The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1916-11-22
.DA|uIFF OF BULLNECK
GIVEN HIS LIBERTY
LAST CHAPTER OF SENSATION
AL AND HIGHLY INTERESTING
LEGAL PROCEEDING.

Ennis Mcdonald, bailiff of Bull
Neck district in Calhoun county, was
released from the custody of Sheriff
Turner by Judge Edwards on a ha-
beas corpus proceedings Saturday.
This judgment is perhaps the con-
GLIDING chapter of an interesting bit
of legal history. About three years
ago Ennis Mcdonald, who was then
bailiff of the Bullneck district in the
adjoining county of Calhoun, came
over into Terrell county with one
Madison Turner and levied on a mule
in possession of Dan W. Eaton, and
carried the animal over into Calhoun.
Eaton appealed to the legal authori-
ties of Terrell county for protection,
claiming that the mule was taken
from him forcibly and at the point of
pistol, and, accordingly, a Dawson
attorney prepared papers for the re-
covery of the mule, and sent Ter
rell county officer to execute them.
This officer found the mule in possess
sion of a lady in the Bullneck dis
trict, and she, together with her fam
lily, got in behind the Terrell bailiff
with a wagon whip and drove him
within the frontiers of his own coun-
ty. The Dawson attorney appeared
at the justice court in the Bullneck
district, and while his treatment was
not so rough as that accorded the
levying officer he nevertheless did not
appear before that honorable court
again. Neither did he get a trial of
the case, and was not encouraged to
believe that his presence was needful
or desirable at that tribunal of JUS
tice.
| Thereafter posseSsory warrant was
taken out by Eaton against McDon-
aid and Turner for the recovery of
the aforementioned mule, named
Rock" Also the Terrell county
grand jury indicted Mcdonald for
having a concealed pistol at the time
Rock was taken from Eaton. He APP
peared for trial for this offense, and
brought Turner along with him as a
witness. He was found not guilty of
carrying the pistol concealed, but be-
fore he left the city he and Turner
were both arrested by the sheriff on a
possessory warrant. There was some
delay in trying the case, and both
men were confined in Jail several
days, whereupon they brought habeas
corpus proceedings before Judge Ed
wards, of the city court of Dawson,
insisting that it was in violation of
their constitutional rights to be ar
rested on a possessOry warrant while
attending superior court. Judge Ed
wards overruled their contentious,
but permitted them TO give bond I'M
til the regular hearing of the posses
sorry warrant before Justice of the
Peace ]. w. Peddy The defendants
carried this case to the court of APP
peals, where it was finally dismissed
by that court. In due course Judge
Peddy tried the possessory warrant
case and released Turner and found
against Mcdonald, ordering him to
remain in Jail until the mule Rock
was produced to abide the judgment
of the court. This judgment was GER
taoraried to the superior court, where
it's was dismissed by Judge Worrill;
it was then taken to the court of APP
peals, which sustained the ruling of
Judge Worrlll.
Mcdonald then delivered himself
to the sheriff of Terrell county, and
remained incarcerated in Jail at Daw-
son for two weeks. He brought an
other habeas corpus proceeding be-
fore Judge Edwards, setting up the
plea that Rock had died since the
Judgment on the possessory warrant,
thereby rendering it impossible for
him to perform the judgment Judge
Edwards ruled that this was sufficient
showing, and it was ordered that Nc
Donald be discharged from further
custody.
Thus, after much litigation, Dan
Eaton is where he started-withOut
a mule, unless he has bought another
one.