Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1914-07-23
Judge Evans on the Null ane Cases.

st. Louis Republic the following
letter which was published last
Tuesday, and 1 reproduce it
merely as as a matter of news
without comment
Over a year ago Thomas Null
lane and his young wife were
passing through Iron County,
Mo, on foot, walking on the Iron
Mountain Railroad tracks. They
passed through the little town of
Annapolis early one morning, and
a number of young men, with no
occupation, were loafng about
the depot of that town. They fol
lowed Mullane and his wife down
the railroad track, where eight
or nine of the gang accosted
Mullane, and after a short par
ley, consisting of threats aud
demonstrations the frightened
Muilane away; and his wife, only
IS years old, was forced to a Sc
Guided spot in the woods near
by, where by force and intimida-
tion she was compelled to sub
NIT to all of these men and some
of them repeatedly, in the course
of a few hours.
IDENTIFIED SEVEN OF THEM.
The woman identified seven
of them, who we're arrested and
indicted on a charge of rape.
They disqualified Judge bearing,
the regular Judge, and l was
called in as special Judge. Four
of them we're tried, each sepa.
rately and before separate j%uries,
and all four we're convicted of
rape and given terms in the
penitentiary, some five and some
eight years, The three others
we're then permitted to plead
guilty to attempted rape, and
were given two years each in the
penitentiarV.
"On the trial of the four cases
the evidence disclosed the most
revolving and shameful conduct
that | had ever heard in a crimi,
nal procedure in all the twenty
four years that l have been on
the bench, and on the trial all the
defendants testified for themsel,
yes and their codefendents, adj
hitting practically everything
detailed by the woman, except
they claimed it was a passive
submission on her part.
"'All of these questions and
every conceivable defense were
submitted to each jury hypothet.
icalld, by declarations of law and
instructions, that we're admitted
to be full and fair, even by the
defendants attorneys, and upon
all the facts and after a full and
complete argument and presenta
ton of the case by defendants
counsel. each of the juries
promptly convicted the defend
ants an the theory that they had
coerced and inundated the wom-
an to the extent that she submit
ted through fear of personal
violence, which in law amounts
to force.
BEST MEN IN IRON COUNTY.
"All of these juries we're com
posed of the very best men in
Iron county, as good and fair
men as can be found anywhere.
All the men so tried appealed
their cases to the Supreme Court,
and now comes one, Reuben F,
Roy, a Supreme Court Commits.
sioner, and says that under the
evidence no crime was committed
and orders the discharge of al
four of these men.
Forty eight good men of Iror
county sat patiently for many
days and heard all the evidence.
saw the witnesses and the de
PENDANTS facte to face as they
testified and observed their de
meanor and conduct while on the
witness stand and unanimously
concluded, from all the facts anC
circumstances and the law as
laid down in this State, thai
these men were guilty. and 81
they were sentenced, but this
one man, who sits as one of the
Commissioners of the Supreme
Court of Missouri, more than 20(
miles from the place of trial, anC
who never saw or heard a single
witness testify in the case, reads
the transcript of the evidence
the cold record in the case an(
concludes that the four jurie'
were a set Of block heads ant
not capable Of understanding th'
law or determining the innocence
or guilt Of the men they tried.
"Of course, Division No. 2 0
the Supreme Court adopted
Commissioner Roy's opinion, bu
] suspect the Judges of tina
division had not time to read an,
did not read the evidence as pre-
served in the Transcript.
FEARS wILLINSPIRE VIOLENCE.
This wholesale Reputation o
the verdict Of juries by the high