The evening world., 1922-06-22
WARD NOT TO HAVE
IMMEDIATE TRIAL,
WEEKS ANNOUNCES
District Attorney issues State
ment After Court Had
Forced His Hand.
INDICTMENT ATTACKED.
Prosecutor Must Now Consent
to Inspection of Grand Jury
Minutes.

District Attorney Weeks issued a
formal statement this afternoon that
he would not move the trial of Walter
Ward for the murder of Clarence
Peters for July IL
This was in answer to an announce
ment by Justice Morschauser that I'M
less the District Attorney consented to
give Ward en- early trial the minutes
of the Grand Jury which indicted
Ward for murder should be disclosed
to the, defendg2e The defense at a
hearing today had asked Justice
Morcchauser to rule that they must
have both an early trial and the
Grand Jury minutes.
THE District Attorney" said the
Weeks statement, "has made his pro-
test against giving the defense access
to the Grand Jury minutes on the
ground that such action would gravely
hamper the prosecution; the case is
not yet in proper shape to present
to a trial jury"
The right of the District Attorney
TO AK the date of trial was unques-
toned, Justice Morschauser said. and
he would not presume to advise the
District Attorney as to the exercise of
that right. On the other hand, if the
defendant was to be kept in Jail all
summer on an indictment which was
attacked as unjust by his counsel, it
was only right and proper that coun-
sci should have an opportunity of
carrying into court their contentious
against the sufficiency of the evidence
on which the indictment was based.
In opposing the motion to fix July
II as the date of the trial and to fur
nish Ward with the Grand Jury testi-
mony, Mr. Weeks said that the inves-
tigation was still incomplete. To allow
Ward to see the testimony would give
him warning of several lines of inquiry
as to which he now knew nothing and
would enable him to block those in
quiries in his own interest. Five men
| have been indicted for murder in the
county since Jan. 1, Mr.. Weeks said,
and in no case have they been fur
| nished with the Grand Jury minutes,
because it has not yet become the
given to them.
Mr.. Weeks solemnly charged that
former Justice Isaac NJ. Mills, who
made the principal argument on the
Ward side of the case, had maligned
him, though a friend of twenty five
years standing" This reminded his
hearers that it was Judge Mills who
first suggested Mr., Weeks as a can
didate for the office he now holds.
Mr.. Weeks said he was not conscious
of having been brutal in saying he
would try the case when it was
ready to be tried and not before"
"It is not the iaW," he SAID, that
man may kill another in West
chester County, wait week (until
the body of the dead man has been
identifeO before coming and then
saw: Il killed him because / was
afraid he would kill me- He cannot
Justify the staying of man as an act
dictated by his whim or judgment
Mr.. Weeks said he had no patience
with Judge Mills's assertion that the
authorities must accept all of Walter
Wards explanatory statement If they
accepted his admission that he killed
Peters. 1t was in part true, he said.
For instance, there was no doubt that
Peters was dead and he was killed by
bullet which fitted a pistol owned
by Ward, There we're other parts of