Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1923-09-08

knew of the collision, and of the
cut on his brothers hand.
At the request of the state, the
court cautioned the witness that he
could refuse to answer questions
which might tend to lncriminate
him.
"Then the Ford sedan with those
initials nit is your automobile?"
Solicitor Atkinson demanded.
The witness was reluctant to an
swer, but after some discussion adj
mitted the car was his.
"That is the same car you and
these others came down here 1n?"
continued the solicitor,
The witness refused to answer.
The solicitor fired several other
questions at him, the witness refus-
| ing to answer them.
Were you present when Millard
| Trouton was in the automobile?
Were you present when Millard
| Trouton was carried to Line creek?
/ Were you present when Mlllard
Trouton was killed? Were you pres
emit when Willard Trouton was
thrown off the bridge into Line
creek?"
The court interrupted to demand
of the witness if he was refusing to
answer because it would tend to in
| eliminate.
Refuses to Answer
The witness answered in the af-
! firmative.
| The solicitor resumed with other
questions, each of which met with
the same response: II refuse to an
swer."
The solicitor wanted to know
where the witness was on the night
of August 10; where Jeff Minter was
| that night; where Grady Minter was;
WhereZfrloyd Weldon was.
The court again interrupted.
81 don't know why you refuse to
answer" said the judge. "The ques-
tions look to me like you might an
sWer them"
"Were you present at Claud Wash
| ingtons house at any time on the
night Of August 1902" demanded the
solicitor.
Again the witness refused to an
swer, whereupon the court demanded
to know upon what ground.
"Tt might incriminate me- replied
the witness.
"Well, state it ALL" said the
judge:
The witness said he was a son-in
law of j. w. Minter, the accused,
and Dives in Atlanta, where he is a
moulder.
Ben Minter, of Newman, son of
]. w. Minter, declared his father
is practically insane at times, and
is incapable at such times of dis
tinguishing right from wrong.
On discrimination, Solicitor At
kinson asked him:
isn't it true that every time
Trouton's name was mentioned, your
father would get mad?"
Sheriff's Testimony
Sheriff S. P. Carpenter, of Coweta
county, the next witness, told of
hearing of the disappearance Of
Trouton and several days later OF
the discovery of the body. He told
of the arrest of j. w. Minter and
related three statements which he
said Minter made to him shortly aft
err being accused of the crime. These
statements differed in several impor-
tant particulars, and were made on
different occasions. In each Of them,
however, the sheriff said, Minter adj
mitted to him that he had killed
Trouton. In two of them, said the
sheriff, Minter asserted that he shot
TrOuton. In the third and latest,
said the sheriff, Minter told that he
and the other defendants took
Trouton in an automobile to the
creek, some distance from Newman,
and there tied him, and fastened
heavy rocks to him, and threw him
into the stream.
William Y Atkinson, solicitor, in
troduced one of the statements in
evidence, over the objection of the
defense.
Spent Night in Atlanta
D. w. Dial, deputy sheriff, told of
arresting J. w. Minter and later of
hearing him make the statements
already described by the sheriff.
Deputy Dial described the exact
spot on the bridge which Minter had
described as ''about the center"
The witness asserted this spot is
nine steps from the Coweta side,
and ten steps from the Fayette
county side. He said Minter told
him thew were afraid Trouten had
come loose from the rocks, and they
struck matches and walked along
the bank on each side to see if he
had sunk Mr.. Dial continued,
quoting Minter, to say that all mem
bers of the party then got back IN
their cars and returned toward
Newman, stopping for oil at the
home of Claud Washington, who is
another son-in-law of Minter. MIN
ter told him, said Dial, that they
told washington that they had
thrown Trouten into Line creek and
that they wanted him to go down
there the next morning to see If he
| could see anything of the body; that
| the whole party then went on to
Atlanta and spent the night.
Blood on GOOdrum'S Car
| Mr. Dial related going back to the
creek and searching for the rocks
which were used to weight Trouton
down. There were only two loose
! ones in the bed of the stream. Elk
! aiming the abutment Of the Fayette
county side, he said, he found hole
where some rocks corresponding in
| size to the ones he found in the
creek. had been knocked out of the
structure. He said that he saw Leon
Goodrum's car, described by Minter
as the one they went in, several days
later. and noticed blood on the back
of the left side of the back seat.
At this point, the defense inter
posed one of the numerous objec-
tions they made in the course of the
morning, contending that the witness
could not know whether it was hui
man blood. The witness asserted
that it certainly was blood and not
paint. but admitted he could not tell
how long it had been there, or wheth-
er it was human or animal blood.
Bob Pittman, a bailiff of the SUI
perior court, related having heard
one of. the statements which the