El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1917-05-23
SANDS TRIAL
GETSA CROWD
Ranger Appears Calm; Ap-
parent Defence Will Plead
Self Defence.


I State ranger W. 3. Sands went TO .
trial Wednesday morning in the 34th .
district court on a charge Of murder,
in connection with the killing of Sgt. I
owen Bierne on Sept. p. 1916. in the
Coney Island saloon. Judge ". D.
Howe, who will preside during the
trial, opened court at $3.50 a. m. and
the taking of witnesses names began
Introduction Of the states evidence
was the first order of procedure.
\ At 1890 Tuesday night the last
juror was secured. At that time all
but one OF the second special panel
OF 200 men summoned for the case
lad been examined
Names Of Jurors.
The men who compose the jury are;
h J. 3. Rogers, a. d. Hudson, W. \.
! Beckett, o. 0. Martin. O. r Boutwell,
/ J. G. Sauermann. r. x Emery, NJ T.
I Mills. A E Lewis. L B. Mcmillan, J.
y. Flores and NJ J. RoseborO-
When court convened the court
room was well filled It became
apparent early that the defence will
rely on the self defence plea.
Ranger Sands, very tanned and
apparently not suffering from nerv-
Gus strain, appeared IN the courtroom
q few minutes before court was con-
vened. He took his seat with HIS
counsel at a long table reserved for
the attorneys in the case
Sierra Blanca Man Testi6fes.
+. A Elliott the first witness for
| the state, told of his presence in the
! Coney Island saloon at the time Of
/ the killing. Mr.. Elliott is from
! Sierra Blanca He told Of first see
I ing = soldier issue from the saloon
/ with blood on his face. Shortly E
I after, an officer and several mem
| bers OF, the provost guard arrived
I at the saloon The entrance OF the
provost into the saloon was described
Then he said that the provost
sergeant, after being in the place
several minutes, suddenly heard an
other soldier ask, Where is the --
-- who beat up that soldier" After
I these words, the sergeant made a
half turn, when a man leaning
against the bar about six feet away
shot him said the witness. The man
who fired the shot, he said, was
plainly under the influence Of liquor.
lie Identified Sands as the man
After the first shoJ, the sergeant
reeled and apparently made a motion
to reach his pistol scabbard- Then
he fell with his face toward the door,
when a second shot was fired
Witness. Once Soldier. Said.
District attorney Leigh Clark then
turned the witness over 10 the de-
fence for cross examination. which
did not alter the gist Of his testi-
mOny- Attorney c l. Vowel brought
out the fact that Elliott was at one
time 4 soldier IN the regular army
and was discharged for disability in
two enlistments.
1t was also brought out during the
cross examination that the witness
did not hear sergeant Bierne say
anything to anybody up to the time
Of the shooting. He further testi-
fled that when the drunken soldier
entered the saloon and said: Where
SOLDIER" he. the soldier. was about
four feet in the rear of Sergt- Bierne,
who was facing west about six feet
from the door The sergeant. said
Elliott, haC silly grin on his lace
and for that reason he noticed him
Tells Of First shot.
The first shot was fired. Elliott tes-
titled. within a second or two after
the drunken soldier had asked the
was who beat up the soldier. The
sentence was hardly out Of the mans
mouth before the first shot sounded
and the sergeant was struck, said wit
ness.
When the shot was fired. he testi-
fled. the provost sergeant. Bierne. was
making a half turn and was a quarter
of the way around. He was not fac
ing Sands when the shot was fired.
After the shooting. the witness said.
he did not see any blood on Sands
head. The only thing in the sergeant's
hand when he wheeled toward Sands
was a club. which he had drawn back
over his right shoulder in a striking
attitude The witness was excused at
II a m. and court took q brief re
cess.
Major Describes Four Wounds.
Maj. John H. Allen, medical corps,
was the second witness He testified
that he had known Sergt. Bierne for
two years and had examined the body
OF the sergeant as it lay in the I'M
dertaking parlor the night of the
the major. The first was a wound
through the neck and face. taking
two or three teeth. Wound No.
was in the right side. about the 18th
Of the back. Wound No. was an
irregular bruise just to the left OF
wound No. .. The fourth wound was
confusion at the back OF the head,
floor. The bullet that passed into
the right side penetrated the liver
and the lower lung"
County attorney W. H. Fryer put
the questions for the state. 1t was
brought out that powder was in the
flesh OF the sergeant's face. The
witness testified that If the weapon
had been held close to the flesh there
would have been powder burns in
stead OF the grains, being in the flesh
There was no cross examination.
Witness says Got Behind Safe.
Q. Saddler, of FL Paso, was the
third witness. He said that when
Sgt. Bierne came into the saloon, he
walked up 20 the defendant and a
conversation ensued- The witness
did not hear exactly what was said.
but heard swearing. He was not
positive who used the profanity He
was not even positive who did the
shooting or who got shot but was
able to describe approximately the
position of the men involved. Imme-
diately after the first shot, the wit
pess said ne took refuge behind a
safe at the rear OF the saloon. The
direct examination of Saddler was
conducted by attorney Dan II Jack
SON. Isl