The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1919-09-06


morning after the tragedy, though ne
said 1t was immateria1 under the cir
'cumstances
He believed the inspectors. because
the only witness who claimed to have
seen the drinking was too far away
t. have known what actually hap
pened He referred to the courts in
structions describing the circum-
stances under which the jury must
return a, verdict Of acauittal and de-
cared that these tailed exactly with
the facts of the case as brought out
: by witnesses.
He closed with a brilliant exhorta-
| ton to the jury TO uphold the forces
! of law and order against the desper-
ate deeds of outlaws who, IL allowed
10 do as they chose, would endanger
the welfare OF the entire common
wealth and all OF it's peaceable citi-
Gems.
WENDENBURG CLOSES
Senator Wenddnburg spoke for an
hour in closing for the defense.
The present case is one of the
commonwealth" lie declared
He enumerated the counsel on both
sides, all OF whom are or have been
officials There are two times when
man may kill another. he said; in
enc 1t is justified In the other ex
] cEsed In the defense OF ones, own
life or that of any member of his
family one has always the right to
Xii the assailant, an inherent right
which cannot be taken away and has
rtever been yielded to any government.
In the other case. the government
commissions meE TO enforce it's laws
and says that they may kin when
assaulted and resisted in making an
I n Y,
| is admonished that he may not give
back or yield when SO attacked, but
Faust meet force with force, even to
the point of taking the life of the
lrerson resisting
| He then read with marked effect
the oath TO which inspector Hall SUBJ
Iscribed when he became an inspec-
itor and urged the jury to uphold the
defendant in sustaining the law.
Wendenburg gave an acrid discus
Ision of the personal character of the
two bootlegeers, insisting that the
! case in hand should not be biased in
lany way by sentiments for or against
prohibition.
4 was the wettest man in the SEN
ate, they said, when the law was first
PASSED. he said. But wanted to see
the law enforced now. He said that
, Shackeiford and Hudson could have
expected to make two thousand dol
lars or more from the sale of $40
quarts of liquor which they had
! bought in baltimore He recounted
shackelford's conduct with the young
e.fl. Loreen Haley, who testified yes
torday and whose condition he said
the jurors must have observed.
| He recounted Shackelford's threats
nc shoot officers who might interfere
with him and his attack on con-
stable Flynn. of Chesterfield county
v hich paralleled closely the attack on
Hail He quoted the proverb Cred
ulity is an attribute Of a weak mind ;"
| End declared that it was an insult for
the prosecution to ask the jury to ac-
ctpt the preposterous theory upon
(which conviction was sought.
Sharply criticised Commonwealth
Attorney Lion for illusions in his
/ speech. declaring that he had made
statements of fact not mentioned in
the testimony
| Commenting on the failure of the
o,her three inspectors to make vital
r,ts on the booze car or its occupants
while It was mo,ing away he said:
] God never intended that this
man should be killed even by his
friends shacke,ford tried it, and
tailed. His conn AIDES, who believed
ham dead, failed The prosecution
now asks that you (the jury) do ii.
icn the idea that there must be some
body in the community who will be
found willing. And the bootleggers
/ VIII be happy if that ever happens. A"
Apart from his rights and duties as
an officer, said Wendenburg. Han
stu has the rights of a citizen and
the right of self defense
STORY OF THE BATTLE
| He then went into a detailed state
Elent of the battle in the booze car,
declaring that the car bullet marked
itself and the wounds in the bodies
of the dead, men are conclusive evil
dence OF the truth of Halls story in
every particular.
He called SPECIAL attention to the
| testimony of Joseph Williams. the
only disinterested witness of the af-
/ fray, and of Inspector Dunleyy. as
supporting the defense to the utmost.
| He caused some merriment in the
court room by exhibiting the whiskey
bottle from which witness Good said
he saw all of the inspectors drink. 1t
is more than three fourth full. Wen
denburg said that if the officers did
drink it would not matter that under
| the circumstances 1t would not have
lbeen surprising. but that 1t would
have been amazing If they had drank
at all. and had consumed SO little.
ANY three policemen would empty
that bottle in single round" he de-
elared.
| In closing he made a powerful plea
for upholding law and order against
the forces of outlawry, over and be-
yond the we'll established justice of
Halls defense.
| Attorney Tavenner closed for the
prosecution. He repeatedly alluded to
Shackelford as that poor cripple,
and to Hudson, who was over six feet
tsll and weighed $50 pounds as that
helpless boy" He attacked with
great bitterness the conduct OF all OF
the inspectors. asserting that they
fired at the booze car without know
ing whether Hail was on board and
that If any shot had killed either OF
the cars occupants it would have
constituted murder. He pleaded FOX
the civic rights of the poor bootleg
GER and insisted that the rights OF
Shackelford and Hudson had been
trampled upon before the shooting
began.
Il The most of his speech was occu-
pied in insinuating doubts of the
credibility of the defenses witnesses
though not in single instance was
apy eyi6pnca altered affarkirg fhe