Hopkinsville Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1889-1918, 1914-02-26
CIRCUIT COURT
is GRINDING
Saint Layne Accused Of MUIR
der Gets Light
Sentence.
ARE SEVERAL OTHER CASES.
Rapid Disposition Of Several
Was Made Yesterday By
The Court.

After motion hour Tuesday morn
ing the case of the Commonwealth
against Saint Layne, a young negro
man, indicted for willful murder, in
killing another negro, George Muir
ray, about 16 years of age, was call
ed.
The killing occurred last summer
in San Domingo" east of the city.
The boy was shot little after A
o'clock and died about 10 o'clock
that night.
The evidence for the prosecution
was very strong against Layne, es-
pecially that of a sister of the boy
killed. The sisters evidence was de-
MED in toto by Layne when he took
the stand. Of course the jury would
doubt the truthfulness of Layne's
statement in his own defense, but
when DR.. T. w. Perkins testified, the
jury was doubtless unprepared to
hear the DIR. substantiate a most i'm
portant statement of the defendant.
The statement was that the defend
ant and the dead boy had not previ-
ously had any quarrel and that the
killing was accidental. The dead
boys sister testified that her broth
er had told her that he was going to
die and that Layne had shot him
without cause.
DR.. Perkins, who answered the call
to attend Murray after he had been
shot, testified that his examination
convinced him that the wound would
cause the boys death aid that he
told him he would die and then ask
ed him why Layne had shot him.
The boys answer was that "they
were playing" when the pistol fired.
Nothing the boy said to DIR. Perkins
incriminated Layne further than that
he had been shot by Layne. Layne
repeated what he had stated at his
examining trial before Judge Knight
about his pistol going off by it hit
ting an 8-penny nail in the counter
when he started to remove it from
the top of the counter to place I'M
der the counter.
The jury after the argument. took
the case. After three o'clockS the
jury returned verdict finding Layne
guilty of involuntary manslaughter
and fixed his punishment at 60 days
at hard labor and to pay fine of
500.
The next case taken up was the
Commonwealth against Charlie Wat
kins, colored, charged with seduction
under promise of marriage. After
hearing the evidence of a few wit
nesses, the court gave the attorneys
fifteen minutes each for argument.
At the conclusion of the arguments
the case was given to the jury The
balance of the petit jury was dis
charged until yesterday morning at
8 o'clock.
Yesterday morning, after motion
hour, the case of the Commonwealth
against Fannie Leavell, under indict-
ment for petit larceny, was called.
After jury had been empanneled
the hearing of testimony began.
After motion hour the court called
the Commonwealth docket and at
tempted to take up the case of Fan
ME Leavell, colored, indicted for
petit larceny. There were so few
witnesses present that the case could
not be tried and the court then call
ed the case of Ed Thomas, colored,
indicted for willful murder. The
scarcity of witnesses in this case COM
PEELED an abandonment of this trial
until later in the day. The court be-
came somewhat exasperated at the
absence of witnesses who had been
subpoenaed and assessed a fine
against several of the witnesses who
later showed up. He also fined one