Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1928-08-11

there were only two shots fired,
when as a matter of fact three bull
lets had ended the career of this old
man inside of the humble precincts
of his own home.
Not a single drop of whiskey was
found upon the premises, not sim
gle weapon of any kind was found in
any part of this retreat for the low
ly. A sick brother, who has been
serving the Master from time to
time by preaching in q country
church, saw his brother slain before
his eyes by man armed with the
authority of the law and who stood
sworn to protect the law-abiding.
When Willie Branch; the 17-year-old
youth, came forward and testified
that ne was the one being chased
and that he was hiding under table
in the yard when Burroughs rushed
into the doorway of James Sharp's
house, that completed the case
against Officer Walter B. Bur-
roughs.
Under the law, no officer could
enter James Sharp's house without
the permission of James Sharp or
without a search warrant authorizing
such a procedure, for James Sharp
was not either suspected or charged
with any crime. We have repeated
ly insisted that there is enough law
in Virginia to give us our rights and
we have had upon the bench of the
Supreme Court of Appeals of this
State jurists able and just enough
to accord them to us. Those we can
not secure in this State upon the
present showing we have decided to
go without. Let us see:
Article l, Constitution of Virginia,
reads:
That all men are by nature equal
ly free and independent, and have
certain inherent rights, Of which,
when they enter into a state Of So
ciety, they cannot, by any compact,
deprive or divest their posterity;
the enjoyment of life and
with the means OF acquiring
and possessing property and pur-
suing and obtaining happiness and
safety.
When Policeman Walter B. Bur
roughs shot down in cold blood old
man James Sharp while he pleaded
for his life, he violated this part of |
the fundamental guarantees of the
of this State.
Article l, section s, reads: |
That no man shall be deprived of /
his life, or his liberty, except by the
law of the land, or the judgment OF
his peers.
Policeman Walter B. Burroughs
says that James Sharp struck him on
The head with a glass jar while he
(Burroughs) was violating the Con-
stitution of Virginia by entering
Sharp's home without a warrant,
causing a wound so slight that 1t re-
1uires close inspection to see any
mark there, the skin not even being
broken, and for that he took Sharp's
life, while the law specifically pro-
vides how such offenses shall be pun
shed, either by the Police Court
Justice, John L. Ingram, or by a
Jury of white men in the Hastings
Court of this city.
We say white men for the reason
that only citizens of that color pass
upon such cases, and Burroughs
would not trust the punishment OF 1
James Sharp for the alleged assault
ing of him to white men of Bur-
roughs color. Let US look at and
read another section from the Con- T,
stitution of Virginia;
Article l, section 10, reads:
That general warrants, whereby
an officer or messenger may be COM
manded to search suspected places
without evidence of fact commit
ted. or to seize any person or per-
sons not named, or whose >ottense
is not particularly described and sup,
ported by evidence, are grievous and !
oppressive, and ought not to bel
granted.
When Policeman Walter b. Bur
roughs entered James Sharp's hum
Bile home, he violated this part OF
the Constitution of Virginia and ne
was not acting as an officer OF the
law, but upon his own motion as an
individual and he became tres
passer. liable to expulsion by the oc-
cupant of the house that he invaded.
But poor old man James Sharp did
not repel him, for he was too busy
begging for his life. Burroughs had
butt his head against the upper part
of the door-frame when he dived into