The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-07-15
IS AGAINST TRYING
 HIS CRIMINAL CASES
 IN THE NEWSPAPER
Judge Gaston Says Com- ments by Officers Are Basis of Birmingham's
 Bad Reputation
Inc Editor of The Aee-Herald:

To the Editor of The Age-Herald; l note tn The Age-Herald of July l4 a statement said to have been made by appeared
 We found out said Coroner Spain.
 that Miss Ruth Nell Hindds was drowned in about 3l6 feet of water. and that the Wood brothers made no effort to save the girl. We also found out that the Wood brothers left the scene of the drowning while several men were diving for the body, and also that when the body was rescued the Wood brothers were not near the scene. and that q camping party furnished an automobile so that the body could be taken to Ems ley"
 I regret it Is necessary to refer to this matter for I do not believe cases should be tried In newspapers. I fall to see where good can be accomplished by such a course.
 Suppost We concede. for the sake of argument, the above statements by Mir. Spain are true. Then why should the case be paraded in the newspapers2 Does this course tend to shed light In the matter. Does this course assist fh- eers in any way to get at the bottom of the affair?
 But suppose the statements are un- true. Then this action outrages the rights of the people.
 Now, for the facts. say not state ment therein contained is true.
 1 had the party who recovered the body of Miss iIinds to take me out in his boat to the spot he and the only eyewit- ness to the tragedy, who was at the river yesterday, agreed was the place where the body was found, and 1 measured the depth of the water with a pole. aud it was about 6la feet deep. I had dsinter- ested men to go all over the place within a radius of several feet and nowhere was the water under 51a feet deep. The fur ther statement that the Woods boys made no attempt to save the girl is abso- lutely untrue as agreed on by all eyewit- nesses
 I am heartily tired of cases I repre- sent being paraded and misrepresented in newspapers by officers whose chief de- light seems to be to see their names in print. It is an outrageous abuse of off, cial duty. This is one great cause of the bad reputation Birmingham has today. These officers who seem to do their chief work in the columns of the papers continually parade their "heliefs', and opinions in the papers in practically ev- | cry case they happen to touch These | statements go broadcast over the eoun-
 try and people hold up their hands in | holy horror and say bad Birmingham" l People get afraid to come here. Mer- chants and all lines of business suffer | Juries come along and get the facts 1 and the same parties so misrepreseuted by beliefs and opinions are acquitted. but this never gets the prominence given the beliefs" and opinions" The hare
 has been done and 1t is never undone- If some of our officers will do what I they are sworn to do and quit trying 10 fill the columns of newspapers, this city
 and county will be infinitely better off ! We have had some misstatements about these cases paraded each of the three suc- cessve mornings since the arrest of the Woods boys It Is wrong. It is nothing short of outrageous and should pc
 stopped.
 I I am willing for these cases to be tried like all similar cases should be tried. but if the coroner is determined to try them in the newspapers, as the represen-
 tative of the defendants. l will then take hand in the trial from this on. Rs- spectfully.
 zELI. CAS- , Birmingham, July H. 1914