The Columbus commercial. (Columbus, Miss.) 1893-1922, 1908-02-25
PETITION FOR PARDON
Columbus, Miss. Feb'y, %, 1908.
70 His Exeellency, E. E. Noel,
Governor Of Mississippi.

Columbus, MISS. FeD'Y, ~, iSJ6.
To His Exeellency, E. z. Noel,
Governor Of, Mississippi.
Sir:
The undersigned citizens of Lowndes
county. State of Miss ssippi represent,
petition and pr that your ExcelleucE
grant pardon to Thomas Garner, color
ed, who having been convicted of muir
der in the Novemb Term. 1904, of the
Circuit Court of said Lowndes county,
is now serving a life sentence in the
State penitentiary. Said petitioners
represent and show the folio wing as
grounds for ranting said petition, viz:
AS shown by the testimony set out II
the transcript on appeal to the Supreme
Court, the prisoner and Louella Rich
ardson, his young female friend OF
about the same age, whilst playing each
with the other O. the evening of April
the 25th. 1904, pistol in the hands Of
the prisoner was accidentally discharg-
ed, and mortasly wounded the said
Louella. The testimony embodied on
the record on appeal is in sharp conflict
as to what was said by Louella in her
dying declaration, and for that reason
only was the pr. soner convicted. Six
witnesses Tor the state swoTe that the
deceased said the defendant purposesy
shot ner, whilst nine witnesses sWOre
directly t e reverse-of this, and stated
that deceased said the hooting was
wholly accidental, and that her chief
regret at dying was the fear that Tom
might be panished, when he was wholly
innocent of any criminal purpose.
The only eye witness of the tragedy
was one Willie Cole, a young female
friend of Tom and Louellt. Her testi-
mony a set out in the record on appeal
is conf natory of that OF the prisoner,
and Of the dying declaration of -Loaelia
as testified by the defends n IS witnes ses
and sustained by the conduct Of fh
pris oneT Immediately thereafter, name
ly that the tragedy was wholly acci-
dental.
On the first trial at the May Tenn
1904, the jury could not agree-they
stood eight for acquittaI ana four for
manslaughter-and were consequently
discharged. On the second trial at the
November Term 1904, the jury returned
verdict of guilty as charged and rec
commended life imprisonment, and to
which the prisoner was Sc fenced;
thereupon, and appeal was taken, with
the result that the case was disposed Of
on February q, 1905, without any writ
ten opinion, bat with the atement
from the bench by Calhoun, J. as re-
! ported in ''The Daily Clarion Ledger
OF March /, 1905. in these words: "In
Tom Garner v. the State the Court
stated that had it been on the jury that
tried the case it might have been diff r
ent, but it could not find anything
EXACTLY wrong, and affirmed the SEN
tence which is for life. Garner killed
his sweetheart in Lowndes County"
In view OF the foregoing facts, nd
that Garner has suffered Imprisonment
in the county jail and stare peniten-
tiary since the unfortunate tragedy on
April %, 1904, we feel that executive
clemency should be extended him, and
therefore we ask for mis- pardon.
Respectfully submitted,
E. o. Sykes, George F. Mitchell r.
J. Gunter, I. A. Egleston, 3. D. Erwin,
James Il. Harrison, j. A. Or, L. p.
Landrum, F. o. Harris, E. t. Sykes,
Robt. @. Belts, j. l. Sturdivant, Vim.
Baldwin, w. G. Meek, c. L. Lincoln,
L. L. Willerford, J. A. Vim, j. w.
CaTothers.