The Miami times. [volume] (Miami, Fla.) 1923-current, 1952-01-05

Ill SP1LC VI LIlS 1dCL LIldL 50 IIldIly
cases were originally listed for
trial in Judge l.. E. Thomas
Municipal Court on Wednesday
morning, January 2, the first ses-
sion of the new year, that it was
necessary to divide the docket
into two parts. One part was
tried Wednesday and the other
Thursday, a total of 70 cases was
listed on that portion of the doc
ket tried Wednesday mornings
The new year of 1852 certainly
had a sensational beginning in
our local municipal court.
Again all sections of the city
were we'll represented among the
long line of defendants, and again
the stern Judge Thomas threw
the book" hard and fast-in levy
ing of fines and sentences in some
cases to the limit of the law.
If the first session of the new
year was any indication of the
pattern to be followed throughout
the year, then the law-breakers
of this area are certainly in for
a tough time, if and when they
are brought before Judge Thomas
for trial.
One of the several highlights
of the days hearings was the case
of Will Lathers, who was charged
with assault and battery on Ollie
Burke. AS the case was called up
for trial, Ollie Burke, the woman
who filed the charges against
Lathers and had him arrested, re-
fused to testify against him -
claiming that she had forgiven
him and was not going to talk
against him. But Judge Thomas
had other ideas. The Judge or
dered the woman held in the de-
tention room until she made up
her mind to tell the court what
happened to her in this case.
After a few more cases were
heard, the woman was again
brought up before the judge, along
with the man charged with the
offense. But this time she decided
to tell i. ALL" She explained to
the court that LatherS was
roomer at her home, and h a
they had had an alteration two
days previous to that time. She
added the fact that Lathers bit
her during the disturbance, and
that she had him arrested be-
cause at that time she was mad
But she insisted that she did not
wish to press the charges against
him. The woman also displayed
disrespectful attitude in court
After a stern warning to the wo-
man to never disreSpect the court
and to not call in the police If she
did not intend to follow through
and press the charges in the flu
ture, Judge Thomas dismissed the
case against LatherS and both
the woman and man walked out
of the courtroom side by side.
Lathers was represented by Atty.
U. +. Graves.
Another case which captured
the attention of the courtroom,
was that of Mildred Baker, who
was charged with assault with a
rock on Annie Lou McKinnis.
Testimony in the case revealed
hat Annie Lou McKinnis and
her husband, both of Coconut
Grove, had been separated for
some time, and that the husband
was living with the other woman,
Mildred Baker, also of Coconut
Grove. Bad blood was naturally
existing between the two wo-
men. On the night of the offense,
the McKinnis woman claimed
that she approached her husband
at Jacks Bar and attempted to
get some money from him for
their small children. The husband
was sitting next to the Baker
woman, and instantly an fargu-
ment started between the two
women, which was followed by
a fist fight. The wife, charged
that they were separated by sew
eral men in the bar, and that she
was on her way home, when the
Baker woman struck her with a
rock. The Baker woman, of course
denied everything claiming that
the other woman was the agrees
Sor.
The husband, who was in the
courtroom, did not come up as a
witness in the trial Ia rn-ol,,