Republican farmer., 1920-07-09
BEDDING
 .sss
Especial to The TimesO

Especial to The T1meS.)
 Bedding, July 7.---As @ sequel to Duncan Gays use of a rifle for thef purpose of hastening the departure8 from his land of Timothy Murphy, butler for Major Henry Sanford, and of Henry Sanford, Jr., aged 10, Gay WIS arraigned il. the Cem.sunity House on Monday charged with as- sault with a deadly weapon,- an of fense punishable by three years inn prisonment and a $500 fine There ;- had been delay in getting the prosecu- tion started as Grand Juror A. G. Bar nett, to whom complaint was first made, refused to act after advising on the matter with Attorney Henry Will son of Danbury. Grand Juror D. s. Sanford, who was next approached, issued a complaint after considerable deliberation. MT Barnett has suffered much annoyance and property dam age from trespassers and so, for that - matter, has MT. Sanford. Justice Lyon. before whom the warrant was returnable, suggested a transfer Of the case to another justice, preferably one called from another town, but yield ing to the wish of both sides, con sented to conduct the hearing. Attor-3 ney Wilson appeared as counsel for the defense and Attorney Reisnki, from the firm of DeForest & Klein, assisted in the prosecution. The trouble leading to the pGosecu- ton occurred on June A at the Saus- 'atuck river where Murphy and the Sanford boy had gone for a days fish ing. The versions of the affair. tesu- ! fled to by Gay on one side and 9Aes comp1ainants on the- other differed widely as to details. Gay said that the fishing couple did not leave until . an hour and a half after he first gave 4o ,I,iI M ,11xya md the boy insisted that the interval was not longer than 15 minutes which time was occupied by a Ieisurely reassem- ! bling of their dispersed accoutre- i | ments. Gay had told them, they tes- tified, that his bounds on the river were defined by the two bridges in | view, while Gay insists that he added 1 "and below the lower bridge- Upon | quitting, their first station the couple | went above the upper bridge where they remained for several hours On returning Gay said they again passed over his territory between the bridges. the boy going through his garden. The latter statement the others deny. l They were again fishing several | hundred feet below the lower bridge 1 when Gay came from his house with | a rifle and fired from a distance l which he describes as 300 feet and l Murphys at not more than half that I | heard the whistle of the bullet few 1 feet above, his head. Gay said this l could not have been so as he held | the weapon at right angles with ref l erence to the others and that the l bullet must have gone into bank
 a long way short of the place they | occupied. After the firing Murphy l told the. boy to stay where he was l while he, Murphy, went back and l sought an explanation from the 1 shooter. Nevertheless, the boy tag
 ged closely behind, his guardian be- 1 ing too much occupied with the peril l he was facing to notice the proximity. 1 Murphy explains that he went to- l wards Gay instead of running away 1 because he felt that such a course | afforded the best method of protect l ing the boy for whose safety he was 1 responsible. .-~--'--. -- While Murphy was making this l approach Gay several times raised
 and sighted the rifle in his direction. l but did not shoot. He says that he l had no ammunition beyond the single
 cartridge that was discharged. The
 talk had by the pair when they met | was brief, not especially 1urid, and
 ended the affair for the time.
 Lawyer Wilson began his argument for the defence by alluding clearly
 and impressive1y to the unlimited re- l
 ecution. Lawyer Reiznik began by
 recalling that this was the anniver-
 sary of the day when the cause of
 liberty, joined with and protected by
 law, received such a tremendous
 boost by the promu1gation of the Declaration of Independence. Some how the impression was conveyed
 that were Thomas Jefferson, author
 of that immortal but more largely i iafo
 he would be on the side of the com
 plainants in the pending proceedings.
 In the number of authorities cited the Bridgeport attorney far exceeded 1 the score made by his Danbury op-
 ponent-
 1 The court found the defendant guilty of simple assault on the
 ground that in bringing into use a rifle under the circumsta disc1os- ed by the evidence Gay had commit
 ted an act unjustified by the law.
 Here MT. Wilson interposed to main tain that inasmuch as the warrant | charged only the more serious form
 of assault the defendant must either be bound over or discharged. MT.
 Reisnik supported the justice in hold ing that conviction for a lesser de-
 gree was within the province of the l court and this view finally prevailing the penalty was made a fine of $7
 and costs of prosecution, the latter
 amounting to $16.23 The defendant
 at once took an appeal to the Court of Common Pleas under bond Of s75 which was furnished with D.. s.
 Sanford as surety.
 The case heard on Monday is not the closing chapter in the affair. MT. Wilson promptly asked Grand Juror l Sanford for Murphy's arrest on the
 charge of trespass ana MT. Sanford l acouiesced Major Sanford, it is un- derstood, will institute civil suits
 against Gay for damages in behalf | of his son and his butler. There also
 remains to be determined Gays ap- peal to the October term of the higher
 court.