The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-01-18
SELF DEFENSE IS CLAIM
 MADE BY DEFENDANTS
Greatest Difficulty Will Be In Getting a Jury, as the Killing of Carmack Has Acquainted Everybody
 With the Case.

working overtime to get the new criminal courtroom completed, with deputy sheriffs busy summoning witnesses and with the attorneys on both sides making their final preparations, it is very probable that the Cooper -Carmack murder trial will be com- menced here Wednesday morning. True, there have been vague rumors of an at tempt on the part of the defense to secure further delay. But missing witness, whose absence secured the last postpone ment, is in the city.
 The case will be tried before Judge W. M. Hart The most eminent legal coun- sel in the state has been engaged upon one side or the other All that money and brains and influence can do will be done on one hand to convict the defendants and one the other to free them.
 The parties to the case enjoyed national reputation. Col Duncan B. Cooper, his son, Robin, a young lawyer, and former. Sheriff John D. Sharp are jointly indicted for the staying of former United States Senator Edward w. Carmack. Colonel Cooper has been prominent in state and national politics for years. He was a friend of President Mckinley, of President Cleveland and of President Roosevelt Years ago he brought Carmack to Nash 'yille as an editorial writer on the Amer ican, which Cooper then owned. But those Who Know say that the men were never very friendly, and later Carmack became connected with rival publication. In politics they belonged to rival factions Even Cooper's friends admit that he is a dominating mana man who has been wont to command and who liked but little those who opposed him. Carmack had ideas of his own, too, and was not back ward in expressing them.
 There was no serious difference between campaign, when Carmack opposed Patter- son for the office. The issue was state wide prohibition, with Carmack advocat- ing it and Patterson opposing it. Car mack realized that he was beaten, but he was confident that prohibition would carry The Patterson forces rallied to defeat this plank. Carmack, as editor of The Tennessean, denounced these ef- forts and criticised Colonel Cooper edi- 
 tersons campaign, sent work to Carmach that he would kill the editor if the at tacks continued Carmack told his friends that if he complied with Cooper's demands that he would be branded as a coward all over the state, consequently he would re- fuse The next editorial that Carmack wrote resulted in his death.
 The Cooper forces swear they will make out Ia clear case of self-defense. The state, on the other hand claims that it will prove that the killing was the result of a conspiracy to assassinate. The feel ing in the state is intense, and sentiment is nearly equally divided. Threats have been made by the irresponsible of both sides of what they will do should the de- fendants be acquitted or convicted, but no one takes them seriously.
 { The greatest difficulty will be experi- enced in securing jury. The law pro- vides that any one who has talked with a witness or talked with some one who pur- ports to tell what the witness saw or heard, is disqualified as g juror The su- preme court has held that a man who reads what purports to be verbatim news paper reports of the testimony disquali- fies himself The defense applied for bail, forced the state to put its witnesses on the stand and several newspapers printed stenographic reports of the testimony. Whether there are enough men In the country who did not read the testimony to make up jury remains to be seen.