Los Angeles herald., 1909-07-21
MITCHELL FREE
FROM CHARGE OF
THAYER MURDER
JURY EXONERATES SLAYER OF
SISTERS SWEETHEART
TWELVE MEN BRING IN VERDICT
AFTER SHORT RECESS
Accused Boy Loses Control of Himself
When His Freedom Is Announced
and 5lindy Seeks His
Mother
w ILLIAM c. MITCHELL. charged

VIZ LILLIAN c. MITCHELL, charged
w with killing Cecil c. Thayer the
night of January l, was found
not guilty by jury in Judge Willis
court at 7:4O o'clock last night after
only a half hour had been occupied in
celebrating.
Mitchell was ordered released, and
for the first time during the long trial
he seemed to lose control of himself.
| Rising from his seat he turned toward
the seat usually occupied by his moth
| er, but the veil of tears that almost
blinded him caused him to make mis-
take, and he grasped Mrs. Tibbetts, an
intimate friend of the Mitchell family,
about the waist.
After shaking hands with Judge Will
! lis, his attorneys and members of the
! Jury Mitchell left the hall of justice for
his home, accompanied by his mother
and father, his sister, Miss May Mitch
ell, and a number of intimate friends.
| Only one member of the Thayer fam
! lily, the father of the boy killed by
| Mitchell was present in the courtroom
when the verdict was announced.
Jury Retired at 6:4o
The closing argument was made in
| the Mitchell trial shortly after
o'clock, and the court finished reading
the instructions at $40, the jury re-
tiring at that time. and delibearting
until 6:10 when they were taken to
dinner, returning at 1880.
Ten minutes later the announcement
was made that a verdict had been
reached. A large number of persons
were in the courtroom in the eXpecta-
ton of an early decision, but owing to
the absence of a representative of the
| district attorneys office no inkling as
to the nature of the verdict was had
until $50 o'clock, when Deputy North,
| who has conducted the prosecution in
the Mitchell case, reached the court
room in response to a telephone mes
sage.
Members of the jury after their dis
| charge from further service stated that
only one ballot was taken, and that
decision would have been announced In
less time if they could have agreed on
the wording of the verdict. Several of
the jurymen were in favor of return
ing a verdict of not guilty, giving in
sanity as a reason for this decision.
| When, however, it was explained that
this wording might result in bringing
Mitchell before the lunacy commission
| to be tried on a charge of insanity it
was decided to return a fiat verdict oe
/ mot guilty" without any qualifica-
! ton.
oratory Fills the Day
| yesterday was d udy VI OIdlOIg III IlS
Mitchell trial Five attorneys delivered
their closing arguments to the jury in
| the five-hour session, and after listen
| ing to the instructions of Judge Willis
! the twelve men retired to deliberate
on their verdict.
| Not at any time since the trial was
| begun, July 7, has the courtroom wit
messed such a gathering of spectators
as appeared yesterday. This was espe
| cially noted at the afternoon session,
the opening of which was marked by
the address of Attorney Earl Rogers,
Mitchelrs leading counsel. The doors
| leading to the courtroom were opened
at o'clock, but an hour before this the
large corridor was crowded with men
/ and women eager to witness the clos
| ing scenes in the trial.
So great was the gathering in front
of the doors that it was necessary for
relatives and intimate friends of
Mitchell and the Thayer family to enter
the courtroom from rear entrance
leading from Judge Davis court.
| The morning session was opened by
| G. Ray Horton, deputy district attor
ney, who concluded his statement be-
gun yesterday for the prosecution. He
was followed by Harry Diehm of
MitchelPs counsel, who spoke almost
an hour, reviewing Mitchell's life from
| the time he began work as a cowboy
until he killed Thayer.
Diehm Makes His Plea
"They say" said Mr.. Diehm, chat
Mitchell exhibited no remorse, that he
was perfectly calm after shooting
| Thayer, and that the deed was premed-
| itated by a man who has no sentiment
| in his heart or love for his fellowmen.
Contrast this with his refusal to go to
Judge Wilbur of the juvenile court to
request that some steps be taken to
bring his sister back to right way of
living. He would not appeal to the
court, he told his mother, because he
could not bear the disgrace of revealing
to others those things he knew and
! grieVed about"
Mr.. Diehm confined himself closely to
the testimony in the trial, discussing
each material point as he proceeded.
Frank F. Pratt, another of MitchelPs
attorneys, began his address with a
reference to the history of the Mitchell
family the tendency of heredity as evil
denced in the defendant by slow men
tai development, and coming down to
the circumstances leading up to the
killing of Thayer, denounced the use
of intoxcants, which, he declared, had
aided Thayer in bringing about the
ruin of Mitchell's sister.
Earl Rogers closed for the defense,
beginning his argument promptly at 2
o'clock and closing an hour and half
later. In opening his statement, he
said:
Rogers Pleads Reputation
"This case contains two things-an
issue and a party. The party is a boy,
OF ordinary intelligence. He came from
an ordinary day laborer's place into
| jail to be tried. But he had that most
valuable of all things-an absolutely
unblemished reputation No man in
this world could say he ever did an
evil thing, and this evidence as to
reputation and character must be con-
sldered, for it is not likely that a man
of this kind would go out and commit
| a cold -blooded murder"
Referring to the statement made by
Deputy District Attorney Horton that
he did not want to see Mitchell hanged,
the attorney urged upon the jury not
to allow the idea of compromise YER
dict to enter their minds, adding that
Mitchell was either innocent or should
suffer the death penalty, and that the
jurors would violate their oaths If they
| Continued Page TwOl