Evening star., 1940-03-19
Negligent Homicide
Arguments Due Toda,
In Compton Case
Defendant Offers Two
Witnesses as Case Is
Heard by Jury


homicide trial of Henry B. Compton,
"a, of 1478 Clifton street NV. who
was held by a coroner's jury follow
ing the trafiic death of Norman
E. Webster, %, colored, last Novem-
Der II, was heard before Judge
Walter J. Casey and Police Court
jury this morning.
Trial testimony was completed
late yesterday afternoon, eight Gov
ernment witnesses having been put
on the stand by Assistant United
States Attorney David A Hart. The
court also heard from Mr.. Compton
and two defense witnesses.
Charges were preferred against
the defendant after the victim 8
death from injuries received No.
vember IS when he was struck by
4 motorcycle operated by Mr.. Comp
ton while standing beside a coal
truck making delivery in front
of 20l2 Fifteenth street NV. The
victim, police said, was pinned
against the side of the dump truck
Webster's Helper Testifies.
James Singletary, colored helper
working with Webster, gave no es-
innate as to the motorcycles speed
other than to say 1T was coming
pretty fast"
Other testimony revealed that Mr.
Compton. helper at a service sta
ton on the southeast corner Of Fiji
teenth and U streets NV, drove
the machine across U street anc
made a right-hand turn into Fiji
teenth street, going north. The
accident occurred 1873 feet north OF
the intersection on the west side
0eft side) of the street, the impact
pinning the victim against the truck
Police who investigated reported
that curving skid marks, made by
the motorcycles rear wheel, ex-
tended rs feet along a line of parked
cars on the west side, ending at the
truck. The accident occurred a,
4:05 pm.
Speed Testimony Given.
Roosevelt Lewis, POPS Glaget,
street NE, a delivery truck driver
who did not see the actual impact
estimated the motorcycles speed at
30 miles per hour.
The coal truck protruded 18 feet
from the west curb, Policeman E. F
Bombard testified. more than hall
way across the street. measuring 81
feet. He said the motorcycle front
wheel was just back Of the cab door
of the truck. The policeman sale
Mr.. Compton told him that as hi
made right turn into Fifteenth
street, the handle bar acceleratol
OF the motorcycle stuck and thu
machine went out Of control. The
defendant gave no other explana.
ton at the time, Mr.. Bombare
added
Detective Sergt Aubrey NJ Tolson
who started his investigation fol
the homicide squad three days after
the mishap. told the court that Mr.
Compton's explanation was that hi
lost control after rounding the cor.
ner and striking loose coal scatterec
on the street. The defendant alst
stated that a depression" in thu
asphalt surface added to his diff1.
Guilty, but that he did not fall from
the machine until after striking tn,
man, Sergt. Tolson declared.
Defendant Estimates Speed.
The defendant, who accompanied
Mr.. Tolson to the scene, declared
he was driving about IL miles pei
hour. The officer testified that h,
saw marks on the street where
something had cut into the asphalt
before the crash.
On the stand, the defendant testi.
fed that as he rounded the corner
he saw two cars double parkec
within few feet of the intersection
headed south on Fifteenth street
He said that he swung toward tn,
center line to avoid striking tn.
cars on his left.
AS he swung. he declared, tn,
sidecar on his motorcycle left tn,
ground momentarily, but he got il
back under control only to then rur
over the loose coal, finally LOSING
control completely when the tir,
hit the depression and threw hin
of the machine. After being thrown
Mr.. Compton added. he rolled alont
the street and picked himself uE
near the truck a few moment.
later.
The defendant declared he meas.
ured the hole in the street aftel
the mishap and that it was approx
mately ~ inches deep. He sale
he did not notice either of tn,
double parked cars after the acci
dent. Mr.. Compton explained tina
the marks on the street were no
Skid marks" but merely "tir,
marks" made because the sidecal
was of the ground at that time ant
the extra weight was on the real
wheel.
Mr.. Compton further testified tina
he had been driving motorcycles fo
five years and that this was hi
first accident. He said the moto
was never out of low gear from tn,
time he left the service station unit
he struck the victim. The defend
ant denied he was still on the sea
of the cycle at the time of impact
Miss Lorraine Campion, a Centra
High School student, who was stand
ing on the entrance steps to tn,
Portner Apartment building at FIT
teenth and U streets NV, saw tn
motorcycle strike the victim, and de-
clared it was not going very fast
She gave no other estimate of it.
speed, but corroborated Mr.. Comp
tons testimony that he had beer
thrown of the machine before i
struck the man.
Nelson Kidwell of SGT Ninth stree
NV, also an attendant at the serv
ice station where Mr.. Compton wa
employed, testified that he was still
driving the death machine on dali,
calls. Asked by Mr.. Hart as to hi
opinion of the maximum speed a
which the machine could hav'
rounded the curve, the witness said
mot more than Is miles per hour.
He said that any greater rate woult