Louisiana, F-G, 1879-1988, Undated

Online content

PAGE 19

Oued

Christmas day on Angola's death row
was the scene of an attempted suicide
when Wayne Robert Felde, 38, cut himself
in the neck with a handmade weapon after
an attempt to escape was foiled by cor-

rectional officers. Incident and discipli- .

nary reports filed indicate Felde was out
of his cell to use a telephone Christmas
evening when he got out of restraints be-
fore being overpowered. One employee was
scratched in the fracas.

Felde has been on death row since 1983
following his conviction for the October
20, 1978 shooting death of Shreveport po-
liceman Thomas Tompkins. At the time of
the offense, Felde was on escape froma
Maryland prison where he had been serving
a sentence for manslaughter. Felde's case
drew media attention on several occasions
including a PLAYBOY Magazine feature do-
cumenting his life history, Viet Nam war
experiences and his eventual death _ sen-
tence. The case also enjoyed notoriety
when lawyers raised the then-novel "post
traumatic stress syndrome" defense.

At the prison disciplinary hearing on
December 30th, Felde received a 10-day
isolation penalty on the disciplinary re-
port, while no punishment was meted for
the incident report. Inmate counsel sub-
stitute John Czere, representing Felde,
told THE ANGOLITE, "He said there was no
sense going before the pardon board be-
cause of this incident, plus he did not
want to put his family through any more
pain and suffering." Felde also said the
pardon board wouldn't do anything for him
anyway. Felde also told Czere, "I was on-
ly going to lock the guards in the booth
and then go home for Christmas to my fa-
mily."

Suicides behind bars outnumber sui-
cides in the free community 16-to-l, ac-
cording to a study by the National Center

death watch

THE ANGOLITE-Jan/Feb 1988

Ron Wikberg

on Institutions and Alternatives for the
National Institute of Corrections. In an
average city of 200,000 people, someone
will commit suicide every two weeks, Says
the study, but for the same number of in-
mates behind bars on any given day, at
least one inmate will kill himself. These
figures necessarily include those condemn-
ed men on the nation's death row, though
the study did:-point out most prisoner su-
icides occur in jails prior to trial, in-
stead of in prison after conviction.

As of November 1, 1987, according to
DEATH ROW, U.S.A., a report of the Legal
Defense Fund of the NAACP, 1,977 persons
were on death row in which 93 have been
executed since January, 1977. For every
4.5 executed, one committed suicide. For
every 3 persons executed, one either died
of natural causes or was otherwise killed

Suicides are directly related to
stress. Generally, loss of relationship,
bodily function or job are the causes of
stress in many suicide cases. Death row
cells are havens of dispair, loneliness,
boredom, restlessness, frustration, dis-
comfort, anxiety and depression. While
these stressors vary, the symptoms are
always the same. Psychology experts con-
sider an attempted suicide nothing more
than a plea for help, adding that holi-
days are characteristically a high-stress
period.

kk K

Meanwhile, Texas opened 1988 with the
January 7th execution of Robert Streetmar
27, bringing to 94 the nation's tota-
since 1977. Streetman was convicted 0:
killing Christine Baker during a burglar
which netted only $l. A 4-to-4 deadlocke«
U.S. Supreme Court ruling failed to halt
the execution. It was the nation's firs’
execution in 3% months.

Viet vet who killed officer

in 73 executed in

ANGOLA, La. — (UPI) —
Wayne Felde, a Vietnam veteran
who said war’s horrible experienc-
es led him to kill a police officer,
was executed in the Louisiana
electric chair early Tuesday.

Felde, 38, was pronounced dead
at 12:14 a.m. Tuesday, said Griffin
Rivers, deputy secretary of Louisi-
ana’s Department of Corrections
and Public Safety.

The execution was the first in
Louisiana since last summer, when
eight inmates were executed be-
tween June and August at the
state penitentiary. It was the 16th
execution in Louisiana since the
Supreme Court lifted its ban on
capital punishment in 1976.

Felde, who had been crippled in
one leg by an officer's bullet the
night of the 1978 murder for
which he was sentenced to death,
walked steadily and without a
limp as he entered the death
chamber around midnight.

He looked each witness in the
eyes and said: “You can kill the
messenger, but you can’t kill the
message. Sooner or later, you will
have to acknowledge it for what it
means, not for what you want it to
mean.”

