Los Angeles herald., 1909-07-24
JURYMEN FIND
MRS. briggs IS
LEASE FORGER
AGED WOMAN BRANDED BY
EVIDENCE
PRINCIPAL IN TWO DRAMATIC
CASES CONVICTED
Jury In charnock Property Prosecu.
ton Bring In Verdict After Brief
Delberation - Time for
Sentence Not Set

| A FTER dellberating little more than
u an hour the jury in the case of
"A Mrs. Gertrude briggs, charged
with uttering forged lease to property
belonging to the estate of the late John
j. Charnock, returned a verdict of
guilty at S:15 o'clock last night. Judge
Davis announced he would fix the time
for sentence later. probably today.
Present In the court room when the
verdict was returned were Mrs. briggs
and her counsel, attorneys for the de-
fense, Mrs. briggs daughter, Florence
! c. Thorbus, and several friends and
number of persons who had known
Charnock intimately during his life
| time.
The 6O-year-old defendant gave way
| to hysterical weeping as she heard the
! jury's decision. AS the twelve men
! filed out of the little gate leading to
I the enclosure in front of the judges
bench, she broke away from the con-
soling embrace of her daughter and
approaching the departing jurors began
heated denunciation of their action.
She was only silenced when the re-
straining hands of Bailiff Edward Lup-
! ton and Deputy Sheriff Gillis were
placed on her arms and she was led
back to her seat.
Ten minutes later she was taken to
the county Jail, where she will remain
until final disposition is made of her
| case.
Trial Attracts Attention
The trial of Mrs. briggs was begun
| last Monday, and because of the pecul-
| lar circumstances surrounding the
crime with which she is charged and
| the personality of the woman, whose
| dpnde ra rapnrHaH in % criminal hfC-
tory of several states, interest in the
| case was inordinately heightened.
| Her arrest occurred in April, shortly
after the death of Charnock. an octo-
genarian recluse who had lived a great
| portion of his life at Chavez Station,
near where he had accumulated a large
amount of property. Mrs. briggs first
met the old man in the fall of 1907,
while she was living at Palms, where
she is said by many to have established
a residence with a view to gaining his
acquaintance for the purpose of secur-
| ing his property
Many visits were made by the woman
! to Charnock's home the following year
! and during the spring of this year, but
according to the statements of relatives
1 and friends of the old man, her ad-
vances were repulsed.
February % she called at the house,
| accompanied by her daughter. Mrs.
| Thorbus, and Mrs Anna Hill, and pro-
| cured Charnock's signature to two pa
! pers, one of which she claimed was the
lease that later formed the basis for
the prosecution.
Carried Option to Buy
BY the terms of the lease Mrs. briggs
was given possession of 1877 acres of
! Charnock's land for period of ten
| years, with an option to purchase the
! land for $500 an acre at any time dur
| ing the life of the lease. The consider
alton, according to the wording of the
instrument, was her kindness toward
| Shamrock when he was i'll and aban-
| doned by his relatives.
| The fact that Mrs. briggs was MAX
| ing an effort to gain possession of Char
nocks property became known to his
relatives, and C. r. Smead, his nephew
| by marriage and now administrator OF
| his estate, took steps to forestall any
thing of this kind by inducing the old
! man to deed his estate to his heirs.
These deeds were filed in the office of
| the county, recorder March Is. Mrs.
briggs lease was filed a week later
and handwriting experts were immedi-
ately employed, whose opinions given
after comparing the signature to the
| lease with Charnock's known writing
determined the heirs to take the mat
ter to the district attorney. An inYes-
| tigation was made, resulting in Mrs.
| briggs arrest.
1t was contended by. the district at
torney's office that the paper signed by
! Charnock and claimed by Mrs. briggs
to be the lease was in reality a COM
| munication to one of the old mans
! friends, and had nothing Whatever 10
do with his property.
Close with Arguments
Yesterdays proceedings in the trial
| ant ar.
Judge ]. S. Noyes and General john
stone Jones addressing the jury in be-
half of the defendant, and w. j. Ford,
deputy district attorney, occupying the
last two hours of the session for the
prosecution.
| The evidence was carefully reviewed
by Mrs. briggs attorneys, who con-
! tended no testimony had been intro
duced to prove she had forged the
name of John Charnock to the lease,
while two witnesses, they said, testi
! fled they had seen the old man affiX his
| signature to what they believed was
the doubted instrument.
| The attorneys also criticised Attor
ney c. M. Ackerman for giving differ
ent testimony at the trial from that
given by him at the preliminary eX
| animation, stating their belief this
was done in order that he might escape
prosecution for perjury.
During his closing address, Mr.. Ford
commended Ackerman for his change
of front stating he had taken this step
after learning the truth concerning Mrs.
briggs plans to obtain possession of
a portion of the Charnock property.
In his remarks he also told the jury
verdict of guilty did not necessarily
mean a penitentiary sentence, which
leads to the conclusion that efforts will
be made to get a probationary sentence
and that this will not be contested by