The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-07-04
RIDERS
GET NEW TRIAL
Six Were Condemned to
Die.
|RE0PENlNG OF THE CASES
tennessee Soprano Court Gives an
Opinion.
EAsst Men Convicted At Unioa CITY
~ outrsseoss Murder Of Cap
tain Raaki.. e Appear
Again.

jackson. Tenn. July s--The cases OF
the eight night riders, SIX Of whom
were under death sentence. charged
with the murder of Captain Quentin
Rankin at Walnut Log on Reelfoot
Lake. on October 10 last. were revers-
cd BY the Supreme Court today and
were remanded for new trials.
The night rider trial Is set for next
Monday at Union City, but that day
being observed at the Fourth Of July.
X II probable that 1t will befpostponed
until Tuesday.
II u not known when the cases Of
the men passed on by tho Supreme
Court ut this place will be retired.
The six men under the death sem
fenced are Garrett Johnson. alleged
leader Of the night riders organiza-
tion In Onion county; Arthur Clear,
Fred Pinion. Sam Applewhite. It'd Bur-
ton and Roy Ransom. The other two
Bud Morris and Bob Human were
convicted Of murder IN the second de-
gree.
When the eight cases were called
in the supreme court this morning the
court room was crowded to conges-
ton. Friends ana sympathfzers OF the
accused were there by the score and
excitement was intense. The prison.
era@bore an air Of confidence as they
were brought into the court room
heavily guarded They greeted their
friends and shook hands with their
attorney. Rice A. Pierce.
The Finion In the case as delivered
by special Justice Henry A. Craft of
Memphis. appointed In the stead of
Justice NJ M. Neiil. The reading OF
the opinion required more than an
hour and in that time the tense still
ness was only broken by the sound Of
Justice Crafts voice.
fS&n AAA 4. n
two principal reasons. The first was
that the grand Jury which found the
indictments against the alleged night
riders was not selected in a proper
manner. The grand jury was selected
out of a panel named by Judge J. q,
Jones. the trial Judge, whereas the
law provides the panel must be chos.,
ny q least three members OF the coun-
Tie secossd error on which the re.
versai was based was that the STATE
did not allow the defendants q sam.
cient number Of challenges. The eifEhi
were tried ON joint Indictment asso
the trial court upheld the states
contention that the eight defendants
Were only entitled to the legal num-
Der OF challenges, ~. which would ap-
ply II one man was on trial,
When Justice Craft concluded his
opinion storm of applause broke out
in the court room. but was quickly
stilied by Marshal Deeming and his
deputies.
The prisoners will be taken back
to Union City and an effort will be
made to secure their release on bail,
pending a second, trial of their cases.
The decision comes within less than
year after the crime was commit
ted. On the night of October 10, 1908.
Capt. Quentin Rankin and Col. r. z.
Taylor were taken from the hotel at
Walnut Lodge on the bank of Reel
foot Lake by the night riders The
former was hanged and then shot to
death and the latter escaped by al
most a mirable.
The crime itself and the subsequent
events of the campaign against the
night riders of obion county by the
state troops, the sensational trial
which resulted In six of the defendants
receiving the death sentence and the
other two twenty years In the peni-
Tertiary form a chapter in the criminal
history OF the state never before
equalled 1t attracted attention
throughout the entire country and it's
details are well remembered.