The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1923-09-27
IRA CULP MUST SERVE Nine
MONTHS IN COUNTY JAIL
Convicted and Sentenced In Fed
eral Court at Cumberland
Yesterday Afternoon

ty, who has been in the Oakland Jail,
unable to secure bond for his appear
ance at the Criminal Court in Deem
Der upon several charges having to do
with the liquor traffic in which he has
been engaged for the past several
years, was taken to Cumberland on
Tuesday by Sheriff Ashby and yes
terday afternoon went on trial in the
Federal Court there upon charges
brought by government officers. At
the conclusion of the trial District
Judge Soper gave him a heavy SEN
tence-21 months in jail and 81 fine
and costs. Of the Jail sentence Culp
will be compelled to serve but nine
months, as the sentences in the three
cases against him will run concur
rently Culp was the last man to be
tried and the passing of his sentence
was the last official act of the Court
prior to adjournment.
Culp's case was the most interest
ing one of the three days session at
which more than sixty violators Of the
Volstead act were tried and convict
ed. He acted as his own counsel, and
in dramatic manner obtained his
own conviction on all counts Of three
separate charges,
When his case was called, Culp
entered the court room loaded with
legal pamphlets and stationery. He
IL - Al L,
the counsel table, and after the usual
preliminaries were completed, opened
the case by making a motion that
all three charges be dismissed on ac-
count of the evidence being obtain
ed illegally. Judge Soper then sug-
gested that he hear the testimony Of
the prosecuting witnesses in the court
room so that the jury could hear it
at the same time, thus speeding up
a the proceedings. The Court said he
would then rule on Cups motions.
To this the defendant agreed and
the prosecuting witnesses, George W.
Hawkins and VIM. R. Harvey, were
Aexamincd. During this examination,
lCulp ~ led to stress the fact that the
age could not detect that he was
making illegal intoXicants until they
/ came on his property, and that when
! they did find him thus engaged, they
had done so after entering on his
farm without a warrant.
In the second case he contended that
the agents stopped the automobile in
which he was transporting four cases
of home brew, before they had seen
the beer, or had any definite reason to
believe there was beer in the truck.
When the examination Of Hawkins
and Harvey was completed Culp then
placed James j. Squire" Murphy, Of
Homecoming on the stand for the de-
Tense. Murphy testified that he was
riding with Harry Reeves on a truck
on which Culp loaded the four cases
of beer on the night of July II. Culp
was the owner Of this beer, but
Reeves was the owner and driver Of
the truck, Murphy testified
Cup next took the stand in his own
defense, and naively told the court
how Hawkins and Harvey had entered
upon his farm without a warrant and
without proper evidence, before they
apprehended him on a charge of man
ufacturing intoXicants and possession
of four stills, on May %.
From this he went on to the second
charge against him-that of trans
porting home brew. He told of going
from his home in Midland to the farm
in Laurel Run, above Moscow, on the
night of July II and loading four
cases of beer in Reeves truck. He
then told of how Hawkins held him
up along the dark road, at the same
time trying to point out that Haw-
not
fore he stopped the truck.
When asked who owned the beer.
Culp cited sections of the law, to show
that 1t was up to the government
council to prove who owned it. In
a round about way, however Judge
Soper himself brought out the fact
that Culp had made it and had gone
to the farm late in the night to take
it away.
From this case Culp went to the
third and last charge-that Of manu-
featuring and possessing intoXicants
. on September s. He told Of how the
two agents had accompanied two Gar
'ett county officers to his house, and
how he and his son had held them
ack with rifles until they learned
he Sheriff's identity and his GRAND
arvIce of a warrant for assault with
tent to murder.
)Culp then stepped down from the
fitness stand and again assumed tnu
lie of counselor. Turning to the
burt he offered the motion that all
lree cases be dismissed, citing sec
IONS of the Volstead act on which
he based his motion.
One section read was that stating
that no agent would be given a war
rant to search a private dwelling
house for liquor except in case of a
known illicit enterprise. This, he told
the court, could mean only one thing
that if an agent could not get a
search warrant to search his home,
he could not legally search it without
a warrant.
In the second case he stated the
Hawkins should have arrested the
Owner and driver of the truck in
which the beer was found; contend
ing that after the beer was loaded
into the truck, it was in the custody
of the man in charge of the machine.