The Washington times., 1932-12-16
JOIN Chain Gang Fugtve the Who Turned Nemesis
To JOIN
FIGHT TOSA
HER LIFE
Jury Still Believes, However,
That Woman Should Never
Be Freed From Prison
BY ERNEST JACKSON
(COpyriEht, 1882, by InternatiO
News Service, Inc.)

tCOpyriEht, 1882, by International
News Service, Inc.)
YORK, s. c., Dec. 16 Q.N.S0
Beatrice Ferguson Snipes, ex-
pectant mother, was sentenced to
die in the electric chair because
the trial jury was legally power
less to return what is believed to
he a just verdict.
Had South Carolina law per-
mitted the jury greater freedom,
the 29-year-old mother-to-be would
not be in the shadow of death
and her unborn child would not
face life under the handicap Of
its mother being the first white
woman in South Carolina to be
sentenced to death.
The jury wished to recommend
mercy, stipulating that Mrs.
SnipeS be forced to serve her
full sentence Of life imprison-
ment, mandatory under such a
verdict, without pardon.
Jurors Hands Tied
Instead, because the law would
not give the jury this power, 1t
returned the death verdict as the
only means of inSuring punish
bnent.
This sensational revelation was
made to International News Ser
vice today by the IL men serving
on the trial Jury, who told for
the first time what happened in
the jury room during the three
hours required to bring in a first
degree murder finding against the
eeXpectant mother.
In its extremity of doubt and
bewilderment, the jury halted its
deliberations and, with bowed
heads, asking "God'S guidance"
for verdict pleasing to Him."
Believed Her Guilty
The jury believed the evidence
against Mrs. Snipes, who shot Po-
1iceman Elliott Harris to death
with his own gun in fight after
the officer halted Snipes' automo-
bile to search it for liquor, justi-
fled life imprisonment, but feared
the pardon law.
! No question of acquittal en-
tered the proceedings, but the
jurymen did not wish to condemn
the expectant mother to death.
The first vote showed seven for
mercy and five for death.
Over 800 miles of rutted, mucky
backwoods trails I rode today and
yesterday to farms, into spinning
mills, and to cotton ginnerieS and
talked with the jurymen.
Some spoke with reluctance;
others discussed their verdict with
an outgush of words as if glad TO
Ne freed of a haunting memory.
One said he had been unable to
sleep.
M. w. Smith, jury foreman, a
. cotton merchant and ginner, said
he believed all the jurors would
sign a petition asking Gov. Ibra
G.. Blackwood to commute the SEN
tence to life imprisonment if as
sured she would serve her full
time"
Cease Of Murder"
He said he would "like to see
all the jurors get together again
to discuss the matter" and would
even go to some expense to bring
it about.
Smith said:
"All of us considered it a
case of murder, not manSlaugh-
ter. The only difference of
opinion was whether to recon-.
mend mercy. The trouble in
recommending mercy was that
we felt she would be pardOned
in few years. For the sake
Of society, this woman should
not be turned loose at any
time.
"If we could have written in
the verdict that she meyer be
pardOned, / believe we would
have recommended mercy.
"We realized our responsible
ity and prayed over it. 1 asked
Gods guidance to help us de-
eide a verdict pleasing to Him.
"We felt more like pallbear-
erS than jurors when we
brought the verdict in"
e j. w. Rainey, cotton mill
worker, said he held out for
mercy, but finally agreed with
the others"
R. S. Gourley, farmer, said he
believed it "hard on a woman to
go through childbirth under sen.
tence of DEATH" and would like
to meet with the other jurors to
discuss a petition for commuta.
tion of sentence to life impriSon-
ment.