving al
the time and ! am feeling well now"
]. w. Woodrough. attorney for Davis
said:
1T was a righteous verdict No one coul,
talk to Davis five minutes without beIn;
convinced he was innocent"
County Attorney English was at his hom