The Hawaiian gazette., 1915-05-28
GRAND JURY SAID
SMITH SHOULD CO
. .EHt 1EtE
After Soldier Shooting Incident
He Was Declared To Be
An irresponsible

"hJoi uehtldl NdIlPT IL not inc nrSt
TO ask for the discharge Of one mount.
ed officer believed to be named Smith, :"
from the police force. The late grand
Jury was ten months ahead of him.
And Smith is still on the force
Manuel Smith, the same mounted off
GER, was before the 1914 grand Jury
last July, as the result Of a shooting
ARRAY In which private Of the Twen.
ty-6fth lnfantry was wounded by him
in the head. No indictment was re-
turned, but the jury was of opinion
that he was not man of sufficient in.
telligence or judgment to carry arms
by commission of the people, and his
discharge was recomme nded.
A letter was addressed to Sheriff
Rose giving the sense of the jury, but
IL appears never to have been delivered.
Letter Never Delivered
IT never received such a letter, -
taid the sheriff yesterday. "The first
| heard Of the matter was when one Of
the members of the jury asked me il 1
had discharged Smith tod him No.
Why should H.
9Well, he ought to be, said the
Juror,
|" 81 told him | cOuldn I act on his
mere expression of opinion, and never
afterward heard from the grand jury
In the matter officially. Later, the
man was supposed to have written the
letter told me, it never had been writ.
ten. Anyway, never received it."
Nevertheless, the letter was written
and given into the care of the foreman,
Joseph A., Gilman, president of the
Bituiithic Paving and Concrete Com
pany, for delivery.
Mr.. Gilman could not be found yes.
terday to give his version Of the Incl
dent, but other members Of the grand
jury bore out the sheriff s assertion
that the letter was never put into his
hands.
This recollection is that Smith again
appeared before the grand jury on
charges, few months later, fact
which has been verified. There was
surprise that he should still be on the
force and Gilman was asked If the let.
ter entrusted to him had not been de.
liyered and, if not, why mott He re,
piled that il had been lost
Skull Was Tough
The ARRAY which first brought Smith
into trouble occurred in Iwilei on the
night Of July II. He had then been on
the force fXe, months. William Jack.
son, q private Soldier Of the Twenty,
fifth, WAS the person shot. The bullet
struck Shim on the back of the head
behind the ear. He was unarmed.
at didn't hurt much," he testified,
"but it has left me kinder deaf"
Jackson had been, accused by three
other soldiers of trying to hold them
up. He was pointed out by them To
smith, who drew his gun and summoned
him to submit to arrest.
Instead, when Jackson saw the pis.
tol, he ran. Smith fred a number of
shots and brought him down. 1t later
| developed that Jackson carried no re.
volver at the time he was shot, although
he had carried one earlier in the night
He was represented before the grand
| jury by Lieut.. Mathew A. Taylor.
Leaving his guilt or innocence OF
one side, as q matter which does moi
force, the questions pnt TO Smith by
the grand jury developed that he had
bought his own revolver, an Iver-Joh
| son, anu thaJ ne nad never been In
structed in its use--when to draw it
when he was justified in shooting, oil
when not to shoot. s,,ek-...
"Duke told me to get gun to pro
tect myself" were the sum and sub
stance Of his orders, as he repeated
them to the jury.
In short, 1t was shown that, without
orders on which to fall back, Smith
had shot man In the head who had
offered him no violence, who was un
armed at the time-although he might
have been armed earlier-and against
whom the only charge was an unveri
fed complaint.
In the circumstances, it did not seen
to the grand jury that he was fl
man to be allowed at large with fire
arms, to protect HIMSELF from those
who were running away.
If the supervisors wish to develop al
the facts in the case, it will not be diff
cult for them TO do so. They are mat
tiers of record, like the sheriff's aft
davits. TES.