Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1923-10-06
EDWARDS IS GIVEN
TWO-YEAR SENTENCE
IN BULLARD CASE
Changing Sentence for Ed
wards Comes After Only
Hour and Half DeIibera-
ton by Jury
BY RALPH SMITH

Edwards, prominent young farmer
of Powder Springs, Ga, was found
guilty in Cobb superior court Thurs
sault with intent to murder in con-
nection with the shooting of d. u
Billiard, neighbor. and was sen
fenced to serve from two to four
years on the changing.
Shortly before the jury came az
after celebrating an hour and a
half, jury was completed to try
Mrs. Billiard on a like charge.
Mrs. Billiard is represented by Cap
tain Fred Morris, while Solicitor
Wood will conduct the prosecution.
Solicitor General John G. Wood,
for the prosecution, and Attorney
Newt Morris completed their argu
ments shortly after 2 o'clock and
Judge D. w. Blair Immediately
charged the jury.
The trial took a sudden and uneX'
pected turn at 10 o'clock this morn
ing, when the defense rested its case
without the introduction of any tes-
timony, relying solely upon the state
nlenC OIL the uGlSuQd1ll, wiz NSAiANN
any participation in the crime.
BY agreement of counsel, Judge
D. w. Blair, presiding, allowed one
hour and one-half to the she ZOE
the argument Attorney CampbeH
Wallace, of counsel for the defense'
made the opening argument, Iol'
lowed bv Colonel John Motley. who
is assisting the prosecution. Attor-
new Gordon Gam, also assisting the
nrosecution. followed Colonel MOI
lev and the states case mad the
concluding argument John o. Wood.
Crowd Disappointed
T'he crowd in the courthouse was
disappointed at the failure of the
defense to introduce any witnesses
Tley had expected to hear the testl-
mony of Mrs. Ruth Billiard, wire
Of D. d. Billiard, but Judge NORRIS
chief of counsel for the defense, con-
tented himself with calling only the
defendant.
Edwards is a good looking young
fellow, well groomed and Of good ad-
dress. He made his statement in
straightforward manner, without the
aid IF notes or manuscript.
He told the jury that he had no
object for attempting the life OF Bull
lard, had always been his friend and
stilI regarded him as a friend. Their
relations, he asserted, have always
been pleasant and neighborly. He
denied ever having been intimate
with the wife of Billiard and declared
the testimony of Quillian Petty OF
having caught them in a compro-
missing position was wholly unbound
ed. He said that Petty should not
be believed because he had been
turned out of the church for utterlnS
falsehoods about another good
woman.
Admits Meeting Brown
Concerning his actions on the
night of the shooting, about which
the state introduced evidence OF
Grover Brown, the defendant admit
ted meeting Brown at MitchelPs
wagon yard. on Peters street, in At
lanta, on the afternoon of July 8. He
said he had gone to Atlanta to car
ry load of produce for Woody Bull
lard, father of the wounded man. At
the wagon yard, he stated, Brown re-
newed the proposition that he pre-
viousIy had made that Edwards join
him on a liquor trip. He yielded to
the opportunities. They drove, he
said, in his car to the Powder Greek
bridge, which is a mile or so from
the home of D. =. Billiard. Here, he
asserted, they parked the car on the
road side and together made their
way toward an Illicit still in the
swamps.
AS they neared the still. he said
they saw several men engaged, as
they thought. in a fight. They be-
came frightened md hurriedl. re-
turned to the car Brown, he said,
then suggested that they could find
some whisky at Dallas, in Paulding
county, and together they drove to
Dallas, but their mission was fail
ure. At the further suggestion of
Brown, he said, they returned to A.
lanta by way of Marietta, because
Brown said they could find some
whisky en- route.
Declares His Innocence
Edwards concluded his statement
with the declaration that h. is as
innocent of the shooting Of Billiard
as any man on the jury.
Attorney Campbell Wallace, in the
opening argument, contended that
the state has failed to introduce any
evidence connecting the defendant
with the commission of the crime.
He reviewed the testimony of many
witnesses, and insisted that none had
sworn to a fact that could be accept
ed as establishing the defendants
participation in the shooting. He de-
clared further that the chain of cir
cumstances which the state had
sought to link UP furnished no sound
basis for hypothesis of guilt.
Colonel John Moyley fOlolWinc Mr.
Wallace, analysed at great length
the testimony Of Grover Brown, in.
sisting that the absence of the de.
PENDANT on the night of the shoot.
ing clearly demonstrated his pres.
euce af tha RII1Iard homo