The producers news. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1918-1937, 1922-03-03
my Finds Davis Guilty of Robbing Homestead Bank
m Verdict of Burglary in First Degree-Sets Punish
EfuI" .nt From One to Three Years.
,nv otJT FIFTEEN HOURS IN REACHING VERDICT

\ IS n.11s. in Wnlct1 LAWS "oe
boz DSSs, 18th the robbery of the
bargeao. S'S State Bank, found Davis
spnes'esS1p burglary in the First De-
o." sS and fixed the p penalty, h, 5ahd,. at from n.
rs ~ o'I three years at hard lapor In
s so.s 70 o'r 'nrenltentiary at Deer Lodge.
a s'aS pzd1,ounces Sentence Tuesday
sIoTing the an Customary aS;yssdau tlme forer ,er
qFea, ,Oonounced On formal sentence on
p'1, The court asking Davis If he
s'ls thing to say why sentence
ts1 ay.l4h1be n4 be pronounced, he said
sana no lmt not, and Judge Conner imnae-
nau 10 nmrvorIounced mvrI the sentence in
SAels ,n;tv with the findings Of the
nl0iDat aDantencing the prisoner to not
-: ~" than one nor more than three
sss u'aD ;n the state penitentiary at
Dsa sM.fnr;tT mT9 of Jury For Acquittal.
naPar % NV reported verdict little
Inc iine 80 O'clock after hearing the: ar
.nts mrt of council and listening to
guasnsf ;sanstrnccjons Of the court, and it
.s s,.norted n,T balloted Immediately with
= t'p anv discussion whatever, and the
u. ~, 'cs sisood seven for aequittal and
y. :ps for @ conviction of robbery with
Us Iss ~, eyplosives. which carries with
W. term in prison of fifteen to for
|. . nesrs s Then argument started and
lied ed high and furious until noon
S'n5sv sn When the above verdict was
s.'Ilr sag1p'; agreed upon. Over twenty
irs I ballots are reported to have been
'ton ~ hut when the issue was guilty
y r'1 not guilty, it was always seven
rpss and five yes. II.
vs. Il Court Receives Verdict
ebe iurv reported a vredict a little
,4sr noon, Sunday, and about enc
IrSck rjt Judge Conner and the lawyers
md nrisoner were in court: for the
ppr6ct p1 which was handed to Clerk of
Sut Peterson and by him to the
Mat The Judge read the verdict
and there was hurried conference
# court and attorneys, and they all
rired TO the Judges chambers where
thew remained for a few minutes, re-
tuming the court read the verdict
and dismissed the jury. It seems
that there had been some nisu11der-
sanding as to the minimum time for
burglary in the first degree, some be-
ng under the impression that it was
I've years instead Of one.
Great Interest Taken;
When it was reported on the streets
the latter part of last week, that J. J.
Gunther had been appointed by: the
court to defend Davis, and that Coun-
" Attorney Erickson was to be; as
sisted by a very able attorney from
the Attorney Generals Office, inter-
est in the Davis bank robbery case
became intense, and by the time the
ese was called, was the one subject
mdr discussion in Plentywood and
people began to take $ides,: with the
sntiment overwhelming in favor of
the bank robber. The transfer of the
Emmons and Matkins. cases by the
court to Malta helped to intensity the
feeling and the result of the Stevens
assault trial in which the Assistant
Attorney General did not assist the
County Attorney, although. he was
present and could have done so had
be desired, famed the feelings to few
r heat.
Gmther Does Fine Work.
Attorney Gpnther started to exam
me the jury Thursday and gave each
member sworn a grilhng examination
a|ef he had been passed for cause
9y the State. Six challenges were
exercised, and Friday morning about
seVen o'clock the following jury was
worn si in: l.. G.. Angvick Of Medicine
LAKE; John Espeiand Of Westby; J.
+. y hansen Of Dagmar; Simon C. Han
Sh NJ OF Raymond; Anton Kollman OF
EtaSyWood; A. ]. Moore of Plenty
oo0Oa; Louis S. Smith Of. Plentywood;
A Selylg Of Outlook; w. S. STRAIT
@1 ~ OF Redstone; jim Vincent of Coal
.uye; !, Il. N. Russell of Plentywood
'aa "m. SchettIer of Dooley.
m States Case
II Inc safe sWore1 eleven witnesses in
s., sa Vashier SteVerud' of the Home
soSS "sag State Rank testified as to the
svn! ,mlGllon N which he left it: Sunday
Ns3lng' Ns3l September 18th. Steverud
saS ,laue very poor witness. He was
s, %.Sous and shifty and hestitating
fsaI s%Ilg the impression that he was on
tina. icaI rather than Davis. He gave tes-
saJLy ;noIy regarding the present of blue
,s,F s,the that was impossible, and his
,o,tl}iy ,o,tlll0ny vas in two or three places
M1,@dlcted NJ. by other state witnesses
onss 'ss SScGhllIinherg contradicted hin
sso '' Ihe Assistant Cashier testified
SSO5 Sro as to the conditions of the bank
nr "'aS J, evening and Monday morn.
-orno,, oltegh e Collins and. County At,
sdn;. 'sy Erickson testified to certain
IA 6'.SsIohs . which Davis made, and SC
NsoI merchant Of WiIEiston. Sheriff
3r 3'ptIi0th "f I,i and Chief |of Police No
soo,ob. ot &@JHston testified as to the
c55in c555Tiis"shslon !; of Davis in small
fv4r ba.. ~ lhe woods on the Missouri
bopdc 'IpS.o,ils. and the finding of the
70 harao ~ nolan which, were alleged
sead q Qeen taken from the Home
he n; n;;a,9te @.9te Bank under some chaff il
Cd tba tbnangef of. m the barn which adjoin-
tstifoJf fa'Ih, 'an9 q. railroad detective
a5 5i't,g, to .oss as. TO the capture of Davis
i roa5 w. certain admissions which Dav.
Davis w.. It developed that wher
toUn5 was captureyl that he was
annaa p partially dressed. entirely un.
outfit Httil ana without any hank robbine
aiag WITH WITH him whatever. The only
certain u any way was: the finding Of
ae p1i of bonds 30 hidden in: the barn, only
Die s, 4lgoh bonds vas identified
..sGeII7 I7s31e.S sbo,,. S star witness Vas {
n the o,oSSea, as,i soldier; who had. beer
Employ Of the tailroaa as {
''ontinoed on Page Two)