The weekly times-record. (Valley City, N.D.) 1912-1922, 1914-05-21
Tried For One Of
Tense and Convict
cd Of Another
D F. A MrroH

D F. A. MrTQH
When tho wild and woolly west was
passing from q condition answering
this description TO ono Of civilization,
there were many failures in the substi.
tut1on Of law for the more drastic
measures Of Judge Lynch. There IL a
town in New Mexico called Worthing.
ton. the courthouse Of which IL now
IN imposing ediflce. Many Of the cid.
zens Of Worthington remember when
there was no courthouse and no court
to put in one They can also tell you
the story Of the first attempt to dis.
.pense with Judge Lynch and establish
law and order.
Shooting. had been pretty we'll
:squelched under the Judge, whose de.
crees were swift and sure, and some of
the most prominent citizens thought
the time had arrived when a regular
court might be established. not for the
shooters and horse thieves especially,
but for the settlement of disputed
points connected with property. SO a
committee worked out the problem, OF.
:ganized q court. elected Judge and
sent east for couple Of recent grad
yates from law school-the one to be
made prosecuting attorney, the other
to represent those having cases.,
All the desperadoes in that region on
hearing that Worthington was to dis
pose Of its cases by court Of law
locked into the town. Shootlngs be-
came frequent. and the town, having
dispensed with Judge Lynch and or
ganized court, found itself paralyzed
between the two. However, after much
delay the first trial came o6, and Jim
Bunker, having shot down and killed
Andy Winfield in cold blood, was
brought before the regularly consti-
tuted Judge.
The first witness was a young girl
who had seen the shooting. Counsel
for the defense objected to her testi-
mony on the ground that she was I'M
der age. The point being referred to
the judge he adjourned the court till
the next day In order to look the mat
ter up.
That night there was another shoot.
ing.
The next morning court opened, and
the Judge admitted the girls test.
mony. But counsel for defense badg-
cred her to admit that at the hour Of
the shooting she was In bed buried I'M
der the cover and could not see any
thing. A man who had been nearly
killed. by o1erof the bullets .6iedu6y
the prisoner at re 9Mt.iah' wbo'~ds aidt.
dered was proved to be cross eyed. and
1t was impossible for him to tell which
man shot the other. A woman who
was carrying bucket Of water from
the we'll, hearing the firing, had looked
In the direction from which it came
and in a few minutes more saw the
prisoner walking away from his VIC
tim, who lay on the ground weltering
TN his blood. Counsel for defense
proved that the ear is not capable of
determining the direction Of sound and
that the woman had been drinking at
the time of the shooting. ~
The jury was much perplexed BY all
this testimony, which was proved to
be worthless before court Of law.
They knew the witnesses were telling
the truth, while the attorney for the
defense proved that they were lying.
The prisoner. who had no fear Of con-
yictiop by q regular. court, guffawed
every time his counsel 6F0ke down The
testimony Of the witness for the pros
ecution.
"Jim Bunker" said the judge severe
~, ''ef you do that ag'in III adjourn
this court and try you before a COM
mittee."
The threat was quite enough to cause
the prisoner to restrain himself, and
his merriment was not again heard In
the courtroom.
The prosecutor summed up the case.
after the testimony was all in, but all
OF his witnesses having proved useless
he was obliged to direct the attention
of the jury to the prisoners personal
as indicating that he would
sooner commit murder than eat. This
argument had no effect on the jury,
some Of whom were not as good look
ing as Bunker. The prosecutor was
followed by counsel for defense, who
made thrilling speech picturing tie
feelings Of Bunker's mother on seeing
the one she had nursed as a babe
swing OF.
The Judge was reminded by counsel
for the defense that he must instruct
the jury to find in accordance with the
evidence, and when the Judge. asked
the only other lawyer present, the
prosecutor, IL this was correct. he felt
obliged to admit that 1t was. 50 the
Judge gave his instructions in accord
ance with the evidence, and the jury re-
tired to back room for consultation.
1t was not long before they returned
with a vor6icf which vvA0 announced