The Mathews journal. (Mathews C.H. [Court House]) 1903-1937, 1912-05-23
LAWYER DRAPER
DEFENDS CLERK
Declares Dexter Goad, Knowing
That the Prisoner Was a Des-
perate Man, Who Had Made
Threats, Had a Right to
Arm Himself.

WYTHEVuI.E, VA Special
Judge Staples generosity in allowing
the lawyers figuring in the case OF
Floyd Allen TO speak as long as they
like means a flood of eloquence the
like OF which Wytheville has never
heard before.
Three arguments were hurled at the
jury. or the ten attorneys par
, abstain from speaking. The last to
take the floor will be Judge N. II.
aalrston, for the defense, and Joseph
c. Wysor, for the prosecution.
Among the many detectives now
here the hope still prevails that the
| fugitives, Sidna Allen and Wesley
| Edwards, will soon be captured. This
| faith in the future is based on nu-
merous kilograms and letters which
tell OF the presence of two suspicious
| looking individuals in various coun-
| ties OF West Virginia and Kentucky.
/ The points at which the men have
been seen are not far distant from
| one another and the sequel may prove
| that the sleuths informants haven't
mistaken the strangers.
Recent rains and hail storms in
| Wythe have caused marked fall
/ in the temperature, and the county
jail has become so chilly that il has
] been necessary to light the prison fur
mace. Floyd Allen. in addition TO his
other troubles. has a severe cold.
When the doors of the court room
crowd was awaiting admittance. and
IN moment all available space was
taken.
Willis Speaks First.
r. II. Willis, of the defense. was the
nrSt Of the lawyers to speak.
Mr.. Willis said il was an easy thing
to stand in the court room and point
out finger at the defendant at the
bar and call him murderer. 1t was
easy, too, to tell the Jury that the
State irving the n Of u
most cold-blooded and dastardly crime
ever committed in Virginia. But JUS
uce required something more than
vie terms and vituperation and force
fui language.
Mr.. Willis, whose eloquence early
in the morning had brought tears to
the eyes of the accused, next pro-
ceeded to defend the name of the
! Allen clan. He told of the brave old
| Confederate color bearer, Jerry Allen,
who was the father of the prisoner
and of the industrious life Of the
| prisoner.
The lawyer rehearsed the trouble
leading up to the affair with Deputy
Sheriff Samuels. which had led to the
/ Indictment and conviction of Floyd
an affair In which he pictured the
Aliens and Edwardses as being re-
lentlessly prosecuted. He explained
that, after rescuing his nephews from
the deputy, the prisoner had prompt
Is turned them over to the officers
VI NAAC COuIl anu OdllGu lne1.
Mr.. Willis did not hesitate to rap
| Clerk Dexter Goad and TO charge him
with having cruelty harassed the ac-
cused.
GOad Is Roasted.
Il expect he was afraid OF Floyd
Allen" sarcastically said the speaker.
He knew forsooth that he had
started those rumors against Floyd
Allen. They say that after Aliens
conviction, no matter how much he
may have hated the prisoner, Goad
would have pulled his pistol in the
court room. Even in his hour of
triumph he feared-and 1 would have
feared had been in his place-this
man whom he had goaded to the point
"Goad saw his chance. He was GO
ing to take pot shot at Allen when
there was no possible danger to him
self.
IF Allen in any way acted in a sus-
plclous way, Goad purpOsed shooting
him and standing forth to the world as
a hero"
a moment later, in referring to the
States efforts to prove that the pris-
oner wore a steel plate on the day of
the shooting, Mr.. Willis expressed the
opinion that Clerk Goad must have
appeared on that occasion in a suit
of armor, since he had exhibited
eleven bullet holes in his clothing.
The lawyer characterized the
charges Of conspiracy as "chaff and
tommyrot"-the fruits OF such imagi-
nations as see ghosts; OF such imagi-
naginauons as recognize the fugitives.
Sidna Aleln and Wesley Edwards, in
every stranger.
Il dare say" added Mr.. Willis.
that my friend, w. G. Baldwin. has
gotten 200 letters from persons in
various parts of the United States.
VINO tell him they have seen Sidna
ana wesley in their neighborhood"
Mr.. Willis tried all the arts of ridi-
Guile, irony, sarcasm and pathos on the
jury. His speech unQuestionably was
the best so far.
But the twelve triers of Floyd AL
len heard it without changing a feat
ure or even venturing an occasional
smile at the humor of the speaker.
The stolidity Of the men who sat be-
lore him was enough to chill the
marrow of a lawyer who must have
detected in 1T a most unfavorable at
utude towards the prisoner
MIR. Willis discussed the evidence
IN q most analytical way and attacked
many OF the Commemorative theories
as to the direction from which the
bullets came.
In closing Mr.. Willis shot a Par
THAN arrow at Clerk Dexter Goad.
referring to the latter's hostility TO
the prisoner, he said Aliens alleged
offenses were not the reasons for the
clerks dislike of him.
That isn't the reason Dexter Goad
wanted to get rid of him." exclaimed
the lawyer. The whole secret is in
that little incident when Goad said,
Come over and work for me politi-
caily and L will see that you get a
jury that will acquit YOU, an offer
the prisoner spurned."
Draper Follows for the State.
John S. Draper, of counsel for the
State, began his argument for the
prosecution at 1880 o'clock, after Mr..
h. Ill
Inc speaker at the outset reviewed
the past misdeeds of Floyd Allen.
the man that dominated and con-
tro!led Fancy Cap" and Of those as
soclated with him in the courthouse
shooting. He secuted the idea that
the prisoner had been prosecuted, and
declared that had the verdict of the
CaIroli jury been unjust, Judge Mas
sic, with his great sense of equity.
wouldn't have hesitated a moment TO
set it aside.