The independent. [volume] (Elizabeth City, N.C.) 1908-1936, 1925-05-01
MARTIN COUNTY
COURT MONDAY
Special Term Begins For Trial
of Needleman, and Men Who
Mutilated Him

NlLLlAMSTON, Apr. 3d.
The stage is all set for the
opening OF two of the greatest
legal battles that have ever oc-
Cured in the history of North
Carolina. when on Monday.
Judge y. \. Sinclair OF Fay
ettcvillc will open d Special
Term OF Criminal Court called
BY Governor Mclean to try
Joseph Nccdlcman charged bv
Miss Eific Griffin. now Mrs.
f. W. Sparrow, Ir., with rape,
and also to try thirty men COM
posing a mob that entered the
Martin County Jail and carried
Needlcman away and horribly
and brutallv mutilatcd him.
1t cannot be said that interest in
the two eases has ahatcd. and it
is believed that Williamson will be
packed with visitors when the cases
are called.
Needlcman. at first expected TO
die. is slowly recovering and his
physicians and attorneys say that
ne will be prepared for trial when
his case is called. He is still in
the Washington Hospital where he
has been the recipient of many
cOurteSicS on the part of many or
the leading citizens of this county.
Mrs. Sparrow who married her huS-
husband the day after Nccdleman'S
and whose husbands
is now out on Il S30.WO bond chars
cd with hcim" ono of the chief lead
crS of the mob. still insists that
Needlcman raped her. but public
sentiment seems To be still running
strongly in his favor, and certainly
does not regard that he is guilty of
any major olTenSe. 1t is s,assumed
though that Ncedlcman will be tried
for his life. In this cast, Solicitor
DOnnel Gillian will be assisted in
the prosecution by McssrS. Dunming
and Moore aud former Congressman
H. :. ward. while Nccdlemalr will
be defended ly Harry w. StubbS,
Congressman Lindsay Warren and
\. ID. NIacLean. Solicitor Gillian
has indicated that ne will call the
NccdlCman CASE first.
Thirty men fave been indicted and
are out under bond either for con-
Spiracy. Jail breaking or caStratiOn,
some being charged with all three
UircnSeS. Twenty seven Of the NUM-
her are from Martin County. being
residents of Griffin Township AMI
Robcrsonville. while the other three
r. ". Sparrow. Sr., +. W. Sparrow,
Jr. and Claro Heath are from Kin
Ston Twenty four of the thirty men
~ indicted have made sworn con-
frsSionS 10 the Solicitor and his AS
SociatcS. but in spite of this and
other evidence it is expected that Il
stiff fight will he made i'll behalf
of the three KinStOn men and Dcu-
mis- Griffin and Julian Bulluck "t
RoberSOnviIlc. These five men are
regarded as the ring leaders Of the
mob aud no confessions have been
made by them. I'm the prosecution
of the mob. Solicitor Gillian will
bc assisted hy \. ID. MacLcan and
Congressman Warren; the confrS-
sing defendants by Dunning n
Moore and Ward & Grimes; Griffin
and BulIuck are represented by
Harry W. Stubs: while State
Chairman John G.. Dawson is repre-
Scnting The three men from kinSt0n.
There is possibility that the
eases may not be tried on Monday.
but may bc removed by Judge Sill
clair to either Beaufort, Pitt, Edge
combe or Halifax. Practically every
man. woman and child in this c0llll-
ty have probably discussed the
rlscS and made some comment on
them.