Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1909-11-19
The BroadWater Case.

Elsewhere in this issue We are re-
producing a round in the controversy
between Lawyer Thurmond and DR..
Bel of Edgefela not that we think
that any Of our readers care anything
about the case Of Bill Broadwater, or
that they have any personal interests
in either party to the controversy; but
because we think the issue involved is
Of state wide IMPORTANCE, and should
be helped along to a proper settlement.
Bill Broadwater killed his daughter
in-law under circumstances that look
ed to many of the laymen like a case
of brutal murder or certainly nothing
less than manslaughter, ran away to
Georgia, and after being arrested and
brought back, employed a lawyer, who
in due course, secured first contin-
uance of the case from one term Of
the court to another. and finally going
into a trial at which, 1t is claimed that
the facts were not nearly developed,
secured an acquittal.
1t seems that DR.. Bell was familiar
with the circumstances Of the killing,
having been brought in touch with the
case through a call for his professional
services, and, according to his state
ment, interested himself as a citizen.
who feels the responsibility Of citizen
ship, in watching the full and proper
vindication of the law.
After the acquittal Of Broadwater,
Dr. Bell wrote a red-hot communica-
tion to the newspapers, in which he
criticised the solicitor, the defendants
counsel, two judges, and the jury. His
criticism Of one Of the judges was for
allowing bail in a nominal amount and
of the other as we recollect, for allow
i'm a continuance. The defendants
counsel and the solicitor were criticised
for implied collusion in arranging a
and in suppression Of the
most damaging part Of the evidence,
and the jury was criticised for finding
a verdict of not guilty where, in the
doctors opinion, the facts were most
c. inclusive. Upon a showing by jury
man that the facts alleged by DR.. Bell
had not been brought out at the trial,
DR.. Bell withdrew his criticism Of the
jury and of the judges; but stood firm
on what he had said about the solicitor,
and the defendants attorney.
The communication by Mr.. Thur
mond as published elsewhere in this
issue would make it appear that DR..
Bell is an excitable kind of an individ-
ual, who allows himself to become un-
necessarily worked up about matters
that are none of his business; but in
his reply, DR.. Bell presents some facts
that seem to suggest that there might
have been at least some foundation for
his excitement, and the whole case as
made out up to this time is, to say the
least, decidedly interesting.
Knowing absolutely nothing about
the matter except such impressions as
we have gained from reading part
Of the controversy, We shall not at
tempt to express an opinion on the
of this particular case; but we
will say that if conditions in Edgefield
are like unto those in almost every
other county Of the state, DR.. Bell has
taken up the cudgels in a matter that
Is of the gravest Importance to the
welfare of the people Of the state, and
until it is absolutely proved that there
Is nothing in the very serious doubts
that he has raised, he is entitled to
sympath- and support.
The complaint against one judge for
granting bail to Bill Broadwater in
the sum of $1,000, and the complaint
against another for granting a contin-
cance is not, in our opinion we'll found
ed. In both cases the judges had nee
to act Won wnat was before
them. AS to whether $1,000 bail was
too much or too little, it is not ours to
the state deemed that sum sufficient,
the judge could not very well go any
further, and how judge can force
to trial, except where the de-
fendant has spread due notice of de-
mand upon the record, as prescribed by
the rules, we do not see. So it seems
to US that DR.. Bell was unfortunate
in bringing the judges into the matter
a. all.
But whatever may be the facts in
this particular case, there is no ques-
ton, in our view that there Is too
much behind the BAR practice in this
state 1t is not to be denied that
many lawyers talk personally to judges
about their cases in advance Of trial,
and it is not to be denied that there has
grown up a practice under which solic-
tors agree to compromises which have
little, if any, warrant in the written
NV, and which tend to demoralize the
of justice and destroy
confidence in the courts.
There has been a suggestion that DR..
Bell is to be prosecuted for libel. If he
has been actuated by malice, which we
do not believe, he chould be prosecut
ed and punished. On the other hand,
Il he Is actuated by zeal for a pure and
honest administration of the law, with
4 view to maintaining the most ~rice-
ess boon the people Of this country en-
joy, their liberty, and that is the way
il appears to us, he should be sustain
ed by his fellow-c citizens.
THE Spartanburg Herald suggests
that if the people Of the state had
known beforehand what they now
know thpra wOul6 have bpen no adj