The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1908-01-15
JERRY FREED OF
MURDER CHARGE
Found Guilty of Carrying
Concealed Weapons.
SESSIONS FINISHED.
AS Resnlt Of Term, Four Conyicts Go to
Columbia, and the Rest to the
Chaingang.

The criminal docket for this county
was cleared in week, and the winter
term of General Sessions Court adj
Journed at / o'clock last Saturday.
Splendid progress was made from the
beginning in disposing of the work be-
fore the court, and in no case did the
trial jury get tiled up" for night
during the week, a circumstance that
has not happened III several preceding
sessions.
The last case tried was that of the
State vs.. Jim Templeton, negro boy
charged with killing another negro
youth near Tylersville, a few months
ago. Templeton was found not guilty..
AS stated last week the case of John
&. Jerry, accused ofBthe murder of his
brother, Frank Jerry, was the most
important for the current session. This
case was called Friday, just before
noon The testimony of eight witnesses
was introduced in behalf of the State.
while the defense put up five, including
the defendant himself. Because of her
inability to attend court, the testimony
of Mrs Carrie Jerry, the aged mother
of the defendant and his deceased
brother, as given at the coroner's in
quest, was admitted for the State.
1t vii be recalled that, as result
of personal encounter at the jerry
home, October 80 last, between John
G. and Frank Jerry, brothers, Frank
was struck on the head with a pistol
by John, the blow causing death to en-
sue within about fifteen hours. DR..
W. l.. Bailey, who made the post NOR
tenn, testified that the blow on the head
of deceased produced line fracture Of
the skull and caused blood clot to
| form on the brain.
The taking Of the testimany and the
arguments were concluded before ad-
Journment Friday evening. On Satur
day morning, after the Courts charge,
the case was given to the jury. At cne
o'clock the jury returned verdict of
not guilty as to the charge of mur-
der, but guilty of carrying concealed
weapons" as charged in the indct-
ment, After taking an oath that he,
John c. Jerry, would never again carry
concealed on his person deadly weapon
for any purpose, a fine of one dollar
was imposed by the court, and the de,
fendant was released
In the trial of Jerry the contention
OF the State was that the defendant
had no grounds for the plea of self
defense; that he struck his brother
while Andrew Jerry, another brother,
was holding. Frank in an effort to pre-
vent the men from coming together,
On the other hand, the defense con-
tended that the deceased had broken
loose from Andrew and was making at
defendant with hoe when the fatal
blow was inflicted.
SEVERAL CONVICTIONS.
Wednesday morning Cleve Ellison.
the negro boy charged with killing Ned
Anderson, also colored, was convicted
OF manslaughter. A motion for new
trial was granted by the court.
Tom Jones, colored was next tried
for the killing of Rob Campbell, another
negro, of the Cross Hill section. Jones
got verdict Of manslaughter and was
given ten years in the State peniten-
tiary
Charged with numbering his sister-in-
law, league Nelson was convicted of
manslaughter and was sent to the State
prison for fifteen years. All colored.
Henry Turnbull, negro Of the upper
section of the county, tried for the sec
ond time on murder charge, the kill
ing of another negro, was found guilty
of murder with a recommendation for
mercy, and was, therefore, sent up for
! life.
Rich Suber, the Goldville negro who
was re-arrested on warrant charging
him with the murder of Dave Hunter
colored, was tried and convicted of
mansiaughter. Argument for new trial
was made and the Court took the mo-
ton under consideration.