The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-02-07
MISS SMITH BREAKS DOWN Girl Denies Story of
 Father. APPEALS TO PEOPLE IN COURT Dramatic Scene During Trial h
 Columbus. Young Woman swears sse was xss wronsed by V. A. La.rs.t
 -Dess.sass rIesa. H.
 Was Iusass.
APPEALS TO PEOPLE IN COURT

Columbus. Mss. Feb .---fSpeciaI.) -s Sensational developments and startling situations have followed one after fhe other with great rapidify in the trial of R. D. smith for killing D. 4. I.aa- rent but the climax came this morning when Miss Bsteiie smith, the dangh- ter of the defendant, on aoeonnt oe whose alleged seduction he claims to have killed Laurent, burst into tears during the examination of her father and called upon tine people of Columbus to protect him from what she termed was cruel parseeu- ton.
 The situation was one os the most dramatic ever witnessed in the crffnt- nal court room here. and 1t was nec- essary to stop proceedings for several minutes in order that the young wo- man might be auieted
 The outburst was called forth by n, question from Mir. McConnico who, In order to test Smiths memory, was inc terrogating him regarding a European tour. Smith mentioned having vINftea Ireland and the attorney asked him if he kissed the "BlarRey stone.r At this junoture Miss Smith. who was seated near her father. and who had been sobbinE quietly, jumped to her feet and in a. voice choking with sfnotion. appealed to the people to come to the aid of her father and herself
 Recalls Visit fe xretnzfa.
 There was nothing in the question in itself to call forth the outburst and it is presumed that the mention of the Blarney stone recalled to ths mind of the young woman some incident of the visit to Ireland which excited her and caused her to temporarily lose control of her emotions ,s8
 Attorney MeConnico. of NashyIIie, leading counsel for the prosecution, said he regretted very much to irri- tate Miss Smith but vas compelled 10 follow his, line Of iaansry In order to test the memory CT the defendant.
 He pniu glowing tribute to Miss Smith. declaring that he believed her .to be c noble woman. and aaaisred her that he respected and esteemed he- most highly.
 AIisa Saith was fnaiiy qulatsa ana the hea sn8 Of khe case gsah xnsninao-
 AlAs Bsatth uemieb AdNnsM4ben& Willie the ffenxied outbnrst of Miss Smith during tho morning hours waa the day. this afternoons session wit messed developments hf great import ance. Miss Smith was again brought Into the Iimelight when she took tha stand as Q witness for the defense and stated emphaticaily that the accusation made by her father that she had been aeduced by Laurent was untrue and was founded. she believed. upon de- fusion resulting from the unbalanced condition of ths defendants mind.
 Mss Smiths demeanor on the stand was In strange contrast to her conduct at the morning session. Her face de- picted sorrow as we'll as sympathy and pity for the father whom she had re- gently defended and rather than
 
 state of her mind was revealed to the public when she cried out in man. ner that awakened sympathy in the heart of every person within sound of her trembling voice:
 T am innocent of the sin of which I am accused. but am guilty of the murder of P. A. Laurent"
 Miss Smiths direct examination had not been concluded when court ad- Journed at 3 o'clock this afternoon. ad- journment having been taken at this early hourfin order that several law yerse and court officials might leave on an afternoon. train and spend Sunday with their families in other cities.
 Testing smfth's Memory.
 Today counsel for the prosecution sought mainly to establish the sound ness of the defendants mind, the law yers for the defense having entered plea of Insanity for their client
 Counsel for the defense interposed objections to the general line of ques- tioning being pursued by the prosecu- tion but were 0verruled.
 The defendant admitted having been present when This brother. Dump smith. shot T. H. Peters. at Artesia. Miss. several years ago. Defendant also admitted having had trouble with several other citizens over business differences
 Counsel brought out prominently that the recollection of the defendant regarding these occurrences was per- fectly good.