Imperial Valley press., 1923-04-04
Mexicans H ear
They Must Hang
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evitable and the cour. prepared tc
carry. out the finding Of the jury.
A hush came over the crowded
courtroom when it was known the
men were to be sentenced to die
nnd the ticking Of the clock could
De plainly heard.
Says Not Guilty
Richard Cohen, official court in
tcrpreter, stood beside the prisoners
nd translated the solemn words of
the court as the death sentence was
read. II was Il hard and disagree
able job for any man and "Dick -
could not be blamed if he had to
swallow !. lump in his throat now
and then, as he repeated the sent
encc. Asked if he had anything
to say as to why sentence Of death
should not be :nposed, Mendez
stated, 81 am not guilty of the ac-
cusation, all / have done is eat
wherever | could
The interpreter stated afterward
that by this he meant he has some.
times eaten without paying or
working for it, but says he has
done nothing more serious than
that. When told he would hang
on June IS, the condemned mai
sagged q iiItie, but stood on his
feet until the ordeal was over. He
then slumped to his chair and re-
sumed the dazed attitude he has
maintained for weeks past.
Cazares rose langIidly t his feet,
when toli 10 stand up, and with
arms folded, prepared to hear Cob
en- repeat the death sentence to
him. His air of boredom gave way
however, as the solemn words fel
from the lips OF the interpreter, and
he started to interrupt. Cohen tolC
him to be still while the sentence
was being repeated, and that his
chance to talk would come later.
Charges "Frame-up'
When it was over, CazareS alsc
claimed to be innocent, and assert
ed his conviction was the result of
Il FIX me-up between the sheriff s
office, the district attorney and the
court. He said the crime demanded
that somebody be punished and as
he is poor man, they were going
to make him suffer for it. He ac-
cuscd all connected with the crime
of having :: "big head and a de-
Sire to make a name for themselves.
At length he stopped his harran-
que ut the suggestion of his attor-
ney and the interpreter, and sat
down. Cohen said later that Caz-
ares is just as hard boiled as
the day he was arrested and if al
, lowed to do SO, might have contin-
ued his TRADE against the anthori-
ksies for hours.
Following imposition of sentence
Attorney Randall gave notice to
the court that he intended to" file
an appeal for his client, Mendez.
CaZares' attorney intimated that he
would take similar action later on.
Daughter Weeps
A brother of Mcndez was pres
ent in court when sentence was i'm
posed, and his wife and daughter
were just outside in the court cor
ridor. When the men were taken
downstairs on their way back TO
Jail, the mother and daughter spoke
to them just before they entered
the shcriff's automobile. Mrs.
Mondez seemed unaffected at the
meeting, though her daughter wept
silently. ..... .-s
Under the sentence, the men must
be turned over to the prison author
titles at San Quentin within 10 days,
and it is likely they will be taken
north late, this week.
"A womiil dressed in white, who
was present at the court and SAID
to be d lnissionary among the Mcxi-
cans, ;sepdeavored to sec Judge
7 fConklina5 after court had adjoun,-
ed, but was unable to do SO. She
carried d Biblo with her, and after
tho shefiff's car. had left with the
prisoners, she e-opened the Bible and
read. several chapters eondemning
the death penalty to the crowd OF
spectators.