Evening star., 1955-11-23
Goricki Widow
Sobs as Jury
Acquits Her
Sedutive Needed
After II Men Ponder
Verdict 4 Hours
By RICHARD RODGERS

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Her II men jurors deliberatet
four hours and Al minutes. The.
filed back into Arlington Circui
Court at 1854 pm. to announc,
their not guilty verdict.
The jurors filed out again. TIL,
Judge left the bench. The de
fendant's lawyers left thei
chairs at her side. The twt
prosecutors walked away.
Mrs. Goricki, AZ, charged
with a murder stemming from 1
wrangle over how to cook porl
chops, stared at the table be
fore her. From the time tn,
jury returned, she hadn't movec
a facial muscle. hadn't SHIFTED
her gaze. She did not even lool
at the Jury.
Alone with her freedom. sh,
kept staring at the table. Ther
she keeled forward from thu
waist, her face on her hand!
propped on her knees, and hel
high, thin wailing pierced the
courtroom.
Given Sedative
At last relatives pushed past
the courtroom railing and tried
helplessly to stop the weeping
1t was 18 minutes and one needle
of a doctors sedative later be-
fore she was able to rise. lear
on two friends, and be assisted
from court.
Mrs. Goricki's trial began q
week ago yesterday. She was
charged with numbering Marine
1t. Edward Goricki. 40, in their
home at 1924 North Kentucky
street, Arlington.
Judge Walter T. McCarthy's
Instructions to the jurors limited
them to these verdictS: ID
acquittal; 20 guilty of second
degree murder, or t3D guilty OF
nanslaughter.
In Virginia, conviction of sec
ond degree murder carries a
penalty of from to 20 years.
The jury's deliberations were
broken by a Commute dinner
recess and by the courts recall
for additional instruction, aimed
at hurrying up a decision.
Warned Against Obstinacy
Judge McCarthy's last instruc-
tion warned that "the jury room
Is no place for pride of opinion
or obstinacy." He emphasized
the court was trying to aid
the jury. not force it into a
verdict.
A juror told him after the
verdict the instruction wasn't
needed. In any event, the IL men
returned to the jury box with
their finding only % minutes
after he began reading the latest
charge,
Prosecutors William ]. HasSan
and Louis Koutoulakos and de-
fense counsel. r. Brooke Howard
ripped into opposition arguments
In their summations.
The State had introduced
testimony that blood tests
showed both Gorickis were drunk
when the man was shot to death.
There was drinking, yes, "
cried Mr.. Howard. But that's
a long way from a drunken
brawl. as the prosecution calls
it," He said he could drink half
a pint and be dead drunk, while
another person could drink a
quart and not show it.
Its not fair. it's not right to
talk about a drunken brawl,'' the
defense lawyer shouted.
Hits Police Investigation
He laShed out at what he
called faulty police investigation
of the killing. During the testi-
mony, he contended Mrs. Goricki
never even had her finger on the
trigger Of the .25-caiiber pistol
that killed her husband. Mr..
Howard said 1t discharged ac-
cidentally while she struggled to
prevent him from forcing the
weapon into her hands.
Mr.. Howard declared yesterday
that. if police had f1ngerprinted
the gun, none of us would have
to be here today"
The defendant was on the wit
ness stand most Of Monday. She
told her story haltingly. with
frequent sobs. Her testimony re-
lated a morbid marriage with a
man she said was wonderful
in between the inexplicable epi-
sodes when he would rain kicks
and slaps on her. The shooting
climaxed such period, she said.
She said it was started by his
rage when he contended she was
cooking pork chops the. wrong
way.
Mr.. Koutoulakos told the
jurors yesterday she was one of
the best witnesses he ever heard.
But every tear was we'll
placed, every swallow well timed. !"
he said.
MIR. Hassan wondered aloud
why there was what he called a
dearth of evidence over the
brutality 1t. Goricki gallegedly
showed his wife.
Mr.. Howard's closing appeal
to the jury was, Make this a
real Thanksgiving. the one Mrs.
Goricki is entitled to-"
Deunwood Citizens
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