The Starkville news. (Starkville, Miss.) 1902-1960, 1909-05-28
EDWARDS SENTENCED.

! EDWARDS SENTENCED.
| Dyke Edwards was then asked to step
before the bar to receive the sentence of
the court. With great stoicism the de-
fendant faced Judge Mitchell and stood
without an apparent tremor. When
| asked why sentence should not be pro-
nounced upon him, he replied in calm
tone, Nothing" The court then said:
Mr. Edwards, you have been tried by
jury oy your peers, upon the law and
| evidence in this case, and they have re-
| turned verdict in which they say you
are guilty as charged, and your punish
ment has been fixed on that verdict of
a life sentence in the penitentiary. |
have no discretion in the matter. /
cannot modify this punishment, if |
would. | note that you have wife and
little baby, whose hearts are aching on
account of this great misfortune which
sympathy, especially when [ think of
my own family. OF course, we cannot
tell what the future will bring forth. 1t
may be that the supreme court may
reverse your case and grant you new
trial. But whether you are imprisoned
or obtain your liberty, the hope and
prayer of the court is that you may be
a honest, upright Christian. In pur-
suance of the law l now sentence you
to the penitentiary for the term of your
natural life"
| In passing the sentence Judge Mitch
| ell was very much affected and tears
gistened in his eyes and trickled down
his cheeks, especially when he made
reference to the wife and little child of
the defendant. After sentence was
| passed, Edwards, with cool, deliberate
step, walked back to the prisoners dock,
| sat down and began smoking cigar
ette, seemingly with as much comfort
as if he had been at home.
Defendant was granted sixty days in
which to prepare a bill Of exceptions.
Thus ends, perhaps, the largest and
most stubbornly fought and most ex
pensive criminal trial in the history of
Oktibbeha county.
EVERYBODY DID WE'LL.
Hon, Geo. T. Mitchell, of Tupelo, and
Messrs. Daniels and Adams, OF Acker-
man, have put up valiant fight for
their client, but so far have lost the
battle. District Attorney Geo. Fl.
Strange, Bell & Daniel and Carroll &
Magruder, who represented the state,
have won a great victory.
District Attorney Strange deserves a
compliment in the manner he handled
the case. He is young man, both in
years and appearance, and has served
little over month, but he has shown
remarkable tact and skill as a prosecu-
tor. In examining the witnesses, his
analysis was keen and full of sarcasm.
His arrangement of the defendant was
severe At no point did he spare him,
and in breaking down the lines of his
defence, he was just as relentless. His
argument was pronounced to be one of
the most powerful ever heard in a GRIM
inal trial here.
On the other hand, ex-District Attor-
ney Mitchell, chief counsel for the de-
fense, worked every point of law con-
cefvable to save his client, and made q
noble fight.
Hon. John 81 Mitchell, the presiding
Judge, has earned the confidence and
esteem of both lawyers and the public
by his untireing euergy, his firmness
ard the impartiality of his rulings in
this case. His position has been difficult,
as he was called upon to rule on almost
every vital issue of law.
The Commercial Appeal correspondent
has been extended every courtesy
throughout the trial, especially by his
honor and the lawyers in the case.
Sheriff T. G.. James and Clerk M. B.
Fnlgham have proven themselves most
courteous.