The Lexington advertiser. [volume] (Lexington, Miss.) 1904-1985, 1948-09-16
Alfalfa Former Deputy
Convicted OF Robbery
With Firearms June II
Tried By Kinds Court,
John Ed Ivey, AZ, To
Be Given Sentence

John Ed Ivey, AZ, former con-
stable and deputy sheriff of Attala
county, was convicted Tuesday, Of
armed robbery, in connection with
the hijacking of w. j. Ledbetter of
Admission, Ala, on June 81, on high
way 80, between Bolton and Ed
wards. The verdict of the jury was
reached after two days trial in
Kinds County Circuit court in Ray
mond, during which six Holmes
countians were called to the stand.
Ledbetter, who was sustained by
the court in his accusation Of Ivey.
is a confessed and convicted Ala
bama liquor runner. His charges,
that he was hijacked of a liquor
cargo and $500 in cash by Ivey, were
brought out with himself as chief
witness with the defense. /.
County Men Testify
Called to vouch for the character
of one of the defense witnesses,
James Mcbride of Durant, was Ellis
E. Wynn of Lexington, Holmes
County sheriff, Raiford E. McNeer,
mayor-elect of Durant. Also testi-
| flying were w. E. Durham, Durant
city marshal, Marcus Rogers, and
| Douglas Conn of Durant.
Ledbetter said Ivey ran along
side him, on highway 80, June 81,
| blew his siren, pulled a gun and
| told him to pull over. After making
Ledbetter help load the whiskey
| from his car to Ivey's, the latter
| took $3.50 from Ledbetter with the
| order that he "go back to Alabama"
and not return, according to
| the testimony. Ledbetter said the
| incident occurred about $50 a. m,
when he was delivering a cargo OF
| approximately 40 cases of whiskey
| from a point in Louisiana to Annis-
| ton, Ala. He said he picked up
/ Ivey's tag number, n mineral at
a time, as he carried armfuls OF
bottles to Ivey's automobile. He said
he marked the numerals down on
the dust on his own car.
Ledbetter Traces Route
On the stand, Ledbetter traced his
route from the scene of the hijack-
ing to a filling station five miles
away where he ate, then back to
| Vicksburg, to Yazoo City, to Durant,
! and to Kbsciusko. In Durant he
stopped to ask an officer which
| county was indicated by the num-
Der on the tag of the hi-Jack car
Q16-09-)
The next day, with Ivey's car spot
ted, he said he confronted Ivey in
Kosciusko and demanded his money
back There were no witnesses to
the conversation. That several per-
sons witnessed the transfer of
money about Is minutes later, after
Ivey went to his home, was brought
out in the Ledbetter testimony
Ivey Tokes Stund
Ivey, who took the stand Tues
day in his own behalf said he left
his home in Kosciusko about mid
night Saturday, and drove to a near
by inn for something to eat. He SAID
he picked up a woman who wanted a
| ride to Walden and took her there,
and after failing to get a cabin at
Riley's Tourist court, slept in his
car. After a short nap, he drove
to Durant, where he stopped for a
bottle of beer at James McBride's
| place, at which place he noticed a
man whom he later recognized as
Ledbetter, according to Ivey's testi-
mony,
Ivey said the next time he saw
Ledbetter was when the latter con-
fronted him in city hall at Kosciu-
sko, and demanded that he give
him $3.50. Mcbride testified that the
two men were in his place on the
morning in question but that they
exchanged no conversation.
He said that as Ivey drove off,
Ledbetter jotted his Qvey's) tag
number down. The States attorney,
M. NJ. MCGOWAN, called to the wit
ness stand, Mr.. Wynn and MIR. Mo
Neer, who testified to their opinions
of McBride's veracity, attesting that
they would not believe the latter
under oath.
Other witnesses called to the stand
were Alton Massey, mayor of Kos
ciusko, Stokes Sanders, editor of
the Kosciusko Star-Herald; John Ed
Ivey, Jr., and Mrs. Ivey.
Marshall Blackjack" Powell was
scheduled for trial today on charges
of grand larceny and robbery with
firearms for the hijacking of Wood
row Biggs and Clyde Walton, two
Negroes allegedly employed at the
time by Ralph Wilson of Rankin
county. On Wednesday the trial was
scheduled to start, but was held up
with drawing a jury. All but two
Of the IL jurors were chosen by late