The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1913-03-15
FINAL ARGUMENTS
. TO Be MADE TODAY
Jury Then Will Consider Evil
dencc Against Students Charged
With Manslaughtcr.
TEN WITNESSES EXAMINED
All These Appear for State, and
Defense Rests Without Offer
ing Any Testimony.
Especial to The rimes-Dispatoh.l


Hillsboro. n. C., March 14.-Taking
OF testimony was concluded and argu-
ment of counsel begun here to-day in
the trial OF Ralph w. Oldham. Aubrey
c. Hatch and William Merriman. Uni
versity OF North Carolina students,
charged with manslaughter in connec-
ton with the death during q hazing
escapade OF Isaac Rand, another stu
dent. Charges against Arthur II.
Styron, Jointly indicted with the other
defendants. were dismissed to-day.
This action was taken by the jury at
the instruction of the court, who held
the evidence against Styron was in
sufficient.
The unexpected turn assumed in the
Developments of the trial to-day in
dicates the early elimination of the
celebrated case tomorrow. On the
| convening Of court at $3.50 o'clock in
rect the final argument for the prose-
cution in favor of a verdict OF man
slaughter. Immediately after the
solicitors allotted hours speech. Vic
tor S. Bryant. leading counsel for the
defense. will make the final appeal
for the freedom of the three sophie
mores at the bar. The jury Of twelve
Orange County farmers will then re-
tire TO make up their verdict either
of guilty or not guilty on the charge
of manslaughtcr, as written in the bill
of indictment against Oldham, Mer-
| riman and Hatch.
When court convened this morning
the state In quick succession called
] Si tt-itn IN nd In.
parleying, the defense briefly cross
examined this number. With the four
/ examined yesterday, II makes a total
! of ten witnesses who have testified
of the twenty-five subpoenaed by the
State and the defense.
Following the testimony of F.. a.
Brown, an undertaken of Chapel HILL
relative to the wounds observed on the
/ body or Rand In preparing 1t for bu-
rial. the attorneys for the prosecu
ton asked for the Indulgence OF the
court and went into conference. With
! In ten minutes they announced their
! Willingness to rest.
Counsel for the defense then got
| busy, and without having called sim
| gle witness. announced its Willingness
to rest. This move came at 1910
o'clock. and five minutes later Arthur
| Herman Styron, of Wilmington. was
| once more a free boy.
| EN-Judge j.. S. Manning appeared
| before Judge PEBBLES asking for the
| freedom of his client on the grounds
that no testimony had been produced
to show that Styron was a member
| OF the hazing party. The Judge so in
structed the jury to return a verdict
| of not guilty in his case. Just a few
! moments before the noon recess, w. r.
Stacy. counsel for Styron, secured his
( release. and he returned to his home
| in Wilmington this afternoon.
RI ~ toto p-x- a,,t
to secure A. C. Hatch's release on like
grounds proved futile. since some tes
| tinony produced had tended to incrim-
! mate him as n member of the hazing
| party
| The strong array of counsel began
final appeals TO the jury at IL o'clock,
with eX-Judge j. S. Manning. Of Dur
ham. leading off for the defense He
| represented Hatch in particular. His
/ thirty minutes speech reviewed the
evidence, and was a rebuttal of the
! State in it's efforts to stablish positive
| ly that the barrel was kicked over by
one of the sophomores. He strongly
defended the acts of the boys In their
hazing escapade as only engaging in
boyish pranks, and only in keeping
with boys disposition. Rand's death
| he accounted as only one of those un-
fortunate things that could not have
! been prevented.
! Major John w. Graham, appcaring
| for Oldham, cited the law in the case
and said that everything rested on
! the intention which actuated the boys
/ in taking Rand from his room. Mr.
Graham stated that he had never seen
where haZing was vause for indict-
ment in the United States England
Unless they intended doing bodily
harm, they were not guilty, was his
contention.
On the rcconvenlng of court after
the noon recess. L. j. Justice of
Greensboro, opened the argument for
| the prosecution.
For more than an hour. In stirring
speech, Mr.. Justice severely con-
demned the practice of haZinG as toll
Grated at the university. and in scath-
ing terms denounced the authorities in
Chapel Hill and the trustees for up
holding the custom. AT the point OF
referring TO the trustees. j. w. Graham
and Victor Bryant arose to object and
| their objections were sustained by
Judge PEBBLES. "Lawlessness Is toll
Grated there, and the trustees hardly
know of the significance of the evil"
declared Mr.. Justice. ''lt was the
rough element n the university that
led Billy Rand TO his DEATH" declar-
cd the attorney. He said the only way
the death of Rand cauld have been caus-
ed was that the barrel was kicked
! over (which was the one act of that
lawless. masked, profane crowd"
w Il. stern. of Greensboro A. L..
WisburE, Of Durham, and Louis Pois-
son, of Wilmington. spoke in behalf
OF the defense and in reply to Mr. ,Ius-
tice, said that the courthouse was
not the place to thresh out the question
of whether the university was proper
~ administered. Their speeches re-
viewed the testimony. and were an en-
deavor TO show that the barrel was
not kicked over.
h. ID. Broadhurst came next for the
prosecution. and his plea was an earn
est one to put a ban on hazing. Are
YOU going to license hazing or pun
ish ii? If you allow these boys to
go unpublished, why you are licensing
the practice OF ha1ing" was the strik
Ing statement of Mr.. Broadhurst
Louis Goodman. OF Wilmington. clos
ed the argument OF the defense for the
afternoon. He appeared for Merri-
man.
MINISTER ACCEPTS CALL.