Smyrna times., 1926-02-24
I1lfR DF CASES ARE TRIED
iff1f KENT COUNTY COURT

= GRAHAM, WHO KILLED
.,DnOy oI c. RILEY, CONFESSES
!. v,nsIaughter and is Sentenced
lT u Years in Work House and a
. ~ " If SlOOO-Other Cases Heard
r.'- Ii.' County Court Of General Ses-
a'-, ,,.ylmed its meetings at Dover
i.r with considerable business
-aj' ~ AVER from last week. Clarence
iI,- cr,5am, recently indicted for first
-. murder in cOnection with the
s;.r h. If Gordon C. Riley, at Har-
~ .+sr last November, pleaded gull
!. Court of Oyer and Teminer to
slaughter. Chief Justice Penne-
n tr the Court sentenced Graham
,sre 20 years in the New Castle
,r.r WOrkhOuse and to pay a fine
uoO. Graham was first arrang-
An the charge of murder to which
q nlsaded not guilty. 1t was then
he entered the plea of guilty to
.r;lsughter and this plea was ac-
al br tho State, Attorney Cen
Clarence C. Switzerland in ac-
5trg the plea of guilty to man.
reiter informed the court that af-
meshOning the witnesses he felt
Graham on the testimony could
be convicted of murder and there
the state would accept the guilty !
TO manSlaughter. Graham was
PRESENTED by James NJ. Satterfeld |
Melvin Hopkins. After the State
accepted the plea of guilty to
rSaughter, ,Graham's attorney call !
s BIN to the stand and had him to /!
Il the court his version of the fight /
u Riley. Graham said that Riley /
be to his house the morning in |
eStOn to make settlement for a
In that he (Graham) had against
sey for work, labor and material. [
|sham said his bill was 5000 and
\ Riley remarked it should not be
be than SITS. He testified that
Ig handed him a check for $3.50
when he objected to the amount
Iy told him he would either take
/ or get nothing and started to
the check out of his (Graham's) |
b In The tussel that followed. (
|iam said that both fell or the
pen floor. He said Riley pulled a
from his pocket and that it was
that he (Graham) picked up the
iner IN question for the purpose
iglng to knock the hammer from
hand He admitted when he
= N ms purpose Of knocking the
rom Rley's hand that he then
nm over the head with the ham
Graham testified that he and
\ were both on the floor fighting
Ie gun and that it was during the
y mat the two shots were fired
| l them hitting Riley. One shot
;'la'ed !; his stomach and the other
A'h' he was cross-examined bv
n eley y General Switzerland and in
Z That the gun was Riley's.
i!i0 z Convicted of Perjury Charge
u -s' hard fought case in the
" court at Dover Friday, had
! "a argued and counsel had numer-
aIS' Walter ]. McGraff. charged !
I T'Ilry, was Thursday declared
y. 4 Oy a jury. Former Secretary
y. ~, : James H. Hughes, who with ,
u Governor Harrington,of Marv-
III .sp'esented the negro, made the
,s+i, .oEy motion for a new trial.
.~.l ,,-lls last autumn John Loatman ]
Sy'siIa rs'S negro was struck by an
',@5ile NY truck and found dead in
/ .'5e Pa,nes near his home at Woodside. {
ryaj gj'lg9an, Vsils Of Maryland, was {
'su tr,.,. WIN striking the negro with {
SiH ,ita. and then failing to ston {
! ',.iess u on whom the State moe+ 'o,. I
! vas Dasn ,t the case came up in Oc. /
|, 4 5o.,,. u.s. McGraff. On the witness ]
. ,I-sl5a D,a9 which he was ee ALLEGED a., tn q
FiIll Viae to Deputy AttOneyS sc Cen ~ /
\ 5',lley ~ and the State was conn- ~erl- I
bsD y orop its case. The negro I
''l arrested for perjury. {