The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-12-12
WADE GIVEN LIMIT
 OF THE LAW EXPORT
 IN MAYHEM CHARGE
In Sentencing Prisoner Judge Reviews Case at Length and Recited Points of Evidence
 Which Lead to Conviction

Charlie Wade, grocery merchant of Ensley, yesterday was sentenced to from 19 to 20 years in the state penitentiary by William E. Fort of the crimi- nal division of the circuit court on a charge of mayhem in con- nection with his having per- formed an illegal operation upon George Warren in De- cember of last year.
 The trial of Wade, which has attract ed wide attention, was called on the afternoon of Wednesday, December l. From then until o'clock on the after noon of Saturday December 4, the time was taken up with the testimony of the various witnesses and the arguments of the counsels for the defendant and the state.
 Judge Fort charged the jury in an ad- dress which lasted for more than an hour and a haf At :45 o'clock on the afternoon of Saturday, December 4. the jury went into session to deliberate on the case.
 Wade was charged with three counts of mayhem and one of assault with in- tent to murder The jury returned a verdict of guilty in the first count of mayhem at 10 o'clock on the following day.
 JUDGE FORTS STATEMENT
 In imposing the sentence on Wade yes- terday morning, Judge Fort said:
 T might say, MT. Wade. that l do not suppose there has ever ben in the his- tory of this county a case that has been more fully presented on both sides. do not mean by that that more time has been taken up, because only three full days and the time the jury took for decision was occupied. l noted the testl- mony very carefully and observed each witness as I always try to do in order to ascertain from the standpoint of pub lie justice what the circumstances showed and in view of the fact that l, as the presiding judge of the case, will be called upon to render sentence in case of conviction, have maturely gone over the evidence in my mind since the trial, as well as during the trial, observ- ing it carefully
 sAs little as it may be of concern to
 
 over it since last Sunday, at night when I was quiet and rested; in the mornings when I was fresh and clear; and l want to congratulate here the counsel in your case for their very able handling or tne situation. |. do not believe any man ever had a more careful and more able presentation of his evidence and Of his cause-four gentlemen representing you and three of whom spoke in the case. Not only was all the evidence presented by both sides that was available, put every conceivable reason was presented in extenuation of the offense committed
 GAS view the offense of mayhem, if man. in the heat of conflict "hiie his passion was so aroused that ne acted from the natural ferocity of ami nal conflict, were to dismember either an ear or nose, or, some, other nghtihs weapon that a man has to defend nm self with--finger, or hand, or some thing of that kind--it would be may hem, of course, but might be more extenuation Now, 1 recognize the strong appeal of the unwritten law, as it is called-that is, the law or passion or anger aroused by injury, either real or honestly believed ty man in regard to his wife, by another.
 "The laws of this state say that in case of killing under heat of passion thus engendered 1t would be a case or manslaughter; if there was no malice, and juries are like all other human beings, susceptible to this appeal, Le- cause the home is the foundation of civilization, and if it is invaded ruth lessly by any one, the feelings of the man injured necessarily cause more violent action and create greater sym pathy and feeling.
 ficfio od ;v, fhfc 10 so far as you are concerned, you had a belief that the party in question Lad injured you. I am not satisfied that he was the person that injured you. The evidence on that subject is doubt full.
 THE OTHER WAY
 There was evidence before the court and jury to that effect, but there was other evidence tending strongly the other way especially the evid ,ncs of Mrs. Brown, who was your own employe and who was there at the store for year, or about that time, constantly; while she was in position to find out and to see and to know, her testimony was, as far as I. could see, in good faith. I could not inter pret the fact that her brother, having a case pending against him. was solely responsible for the deliberate and com plete statement which she made upon the witness stand. subject, as she was. to cross and to every test that the law places upon witnesses on the stand.
 T am satisfied that you had dis turbance in your family on account of things that it is not necessary to lnen-
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