Arizona republican., 1914-06-23
State Will Ask for Extreme Penalty in Case Wherein Dr. l.. E. Wiggins is Charged With Murder of Tap Booth
DEFENSE TRYING TO
 GET MARRIED MEN
On Jury, Whilst Accused : Man Sits Quietly By With
 Comedy Wife and Hand some Boy, Manifesting No Nervousness

~ 0 --Ntl OtiIolltsoC
 All day long yesterday citizens or Maricopa county, in answer to the summons of the sheriff, presented themselves at the bar of the superor court and answered such questions as were propounded to them by the court and counsel touching their services and qualifications to act as jurors in the case in which Dr. l.. F.. Wiggins is the defendant. charged upon information filed by County Attorney Lyman, with the crime of murder. When final adjournment was taken until this morning some seven or eight venlre- men remained to be examined before the panel of twenty-nine men is com pleted from which the final twelve l good men and true shall be selected, and with whom will he finally left the fate of the accused.
 Another murder trial then is on in , the superior court. The second in as many weeks In il the defendant men 1 toned above is accused with the mur- der of Tap Booth, sometime his fellow townsman in small southeast Texas town. on a ranch near the quiet little i Arizona city of Tempe upon d fateful | April morning O. the present year. ! With the opening of court. the ac- cused was summoned before the bar and the information read to him, to all of which he pied. Not guilty. and | the task of summoning a jury to try the case was begun.
 i The prisoner at the bar did not ap- pear to be nervous in the slightest de- gree Such of his friends as he could see in the audience that crowded the courtroom. he recognized with bright smile and q bow He was dressed neatly in a blue serge business suit,
 had his hair smoothly arranged. and ! his face carried the ruddy glow of health No prison palor was upon him.
 At his left sat his chief counsel Reese 1 NJ. Ling. to whom he often leaned over for a word of suggestion At his
 right was his comedy young wife, and alternately upon his knee and his Wife's l lap, the handsome young son of the
 couple played seemingly innocent of the fact that the life of his father hung in the balance.
 Inside the bar and in the rear of
 the prisoner sat the father and uncle
 of the deceased Tap Booth, and nearby were still other men from that far 'away Texas town from which both the deceased and the prisoner at the bar originally came. Nearly all those in timately connected with the case are
 angular high strung Texans, with smooth faces, black hair. and intelli-
 gence stamped upon their every look. The situation looks the keenest that
 any murder trial has had for many months.
 Judge J. F.. O'Connor lost no time in getting to business and Clerk Thomas
 called the roll of the Veniremen and the box was filled up and the quail fication examination was begun One by one the veniremen were disdualified
 Some for cause suggested by either the
 state or, the defense. some upon their
 own motion because of opinion formed
 or soruples held.
 It was immediately noticeable that
 County Attorney Lyman asked as a
 first question of each man. Have you
 any scruples against the infliction of
 the death penalty for murder" If the
 venireman answered he had, he was
 excused forthwith. but if not further
 questions, calculated to bring out his
 knowledge of the case. were asked, and
 the probable effect of an opinion
 formed. if such had been formed upon
 a verdict
 While the state is endeavoring tC get men on the jury who are in favol
 of the death penalty, and are single men also. the state in endeavoring tC
 get married men on the, jury and al most the first question asked by Mir Ling is Are you a married man
 Nearly altogether the men summone, are farmers, and the quality of thei intelligence is high. if their answers
 be taken as a criterion. The closinl . question left ordinarily to the defens
 is MT Brown would you be willing , were you in the place Of this defen : dant, to he tried by twelve men, wh
 have the same condition of mind rela : tive to this case. as you have now?
 The answer upon the accepted ones i , always yes
 It was noticeable thing to many 0
 those present that comparatively fev
 men were excused because they ob iected to the infliction of the deat penalty. During the entire day pu five men were excused for this cause MT. Ling has not vet disclosed jus what his defense will be. but it understood the state expects it to b ! temporary insanity superinduced b conditions of which the defendant com i plained immediately after he surrend { cred to the sheriff. The court took