Arizona republican., 1913-12-11
COURT ENDS
 ARMS CASES
 WITH RULING
r Phelps-Dodge and Douglas Hardware People EXon- erated When SaWtcIle Grants Motion to Instruct Not Guilty Verdict

The film gradually became dim with rain" the machine made 2 racking noise. a lot of round white holes showed through the last end of the picture. where most movies dis play the final "clinch' and then the shutter fell
 The moving picture of two well to do corporations and their managers Tn court for a violation of the sen ate joint resolution prohibiting the eNportation of arms to d warning faction in Mexico ended yesterday when Judge SaWtelle announced he had granted the motion of the de- fense to instruct the jury to find the defendants not guilty
 The show is now over But for a little tinkering in the operating room. the matter is as last weeks bill forgotten by all in this day of speed and change. When United States Attorney Morrison takes some of the patched reels up to the ninth cir cult court of appeals, it will be to fix the law for other cOurts-or for this court in case the release hap pens to be a repeater. The rest of this shipment will not be shown. The motion of Mr Morrison yesterday to ! Payne Arms company on d similar charge to that just tried, ended for this term the courts attention to neu- trality cases of this particular va
 riety Another case-that against Wright and Wilson will be in court
 December 39. but because it's de- fendants lack the prominence of those in the cases just ended, 1t will not attract nearly so much attention
 Satisfied that the evidence would
 have established a conspiracy be- tween De Negri and Perez. the court could not see the connection. between the two foreign conspirators and the defendants in the action. It was ruling on fact only and not on law, except as the law in certain eases tended to exclude fact. In q short speech on the notice of appeal, Dis trict Attorney Morrison said he was confident the case was strong
 enough to have convinced the jury. If all the evidence had been in such shape it might have gotten to that body.
 As The Republican predicted. the case hung strictly on the point of guilty knowledge of the conspiracy. That the sale of the arms was made to the Mexican agents by the com panies and through their managers and clerks was established all right, but evidence tending to prove the absolutely knowledge of the defend ants of the existence of a conspir- acy was lacking or in such form as it could not be brought before the court. The court in it's ruling, throws the entire responsibility for the dark some deeds of the attempted snug glfng on the shoulders of the Son orist agents. and relieves the sellers of any of the responsibility for what happened after the ammunition had been delivered to the Mexicans. The fact that the ammunition in one case was delivered at dead of night and iapparen-Iy secretly was merely be- cause the MeXicans wanted it so and the company was willing to accom- modate it's customers In one place his honor said. The evidence at most merely raises sus- Dicion that the defendants might have had knowledge that the munitions were to be shipped into MeNicon in violation of the law" 1t was on this point that the entire case was hung up. For the supreme court has ruled that no one may be convicted on mere suspicion.
 Bouquets for All The court continued: .I am convinced that at and prior to the time of the commission of the
 alleged offense, large quantities of ammunition were sold by people in Arizona to the contending factions in
 Mexico No doubt, many of these sales were in violation of law. Prompt action of the United States attorney and his assistants and the United States marshal and his deputies, has, in my opinion had a splendid effect, and has in a large measure stopped the unlawful eXportation of muni- tions of war into Mexico; and they are to be commended for their acts in the premises.
 "This case has occupied the atten-