White Pine news. [volume] (East Ely, Nev.) 1920-1923, 1923-11-11
ELEVEN MEN CONVICTED
Of RIDING WALTON ON RAIL


assault and battery in having ridden
G.. E. Walton on rail at McGill two
weeks ago last evening were found
guilty of assault without battery on
the first ballot by a jury Thursday
evening and will be sentenced by
Justice of the Peace Dan c. McDon-
aid Monday, November 19. Follow
ing the verdict the next day Walton
filed a suit against Chris Halter,
principal defendant and alleged in
stigator. for personal damages in the
sum of $4,000.
The men convicted were Halier, L.
A. Thomas, R. v. Peterson, Dan Cos
den, G. F. Wickburg, Lee Burkhart,
]. c. O'Brien, H. A. Mooney, Angel
Detonassi, William Hendry and Jess
Smart.
Lafe Morley alone was acquitted,
this being the request of District At
torney H. w. Edwards in his address
to the jury, as the charge as to him
had not been proved.
Before the trial started the charges
against Peter Rigoid, George Peter
son. Pete Paterson, John Doe Tweedy
and John Doe Jones had been dis
missed upon motion of the district
attorney, leaving but twelve OF sew
enteen originally charged to be tried.
The trial lasted two days and the
district court room, in which 1t was
held to provide room, was Jammed
with humanity, many coming from
McGill. but interest among Ely resi-
dents was quite as keen. Many could
not gain entrance and stood in the
hallway.
The trial was facilitated by the
instances to talk freely, even though
by telling all they knew they incrim-
mated themselves. There was little
if any, effort upon the part of those
involved to hold back anything.
The general import of the story
was that Haller was the man who
suggested the action, and the i'm
preston reached the jury that there
was a current of hatred or similar
feeling between him and Walton
Some of the defendants declared free
1y that Haller had suggested the raj
riding proposal to them, and there
was other testimony bearing heavily
upon the case Of the two letters al.
legged to have been written by Walton
rejecting upon the character of Mrs
Leonora Mitchell, the woman in
yolved.
One of the letters was not pro.
duced or offered in evidence, but its
contents were told by witnesses, who
said that Walton wrote to her tina!
he would run her cut OF town and
would follow her to where she went
and ruin her reputation there. The
second letter first referred to in like
manner without its production, was
later offered in evidence. In this
Walton had enclosed money order
for 50, saying it was to pay her for
certain obligation. OF this letter
Walton had preserved copy, not a
carbon, but one written in long hand
copied separately after the original
was written. He admitted the gen.
uineness of this letter and sought to
use 1t in mitigation of his alleged Of
tense against the woman which in-
cited the whole trouble.
The impression gained by the iur-
ors was not favorable to Walton to
the extent of exonerating him of all
blame. He continued the attitude OF
the previous week, when he was tried
and acquitted in the justice court of
assault against the woman, using his
confessed intimacy with her as de-
fense then and as 2 justification of
his later actions The jurors were
not convinced that he tainted when
riding on the rail, as he claimed, or
that he was unconscious at any time
in the auto while being brought to