Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1919-01-14
JURY IS GIVEN
BURGLARY CASE
Whether Joseph Miller. Paroled
Negro, is Resentenced,
Hangs on Brown Hat

Whether or not Joseph Miller.
paroled negro, should be re-
sentenced to prison convicted o.
burglary and larceny was left il
the hands of a jury in circuit court
at noon today.
The state based it's Ease upon
the identification of a hat forgot
ten in the Charles c. Condor
home in Rock Island by a house
breaker who entered the residence
about midnight on Oct 8.
Witnesses for the prosecution
were Mrs. c. c. Condor, Mrs.
Mabel Moody, proprietcess of Z
rooming house at which the de
PENDANT roomed for about three
weeks, Detectives Tom Cox and
Dennis Bennett, officers who ar
rested Miller, Miss Veins Hickman
who testified that she saw a man
running away from the Condor
home about the time of the burg
larry; Dave Brady, proprietor of a
clothing store at which Miller
bought a brown hat, and d second
one. black in color, following loss
of the first and also i pair O.
shoes. A clerk in the Brady store
also testified that he remembered
selling Miller the hat which was
found in the Condor tome after
the midnight marauder had fed.
Mrs. Condor testified that the
man who passed her on the stair
way of her home following her
awakening on the night of the
crime was a negro. Cox and Ben
nett testified that Miller lived in
barn with any number Of hidden
routes of ingresS and egress, prob
ably living thus so that lis movt-
ments might go undetected.
Lax Supervision Proven.
It was also brought out in the
testimony of the officers that al
though searching for Miller, who
is a paroled man from Chester,
they were unable to locate him for
several days due to the fact thai
unknown to parole agents the col
ored man had moved at east three
times Evidence revealed that
little, if any check was kept upon
Miller's behavior and habits.
D. y. Simonson. appearing for
the defense, contended hat iden-
tifcatiOn of the hat was at best
the most flimsy of evidence upon
which to send a man to the peni-
Tertiary, maintaining that there
could be no absolute proof that thu
hat found in the Condor home was
purchased by Miller and worn at
the time of the attempted burg
larry.
The defendant did not take the
stand in his own behalf, and the
defense offered no explanation of
the whereabouts of the first hat,
brown one, when on the day fol-
lowing the Condor housebreaking
Miller appeared at the Brady
store with a request for hat like
the one he had bought before"
Case of Miller is the first on the
criminal calendar as completed by
States Attorney Floyd E. Thomp-
son in the order in which they
will probably come up for trial.
Sam Green, also a paroied negro.
charged with robbery and defend
ed by W. G. Allen is the next man
to be tried, followed by the case OF
James Wilson, another paroled
negro, charged with burglary and
larceny and represented. by ]. L.
Harper and c. E. Dietz OF Moline
The list is appended:
Joseph Miller, burglary and lar
ceny; Sam Green, robbery; James
Wilson, burglary and larceny.
William Suggs, ct al, burglary ana
larceny; Clarence HeverIing and :
Raymond Bramlett, larceny: Al |
fred DeLeon, attempt to rob: Sam
Elashik, ct al, burglary and lar
ceny; Eugene Patterson. burglar : |
and larceny; Ben Ganahl, murder, |
Fred Gaffrey, rape; Floyd Collins. |