St. Landry clarion. (Opelousas, La.) 1890-1921, 1911-04-22
GUILLORY GOES To JAIL
JUDGE PAVY SUSTAINED
Most UnIque Case 10 Louisiana JUrIspru-
dencs Reaches Unpleasant End for Accused
LEASE OF ATTORNEYS INVALID
Supreme Court Puts QHIetus on lawyers
Efforts TO Prostitute Lease
System.

The Supreme Court of the
State has just handed down a
decision in the case of @. E. Gull,
lory, Clerk of Court of Evange-
line parish, that is of far reach
ing Importance, and unique as
we'll. It also means that Mr..
Guillory will have to serve a term
of thirty days in Jail.
1t will be remembered that
Guillory made an unprovoked at
tack upon a Catholic priest while
the latter was clad in his holy
vestments. The cause was tried
before Judge Pavy, of this city,
and Guillory was given a fine of
$50, and a Jail sentence of thirty
days.
Attorne s Edwards and
Vaught, of Vile Platte, were
attorneys for Guillory. Soon
after his incarceration he was
released from Jail. Upon hear
ing it, Judge PaYy ordered Gull
lory Immediately RECALLED. Attor-
neys Edwards and Vaught ap-
pealed to the Supreme Court for
habeas corpus, alleging that
Guillory had been taken out UNI
der the parish lease system.
Judge Pavy filed his answer
with the Supreme Court, as did
Attorney General Guion, who had
been ordered into the case by
the Supreme Court to defend the
District Judge aud the dignity of
the State.
Judge PAWS answer reveals
some of the most interesting al
legations on record, The case
was not appealable, according to
the story that now comes up
from st. Landry and Evangeline.
So Attorneys Edwards a d
Vaught got busy and the Police
Jury of Eyangeline passed an or
dinance providing for the leas-
ing out Of the parish prisoners.
It is now said that the ordinance
did not conform to the require
ments Of the statute of the State,
Act 204 of 1908, and that it was
a sort of blanket affair. Under
this resolution of the Police Jury
the attorneys entered into a con-
tract with Sheriff Paulin L. Fon-
tenot, until recently a member
of the State Legislature, and
leased out Guillory, paying the
munifi cent sum of $15 per month
for his services. It is not stated
in the official papers what labor
Guillory was to perform.
In his reply Judge Pavy, in a
dignifed way, scores the attor-
neys of Guillory. He charges
that they are not contractors NOR
planters, but lawyers: that, al
though there were other prison
ers in the Vile Platte jail, the
lawyers took none of them but
Guillory; that the manifest OBJ
ject in leasing the prisoner was
to circumvent the law and to Sc
cure his liberty; that Guillory
had gone free and had never re-
turned to the keeping of the
sheriff since his alleged lease;
that Sheriff Fontenot was abso-
lutely without authority, under
Act 204, to enter into any such
contract by which Guillory could
be separated and kept apart from
other prisoners.
For these reasons Judge Pavy
asked that the habeas corpus be
not granted. Judge Guion, rep
resenting the District Judge
through the arm of the State,
filed a reply, pointing out the
legal phases Of the case as to
why habeas corpus should not be
that it was not an ap-
pealable case, and therefore the
court was without habeas corpus
jurisdiction, etc.