Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1910-11-16
AFTER THREE FULL DAYS OF
TRIAL JURY RETIRES, AND
BRINGS IN VERDICT OF GULL
TY WITH RECOMMENDATION
TO MERCY.

tflSohciS, by SpcClal ORDER or Judge,
Taken to the State Penitentinry
for Safe Keeping Without Await
| ing Conclusion OF Term of Court
General Feeling that the Verdict of
Jury is just and Mcrciiul.
| At 7.3O o'clock last Saturday
evening the case of the State against
Louis f. Cantrell, Charles NJ. Gaines
and Charles l.. Angel, charged with
the murder Of Robert G. Emerson,
went to the jury after three days of
examination of witnesses.
| The case was called for trial and
the three defendants arraigned
shortly before noon on Thursday
Then began the selection Of the jury
to try the case, and it was a matter
OF surprise to many that the draw
ing of the jury was accomplished in
a comparatively short time. The
| personnel Of the jury was good, as
fine body of men as ever sat upon
a jury to determine the innoncence
or guilt Of men charged with crime
men OF Intelligence, good judgment
capable OF sound reasoning-such a
body Of mel that no one would hesi-
tate to commit to them even the mo-
! mentOus issues involved in a ques-
ton, the solving of which carried
with 1t the possibility of life or death
as the reward of innocence or the
penalty OF crime. From the time of
| the completion of the Jury and the
reading Of the indictment until the
| close Of the evidence submitted to
the court and jury, 1t was one con-
tinued round of questioning and
| cross-questloning of witnesses for the
State and the defence, every inch of
| ground being stubbornly contested by
the able attorneys, Solicitor Bon
! ham, assisted by Nj. G. Long, for the
State, and E. l.. Hcrndon and Major
W. J. Stribling for the defense
The negro, Henry Brown, who had
! madc.a confession duplicating the de-
! PENDANTS, held TO his statement
! throughout the rigid cross-eXamina-
tion by the attorneys for the defence,
and while contradictory at times, in
the main his story remained unsha-
! ken He has held throughout that
Cantrel] struck the fatal blow that
ended Lmerson's life; that Gaines
held Emerson when the blow was
struck, and that he (Brown) and
! Angel stood near by; that as Can
! trei struck the blow, and as Emer-
son fell, Angel said, "My God, they
have killed him."
Two Of the defendants, Cantrell
and Gaines, were sworn, both deny
! ing any knowledge whatever of the
! case.
Cantrell, however, was confronted
with an important question, which he
! failed to answer definitely. r.. J.
! Todd, one Of the witnesses for the
! State, swore that he had talked with
/ t,,n1 OF l.,
! to Cantrell that he tTodd) had
! heard that Gaines had made con-
fession, and that CaHtrelrs reply
in substance, was: "Why did he con-
fess anything? He is as deep in it
as ! am" When Cantrell, on the
| stand, was asked if he had made that
! statement to Todd, his reply was to
the effect that he did not remember
Angel, the third defendant, was not
sworn.
Several witnesses fer the State
! gave evidence which tended to cor
| roboratc the negro Browns confess
sion and his evidence as adduced at
! the trial.
The defence based their case upon
| the supposition that Emerson, in a
drunken condition, attempted to walk
! the Blue Ridge trcstlc and fell there
!
faii, or that Brown was the guilty
party himself, or had guilty knowl-
edge or the affair and was attempt
| ing TO shield the guilty parties by
duplicating innocent men.
| The Emerson case was one Of those
| peculiarly mysterious cases that puts
the general public to conjecturinC as
to whether the parties charged with
the crime arc the guilty ones, whe-
ther they are the only ones, or If,
indeed, there was any crime commit
ted. Yet the general public knew lit
tie or nothing OF the evidence at
hand, and upon which the prosecu-
ton was working assiduously even
up to the last moment before the
trial. When this began to come out
In court the doubts as to the result
Of the trial were gradually dispelled,
and hours before the case went to
the jury those who heard the testi-
mony were anticipating the degree OF
punishment that the jury would indi-
cate by their verdict, and the ques-
ton as to a verdict Of Not guilty"
was eliminated from the public
mind. The state made out strong
case, and in spite of the fact that the
attorneys for the defense did all for
their clients that could be done, guilt
| was established beyond doubt
After being out for about four
hours the jury, at 11.30 Saturday
night came to an agreement on their
verdict, and Judge Gary went i'm
mediatcly to the Court House to re-
ceive II and to release the twelve
men from the fatigueing close quar-
terS OF the Jury room