Evening star., 1933-12-13
Continued From First Page.)

counsel for the defense are Negroes,
who have exactly the same rights. in
this court as white counsel" he added.
If they conduct themselves properly
have no doubt they will be treated like
white people.
that in the heat of argument and tur-
moil of battle counsel will sometimes
say things that on sober thought they
would not say. That is understood by
lawyers and should be understood by
every right-thinking citizen"
The .Jufist made his statement after
crltlclzlng news story which he said
was "incendiary."
Judge McLemore is understood to
have received today a telegram de-
nouncing him for his decision in re-
fusing to quash the jury venire drawn
Tor the trial. A telegram was reported
TO have been sent by members of the
international Labor Defense after a
mass meeting Of colored persons in
Richmond last night.
Court Room More Tense.
Houston. chief of defense counsel
waived opening argument today as had
been expected. Previously he had told
reporters he did not intend to reveal
the nature of his defense until the
prosecution had concluded its case.
Ihe Indictment against Crawford was
read to the jury this morning. while
the defendant stood before the bar. The
jury was instructed it could bring in a
verdict OF flrst-degree murder, carrying
penalty OF 20 years, life Imprisonment
or oeatn; second-degree murder, carry
ing to 20 years: voluntary man
slaughter, carrying l to years. or in
voluntary manslaughter. with a pen
ATTY OF l to years or a 81 1000 fine.
At the close of the opening statement
IN which he traced Crawford's move
ments for almost three weeks prior to
tne discovery OF the body of Mrs. Ilsley
ana her maid. Galleher asked the Jury
1t found Crawford guilty to "mete
out punishment commensurate with
the nature Of this heinous crime"
Witness Exclusion Sought.
Houston at one point sought to have
all witnesses for the prosecution and
defense excluded from the court room,
but Judge McLemore refused to grant
ms request because there were no ia
clIltles for housing the more than two
score persons subpoenaed for the trial.
After conference between counsel
for both sides and the Judge. however.
1t was agreed to exclude all persons tes-
Trying IN regard to happenings on the
premises OF the, 1lsley estate on the date
the murder and the day prior to it.
Examines Commissioners.
In his unsuccessful attempt to ouash
the Jury venire. Houston yesterday pur-
sued virtually the same tactics he had
employed in the November hearing be-
fore Judge McLemore on a motion at
tacking the validity of the Crawford
indictments. Throughout his examina-
ton of the three county Jury commits
sloners, G. A. Whaley, S. P. Luck and
John w. thompson, he sought repeat
edly to draw from them admissions that
the absence Of Negro names on the
county jury list could be explained by
the practice of deliberate exclusion.
Crawford sat stolidly behind his four
lawyers as the legal battle went on. He
seemed unaware the court room had
become forum for the dispute of mo-
mentous issues, temporarily overshadow-
ing the Importance of his own trial.
Only when the court had refused TO
grant Houston's motion to quash did
Crawford take any interest in the days
proceedings. AS the first names on the
Jury list were called and more than a
dozen men came forward to take their
eagerly scanning the faces of his po-
tentlal judges.
Found None Qualified.
In answer to Houston's queries in re-
gard to the standards they employed in
making up the roster of 300 men for
jury service in this county, each of the
jury commissioners denied emphatically
they had neglected to consider colored
persons for jury service. They ex-
planned, individually, that, according to
the standards they had established un-
der the discretionary powers granted
them by law, they had not found any
colored men of the county who seemed
qualified for service.
Are you aware that in a hearing be-
fore this court in November Judge Nc
Lemore stated in his decision he believed
there were colored persons in this coun-
ty qualified for jury service?" Houston
asked each.
All three of the commissioners denied
they knew of this finding of the court
or that it was brought to their attention
when they were selecting names from
a supplemental list to fill vacancies in
the principal jury register subsequent to
the November court proceeding.
Asks One Question.
Commemorative Attorney Galleher
insisted the courts findings could not
be binding on the jury commissioners in
making their selections, as it would
counteract the discretionary powers
granted them under the laws of Vir-
ginia. In contrast to the detailed ques-
tions of the defense, Galleher simply
asked at. the conclusion of each wit
ness testimony, did you exclude COL
ored persons from jury service in Lou
doun County because of race or color?"
BY agreement among attorneys. none
OF the 30-odd witnesses Houston had
summoned to the court in an effort to
prove there were qualified jurors among
the colored citizens of this sector, was
called to the stand. It was decided to
concede that the Negroes Houston had
subpoepaed would give substantially the
same testimony taken from them in the
November hearing.
After hearing both sides Judge McLe-
more rendered an oral decision without
leaving the bench. As soon as he had
announced the motion to quash would
not be granted, he ordered counsel to
proceed with the trial