The Washington bee., 1912-02-03

The Lawyer, the Result of Whose
Skill and Extraordinary Ability in
Conducting Causes, Lee Williams Is
Now a Free Man Instead of Occu-
pying a Condemned CELIA Re
markable Case.
e I...,le e.ck, Ark, Jan. "a
IN he 18th day Of January, 1912,
the Grand jury OF Pulaski County,
Arkansas, indicted Lee Williams, a
Negro, charging that on the 18th day
of December, 1911, Williams commit
ted the crime Of rape upon a certain
white woman. and the trial was set
for January ED, 1912. The trial came
up as scheduled, and the accused Ne
gro, the accusing white woman and a
large number OF witnesses, both for
and against the defendant, were in
court.
According to the evidence Of the
State, This white woman had been
criminally assaulted, and Lee VIII
liams, the Negro, was the man who
had committed that crime. There
could be no mistake about it. There
was no mistake about it. Lee Viii
liams was, beyond the question of a
doubt. the man who had committed
/ the outrage Williams had been
/ thoroughly identified by the white
woman as her assailant She had
! picked him out OF a collection OF
seven Negroes at police head
quarters, and declared him to be
the guilty man She knew he was
the man She knew she could not be
4 T.,
! times before, and knew him. She hal
| previously failed to identify any one
OF several Negroes brought before
/ her, but the time she saw Williams
! she declared him to be her assail
/ ant"
The State produced some TESTIMONY
| which supported the main witness
| the white woman, as well as othe
( evidence which tended to incriminat,
| Williams.
When the State closed its case, j
was the general impression of nearly
all of the people in the court room
that the State had made out an iron
clad case, and that Williams woulC
! surely be convicted and executed
But this conclusion was not at al
! strange, for Williams was a Negro
he had been declared to be the Grim
lnal by white woman, and III sucI
! cases, the custom has been that a con
yICtiOn has always followed
Against this irOn-Clad case Of tn,
! State, Lawyer Scipio A. Jones, whc
( represented Williams, hurled pOsslblL
the most compact, the most powerful
Witherlng and irresistible alIbl tha
! has been produced in the court in re
/ cent times, and with it, he utterly an
initiated the States case, compelling
/ the State to an unconditional surren
der. with the Tesult-veTdiCt Of No
Guilty" by the jury-the complete
/ exoneration Of his client.
Mr.. Jones, on behalf of his client
produced a cloud Of witnesses, time
slips, time checks and written records
which proved beyond the shadow OF I
doubt, that at the time of the ALLEGED
crime, Lee Williams, the defendant
was more than one hundred mile.
! from the place of the alleged crime.
| The proof on the part Of the de
fense showed that the prosecuting
witness was mistaken in her identlh
cation of Williams "She knew VII
liams was the guilty man" ''She knew
she could not be mistaken about it.
But she was mistaken. Williams wa!
not the man. She was honestly mis-
/ taken; it was an honest mistake.
But, if witness swears positively
that a certain person has committee
! an infamous crime, conviction fo
which carries the death penalty, It i
! small comfort to the accused tha
the accusing witness is honestly mis-