Americus times-recorder., 1920-06-11
RETRIAL ASKED
in BICAMY CASE
BY WAR HERO
Mccoy Calls Conviction
New Crown of Thorne
On Brow

CAS- l have served my God and my
country, / shall serve this sentence,
unjustly imposed upon me this day,
when and if the higher courts of the
sovereign state of Georgia shall so
decree"
These were the words with which
A. H. Mccoy, world war veteran
member of the fam US 151st Ma
chine Gun Battalion, nero of sin
gle exploit rivallin~ that of Alvin
York, Georgia volunteer soldier who
captured alone and single-handed Is
Germans and a machine gun during
the heavy fighting which preceded
the drive through the St. Mihiel sal
lent, received a jury's verdict finding
him guilty of bigamy in Supreme
Court Thursday. with the same
unfaltering courage that have
borne the suffering pressed upon me
when my pure and innocent wife was
torn from my side by a prejudiced
father and held through processes
which both she and myself have been
unable to successfully resist, l shall
bear this new crown of thorns that
1t is sought to press upon my brow.
| have given much of my life already
that others and the world might be
made better, and if it pleases God to
place upon me further suffering then
| shall not be found wanting when
the call to bear this newest pain for
others comes.
Avows Innocence.
"All | have to say at this time,
is that l appreciate the efforts my
counsel have made in my behalf. l
want to thank them for their tireless
efforts in the preparation of this
case, and to say to everyone that /
am not guilty of this crime, of which
a jury has just convicted me. 1t is
only just to say of these twelve men,
good and true, that they have done
as they thought best, perhaps, yet it
is only human to err. When | mar
ried Georgia Pitts in Sumter county
in October, 1919, then and there I
consecrated my life and all my eff
forts to the task of making her hap
py. | had investigated the pretend
ed marriage with Miss Orpha D.
Wood, with whom was associated in
France, and had sought and obtained
the advice of lawyer, licensed by
the state of Georgia to advise per-
sons in need of legal assistance, and
had been told that was free to
marry the woman of my choice. l
have never concealed my relations
with Miss Wood. l stand true to my
ideals and those of every honest man
when l say to the world that both
Miss Wood and myself considered
ourselves as still in the single state,
a fact most evident. So if it becomes
my lot to don the stripes of felon
and fill the place of convict, | shall
do this with the highest conception
of my duty toward my state and my
fellow men, and with a resignation
that must be supported by stoutest
courage.
Asks No Sympathy.
81 do not plead for sympathy from
public already sympathetic in its
attitude toward the STRANGER in trou-
BILE. l ask nothing merely because
of my war record, bat | do ask, and
| believe that the higher courts will
and should grant me new hearing
because nave not ndu Sul1CISht
time in which to prepare for the trial
which was forced upon me this day,
and because of the errors of law COM
mitted in its conduct"
Mccoy, who is prominent in Ran
dloph county, lives at Cuthbert, and
was convicted Thursday afternoon in
Sumter Superior Court OF having
married Miss Georgia Pitts, winsome
18 year old Andrew College student,
while he had another living wife,
Miss Orpha D. Wood, who he is al
legged to have married in France.
The contention in the case was that
the marriage in France was not legal,
the French marriage laws not being
placed in evidence in the case.
There is greatest sympathy here
for Mccoy, and his attorneys have
appealed for a new trial in his =
half. The jury which convicted him
fixed his punishment at ont less than
two years nor more than three years
Imprisonment.