Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1921-06-16
FARMER Of DEKALB
IS FOUND GUILTY
ONMURDER CHARGE

Following one of the shortest MUIR
der trials ever held in the Dekalo
county superior court, w. c. Thomp-
son was found guilty of Staying
Ernest Brown, young Dekalb coun-
ty farmer, on the night Of March IL,
I'D at $3.50 o'clock Tuesday night
Judge John B. Hutchinson, following
out a recommendation for mercy by
the Jury, sentenced Thompson to life
imprisonment-just ten and one-half
hours after the trial commenced.
Attorney B. L. Chappell, leading
counsel for defense, moved for a
new trial Immediately after sentence
was passed, and Judge Hutchinson
announced he would set the date to
hear the motion later.
Thompson, who had remained I'M
passive throughout the trial, re-
ceived the sentence without appar-
emit emotion. Throughout his trial
he sat between his counsel, and took
q lively interest in it's procedure,
frequently suggesting questions Tor
his counsel to PROFOUND in cross-ex-
animation.
The trial was featured by several
surprises, chief among which was the
announcement by the defense that
1t would offer no sworn testimony.
The failure of the state to place Eula
Putnam, the woman who is alleged
to have been the only eyewitness
to the shooting, on the stand, and
also a number of other witnesses
who had been subpoenaed, also &C.
casioned considerable surprise.
Thompson's wife, his mother and
father and little sister sat with him
throughout the trial, none of them
showing any outward signs Of emo
ton, either during the presentation
of the testimony or while attorneys
for the state were summing up the
prosecution.
Selection of the jury consumed the
entire morning session. The trial
was delayed over an hour by the late
arrival of H. C. Peterson, star wit
ness for the state. He told the court
that he was late owing to the fact
that an automobile in which he start
ed broke down, and he was forced
to walk four and a half miles to
street car. Judge Hutchinson held
him in contempt Of court, and fined
him 500, with an alternate Of serv-
Ing. ten days in Jail.
Forty-six veniremen were examined
before the twelve jurors were select
ed, the defense exhausting it's entire
twenty strikes. Court recessed for
lunch after the jury had been Sc
lected.
States witnesses
Walter and Joe Brown. brothers
witnesses called. They told Of find
ing their brothers body on lone
ly road near Wesley chapel on the
night Of the tragedy.
H. c. Peterson. the star witness illness
in the same house with Thompson
death de- ins He 's declared Euiia Putnam,
the young woman who has been
held in connection with the case,
was living with him as his wife.
Recalling the night Of the killing:
he said Thompson came home ana
asked for the Putnam woman A
small boy told him she had gone
down the road to a negro house,
find her, said the witness. Ten min.
utes later, ne said, the fatal shot
was fred, and shortly, afterwards,
Thompson returned home, with tRe
Putnam woman ~, doH low ig NM MN him
NO questions" said the. witness,
"and in a jiffy he and the woman
Questioned further by states at
torneys, the witness admitted E s.;iI1
Putnam told him ''Clomer has XII.
ed Ernest Brown deader than EeL.
Deputy TestI81ss
r. 2. Henderson, deputy sheriff OF
DeKalb county, testified to bringing
Thompson back from the mountains
of Dawson county. He said that
Thomnson resisted arrest, and that II
was necessary to shoot him In Dotn
ieos before he could be arrested.
Upon the completion of. the testl-
nnony of Henderson, the state of1er-
ed as evidence the clothes worn by
tiIled' a chart Of the territory sur
rounding the spot where his BODY
was found, and announced that IL
Following a brief consultation. the
defense asked for ruling on tne
testimony Of Peterson regarding tn ss
raTt of it which Peterson said was
foId him by the woman. Judge
Hutcheson said he would rule upon
A. in charging the jury.
The defense then announced ina
It would rest its case without Oh
fering sworn testimony. This was
cnunty that a defendant in a murder
trial had rested his case WITHOUT ut
Altering testimony. The defense
thereby gained the opening ana CLOS.
ing arguments. Clark Ray LOT .S snt
defense opened, and maintained tina.
the state had not made out a case
AGAINST the defendant, and asked the
inry for a verdict Of acquittal.
william Schley Howard, who wa'
smpioyed by the family Of Ernes
brown to assist the state 1oiloWeu
and declared that the state had mace
III uThich had not been refutet
=, one single word of testimony b,
n He Iikened Thompson and the Put
nam woman to "a pair OF suo oe,o
snipes living ing IN 1od tSs iGTy that It
mould be just as mercifu1 to Thomp-
SOW as Thompson had been to En-
nest speaks Forty Minutes
Attorney Howard SPOKE 1or ,;d lo1
at length, pointing out that the staLe
mad done all that the law requlreu
He said that it had built up strone
circumstantial evidence case, ana ~
Peterson that the Putnam woman nao
told him Thompson had killed En-
nest Brown deader than hell.
Solicitor General Brand followed
and confined his argument 10 re-
Hiew If the laws of Georgia., quoting
number Of records to prove that ths
state had done all that was required
~ it in the trial of Thompson.
Attorney Chappell,. who closed foI
the defense, took the ground tina,
the testimony of Peterson reiatinf
to what the Putnam woman mao tolc
hin, was hearsay and should not be
allowed. He said that with this ties.
timony ruled out, the defense had
failed utterly to connect thompson
with the murder.