The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1911-12-02

time that the doors OF the court room
had been shut and locked.
A moment later Judge Bordwell
entered the court room and took his
place ON the bench. Then the sur
prise was sprung. The court room.
noisy a moment before. settled into
dead silence as Attorney LeCompte
Davis arose slowly and almost YEARLY
to address the court.
Withdraws "Not Guilty" Plea
May It please the court" he said.
after long consideration OF this
matter and final consultation between
counsel and this defendant, James
B. Mcnamara, We have decided to
withdraw the plea OF not guilty and
enter plea Of guilty; and ike
course We intend to pursue with ref
erence to John Joseph Mcnamara In
the case wherein he Is charged with
having destroyed the Llewellyn Iron
Works.'
| There was a short pause while Dis
trict Attorney Fredericks got the
| papers from the clerk. Then, leav-
| ing his place beside his own table.
| he walked around back OF It close
| to the bench until he faced the de-
| PENDANT. sitting at tho table or his
attorneys.
u. b, MCNAMARA. will you please
stand up said the district attorney
In voice that doomed loudly through
the room. where intense silence
reigned.
Slowly but with apparently no more
| concern than when he follows the
deputy sheriffs. who guard him from
| tho room at the end of day. the
prisoner arose and gazed steadily at
| his accuser.
James B. Mcnamara, you have
| heretofore been arraigned on this in
! dictment, No. 6.9as, and have entered
your plea thereto of not guilty. DO
you wish to withdraw your plea p
| Fredericks demanded.
Without emotion. yet distinctly. the
prisoner answered.:
Yes, sir"
Fredericks then asked formally
whether the defendant desired &c
plead at this time. Attorney Davis
answered for him, stating that M
did.
Pleads "Guilty."
ITO this indictment. charging you
| with the crime OF murder, you plead
| guilty or not guilty." asked Fred
ericks.
Guilty" was the calm response
Guilty, your honor came the
deep bass Of the district attorney
like a magnified echo OF the prisoner
word.
There was some discussion OF
methods Of procedure. Judge Bora'
well peered for moment into car
bound legal volume and then the
legal machinery was started again.
THE court appoints the time for
pronouncing Judgment in this case
on Tuesday. the fifth day OF Deem
Der, 1911" said Judge Bordwell
Then Fredoricks called for the pa
pdf-s In the case OF John J. McNam-
lara, the elder brother. who had been
sitting In seat next to the wall
had watched with interest the pro-
lceedings that branded his brother a
murderer As the legal papers rat
tied In the hand OF the District At
to the attorneys table. There was no
vacant chair for him. Attorney OAR
row rose slowly, offered his seat to
the prisoner and slipped back. John
IL. sat down beside his brother.
John J. Pleads Guilty.
John J. Mcnamara. you have here
tofore been arraigned on this tndict-
ment, In which you were charged with
the crime OF exploding. or attempt
ling to EXPLODE QynaH1lI6 III Inc Dullu~
IinEs adjacent to the Llewellyn Iron
Works" said the District Attorney.
latter Mcnamara had been. called to
rise and face him. do you wish to
withdraw your plea of not guilty."
The voice OF the elder brother was
las steady and was more distinct than
that Of his brother had been as he
answered II do"
Two minutes later John ]. McNam-
ara and his brother were being led
from the court room again back to
the cells they have occupied since they
were brought from Indianapolis. eight
months ago. John J. will receive sem
/ tenee at the same time as his
brother.
Tho Only Way. Says barrow.
There was no way out of IT.. said
Clarence Darrow. YEARLY, when ask
ed to say why. after flghting for
weeks. he had finally consented to
allow his clients to plead guilty.
The evidence was against us. We
had to do the best We could. We
wanted to save some lives IL we could
and We decided that this was the
best we could do for our clients Since
a week ago last Monday We have
been working on this proposition.
There have been many conferences
between our forces and the attorneys
for the State. We said nothing to
the McNamaras until yesterday. when
II was practically fixed so we could