The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1912-09-13
HELD UP THE SENTENCE
UNT|LM MONDAY MORNING
From Tuesdays Daily.

From Tuesdays Daily.
Pronouncing sentence upon Johl
II. Raymond, who plead guilty OF
the fifth of September to the charge
of grand larceny in the second de
gree was continued until Monday
September 16, at IL a. m. Raymond
was brought into the district court
room at ten o'clock this forenoon
and after answering the usual ques
lions put to him by the court, Judge
Pfau said that he required further
time to investigate the matter oil
suspending sentence. Commenting
on the case, the judge said:
Il think that l will hold this
matter open for a day or two.
want to do what is the best for the
community and for this defendant
l want to say that l am a thorough
believer in the law which has been
enacted by our legislature allowing
courts to suspend sentence.
This law does not undertake to
put it into the hands of the court
to set aside conviction, or to set
party free, but it gives it the
power to suspend the operation of
the sentence for a certain length of
time and perhaps under certain cir
cumstances, indefinitely.
THE object of the law is to give
a person charged and convicted of
crime, an opportunity to do what
be supposed to do and that is to
work reformation.
Keep Party in Laws Hands.
"The intention of the law is to
keep the party still within the hands
of the law, conditioned, that he shall
do work and behave himself, and
obey those in whose charge he is
put in the interen, and make re-
ports from time to time and also
reports that are to be made to the
court from time to time.
where the offense charged is
the first offense that has been COM
mitted by the party, it is ordinarily
and strikes me perfectly proper that
the party shall be given his sus-
pension of his sentence provided
that his character heretofore has
been good, and there is a reason to
believe that he will reform himself,
and l think if person is charged
with a crime and convicted of it,
can reform himself and does reform
himself, and make a good citizen of
himself, even if the punishment for
the offense committed has been done
away with, the community is better
off than if he had been sent to the
state prison and comes out generally
reformed"
The judge announced that he was
not ready to sentence the defendant
today, and wanted to investigate
the matter further and continued the
case until next Monday at eleven
a. m.
Statement From Raymond.
Jack Raymond was sworn and ex-
amined in reference to his past
history and to give a statement con-
corning the crime to which he plead
guilty. 1t appears from the evil
dence that he was born in 1880 and
followed the business of travelling
salesman until 1899, when he en-
listed in the United States army for
three years and served for two
years and was then promoted to the
office of corporal and was honor
ably discharged from the United
States army in 1891 and then enter
ed the police service in the Phil
lippines and served on the police
force in Manila for one year and
then returned to his home at Min
neapolis. He then entered the en-
ployment of a moving picture show
at Chicago and from there come to
Mankato, as manager of the local
moving picture show, and as such
Nffa Of 10 in,
the second degree by appropriating
to his own use the sum of $500, due
the Amusement company.
Some of the Circumstances.
Circumstances under which this
money was appropriated was that
he had been promised a position
with moving picture company of
Chicago, who had promised to have
play arranged, in which he was to
take an active part, and wired him
that they would send money to pay
the current expenses with and be-
lieving that they would do so, he
used the money that was in his
possession to pay these current ex
penses with and then learned that
the Chicago company had abandoned
the project and he then found him
self short the money he had used
for the purpose of paying the in
debtedness of this prospective picture
show.
What funds remained belonged to
the American Amusement company.
These paid the expenses of himself
and wife to Chicago, to which piece
he went for the purpose Of
inducing the Chicago picture COM
pany to pay the bills and debts that
he had incurred and in hopes of
seeing some of his friends in Chi
cago that might enable him to re-
pay the funds that he had ap-
propriated.
1t appeared, also, that this was
his first offense; that he had always
borne a good reputation in the
community where he had resided,
and that he has now had an offer
of securing position with the
American Amusement company at
Minneapolis, with whom he was
formerly connected.
C. ]. Laurisch moved the court to
suspend the sentence, which was OBJ
jected to by County Attorney
Schmitt.
Mrs. Raymond, wife of the de-
PENDANT, and his mother, were in
court during the proceedings.
WAS FnIINn MAN IN Rem