The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1917-07-04
D oze n Men Tentatively
Chosen to Try Brothers
for Murder.
WIDEST INTEREST
BY ALL CLASSES
Court Convenes Early This
Morning When Jury Sc
lecting Will Continue.
BY THOMAS EWING DABNEY.

BY THOMAS EWING DABNEY.
Crestview. July with tho total
venire of 135 about one-thnd ex-
haustcd, with eleven challenges vet
remaining to the defense and six to
the state, a tentative jury of twelve
good men and true, to decide on the
guilt or innocence of VIII and Bob
Blackwell, charged with the murder
Of NJ. M. Davis and wife on March
q, last, was chosen today after four
hours work, and lave been conducted
to their quarters in the Okaloosa
hotel under due guardianship.
They are: j. A. Harrison. Lewis
Baggett, r. r. Fountain. F. c. ellis.
H. B. Harris, \. y, Evans, J. f. PRYOR,
r. f. Sha7ner. A B. CAN'T. A. w.
Powell, W. T. McClelland, Denton
Wilkinson; and their residences arc
pretty we'll scattered throughout the
county.
More Challenges Expected.
That many of these will be chal-
lenged, however, is certain, and the
work of selecting the jury can hard1v
be considered half over. At the iSas
trial, the selection of the jury took a
full day, or twice the time that has
already been consumed, and the de-
Tense used nineteen of the twenty
challenges allowed. When Judge
Campbell adjourned the court at 6
this afternoon, the state had express
ed itself as satisfied with the panel,
and so the first challenge, tomorrow,
in the great battle of which all this
is merely the preliminary work, will
come from the defense.
Preconceived Opinion Strong.
Nine talesmen have 80 far been dis
qualified for preconceived opinion as
to the guilt or innocence of the ac-
cused too strong to be overcome. The
defense is showing a disposition to
challenge everybody who has rcNd or
talked of the killing much, even
though they declare they have formed
no opinion.
On the Fourth of July.
Court was opened at . p. m. and
closed at s. It will re-convene at 8:15
Wednesday morning, the Glorious
Fourth, and on the evening of Nation
al Independence Day, Will and Bob
Blackwell should formally begin the
fight by which they hope to win their
freedom,
BIackwelIs Smiling.
The Blackwelas were smiling as
they came up the aisle of the Con-
gregationaI Church building that is
serving in lieu of a court house. They
nodded right and left to familiar
faces in the audience; both seemed IN
uncommonly high spirits, and appear
ed trifle exhilarated by their thirty
mile auto ride from DeFuniak, where
| they are taken for sefe-keeping ev.
| cry night.
Arrived at the table in front Of the
bar, the handouts were removed; the
| leg irons, however, were kept on
| Will Blackwell: the authorities are
! taking no risk whatever Of another
getaway.
viii, by the way, has complained
considerably at this added restraint:
for a while he even refused to leave
! the court unless the leg irons were
/ removed, and said he was being mer-
cilessly prosecuted.
/ Taking No Chances.
To all his complaints, however,
! Sheriff Sutton and Detective Moore
| reply that once before when he was
I simply handcuffed to his, brother, he
| worked free and leaped from an au-
| tomobile travelling eighteen miles an
! hour and would perhaps today be at
large had he not been brought down
| by a shot from the rifle of the muir
| dered Davis-the very weapon which
the Blackwells are said to have shot
from the hand of the ex-Confederate
soldier when he threw himself in pos
| ture of defense.
D. Blackwell, the father of the ac-
| cused, and Mrs. Blackwell, wife of
! Robert, were present, apparently in
good spirits. Mrs. Blackwell, a frail
! brunette, with old-fashioned ringlets
and pleasing features, attracted much
attention. She spoke a number Of
times with her dreamy-eyed husband
who only once evinced any interest
| whatever in the case-when he asked
how many challenges the state had
used-quits contrast to the dynamic
| VIII, whose brain never seemed to