The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-03-29
BOWERS |S GIVEN. TEN yE A RS F0R FATHERS MURDER
Mother and Sisters March From Court House
 in Silence

Oscar Bowers. who was sentenced to 10 years in state prison in crim inal court Wednesday,, will be 2S years old when he faces the world free man again. He was an emo tionless. unlettered 1S-year-old coun- try boy when the verdict of the jury trying him for killing his father, w. A. Bowers. was read by Lewis New man. clerk of Judge William E. Forts court late Wednesday afternoon.
 Behind the bar his mother. Mrs. Laura Bowers. a gaunt. silent coun try woman, and her two small daugh ters heard the verdict that ended the trial of her son on a charge of mur der of her husband. Like son. like mother-she, too, heard the sentence in silence. The jury was boiled; young Bowers was remanded to Jail to await formal sentence. Mrs. Bow CTS and her daughter trooped out of out of the building quiet, forebod ing group. Occasionally the mother. who had fought to save her son. wiped furitive tear from her eyes. At the corner of the jail she was stepped by newspaper woman in 
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 Verdict Returned.
 The jury hearing the Bowers trial returned a verdict of guilty of man. slaughter in the first degree at 4:15 o'clock after debating for three hours. Bowers was brought from the county Jail by deputy sheriff. Eff forts to find his attorney. c A. Fair clcth. were unsuccessful. the jury lined up at the bar.
 "Gentlemen. have you reached verdict?" asked Judge Fort
 We have"
 Give it to the clerk" Young Bow CTS rubbed his chin with his right hand.
 We. the jury find the within named defendant. Oscar Bowers, gull ty of manslaugfter in the first de- gree as charged in the indictment and fix his punishment at confinement ir the state penitentiary for 10 years" intoned the clerk. Bowers continued to rub his chin for a moment then he hooked his left elbow over the back of his chair and stared straight ahead.
 I Poll .,,tl the jury ordered pr. Judge . not present and it is the only right the defendant has" Bowers paid no attention as each man nodded his head 'yes" in response to the ques- tion "Is that your verdict"
 O o o
 Arguments Closed.
 Arguments in the case closed at l2:35 o'clock Wednesday and Judge Fort completed his charge at 1:15 o'clock. In charging the jury Judge Fort read six Alabama decisions on the plea of drunkenness as a defense, and pointed out that each decision held while drunkenness could not be ,,;I T Ia taken into consideration by the jury In dealing with the offense.
 Assistant Solicitor John r. Mccoy asked for the death penalty in his closing argument to the jury, urging that Bowers be used as an example to the young men of the county and that justice be done without permit ting sympathy to influence the yer dict. He declared young Bowers had defamed the name of his dead father. whom he should have respected Bowers sat with head resting upon his hand during this arraignment.
 Herbert Ethridge. assistant solici- tor. opened for the state. He charged Bowers knew all about the shooting of his father on the night of Febru ary IA, and that the boys mother had perjured herself on the witness stand in an effort to save him.
 Excuses Mother.
 But I do not censure her for that" he said. Any mother would have done the same"
 G. A. Faircloth, defense attorney, requested the jury to pray before re- turning verdict The boy never had chance.' he asserted. ''He never went to school but three terms, although he lived in 40 feet of a school house. The man who gave this boy liquor was responsible for this tragedy, and that man was his father"
 All evidence was closed in the case Tuesday afternoon. and Wednesday, was consumed solely with argument of counsel and instructions to the jury