Wayne Felde: Blamed war
experiences.

The meaning of Felde’s final
statement was not clear and he did
not elaborate before he was
strapped into the electric chair.
The first of four jolts of electricity
was administered at 12:07 a.m.
and the last a minute later. He was
pronounced dead six minutes later.

Butler said Felde, who ordered a
final meal of pizza, shrimp and
ginger ale, told him three hours

Louisiana

before the execution he did not
want a stay and “had himself
ready to go.”

The Supreme Court voted 7-2
late Monday to let the execution
go forward, with Justices William
Brennan and Thurgood Marshall
filing their customary dissents in
capital punishment cases.

Atlanta attorney Millard Farm-
er, who filed the appeal with the
Supreme Court, also asked Gov.
Buddy Roemer to intervene, but he
refused.

Felde, whose specialty during
the war was finding enemy tun-
nels, admitted killing Shreveport
rookie police officer Glen Tomp-
kins in October 1978, but said
post-combat stress led to his
homicidal outburst.

Woody Nesbitt, who prosecuted
Felde, disputed his claim of insani-

“The memory of Officer Tomp-
kins is blemished by the assertion
that he was killed by some crazed
person without the ability to
distinguish right from wrong,”
Nesbitt said. ‘‘A terrible disservice
to veterans is done by Wayne
Felde draping their [stress] prob-
lems over his actions.”

Darden executed in Florida chair

DARDEN / from 1A

search your hearts, ask yourself
not whether you believe in capital
punishment, but whether you be-
lieve in injustice. That is the
question.

“My fight has not been against
capital punishment, but against
injustice that sent me here.”

Counting among his supporters
Pope John Paul II, the Rev. Jesse
Jackson and Nobel laureate Andrei
Sakharov, Darden seemed well
aware that the world was watch-
ing him die. “I say to my friends
and supporters around the world, I
love each and every one of you,”
he told the witnesses, shortly
before a black veil was draped
over his head. “Your love and
support have been a great encour-
agement to me in my struggle for
justice and freedom.

“I go this morning with a clear

conscience,” said Darden, who
would have turned 55 June 1. “I
bear no guilt or ill will for any of
you. I am at peace with myself,
with the world, with each of you.
I love all of you and God bless
you.”
After a final telephone check
with Gov. Bob Martinez, prison
officials placed the last electrodes
on Darden’s head and lower right
leg. At 7:09 a.m., as a one-minute
charge of electricity surged
through his body, Darden jerked
upward, then settled back in the
chair. The prison’s chief physician,
Dr. Frank Kilgo, pronounced Dar-
den dead at 7:12 a.m.

Darden’s death was the 18th
execution in Florida and 96th in
the nation since the U.S. Supreme
Court ruled in 1976 that states
could again invoke capital punish-
ment.

Earlier Tuesday, Wayne Robert
Felde was executed in Louisiana’s
electric chair for the 1978 murder
of a police officer. It was the first
time two inmates were executed
the same day in the United States
since last Aug. 28.

In neither statement did Darden
mention James Turman, the man
he shot between the eyes during a
$15 robbery in 1973; or Helen
Turman Baum, the. woman he
forced to perform oral sex on him
as her husband lay dying five feet
away; or a 16-year-old who came
to Turman’s aid and was shot by
Darden, but survived.

Instead, Darden wrote about
“the battle.”

“Without sounding angry or
bitter, my struggle for justice and
freedom has run its course,” said
the statement, penned just a few
hours before his execution.

“But in the end we lost — or did
we?. On second thought, hell no,
we didn't lose,” he wrote. “We

et ataert Wha Inct tha war

man in Lakeland.

store.

sentence.

rant.

CHRONOLOGY OF DARDEN CASE

A chronology of the legal case of Willie Jasper Darden, exe-
cuted Tuesday for the September 1973 murder of James Tur-

Sept. 8, 1973: Turman killed during a robbery at his furniture

Sept. 8, 1973: Hillsborough County authorities arrest Darden and
later turn him over to Polk County officials.

Sept. 26, 1973: Darden indicted on charges of first-degree mur-
der, robbery and attempted murder.

Oct. 18, 1973: Darden pleads innocent.

Jan. 19, 1974: Jury convicts Darden of all charges.

Jan. 23, 1974: Darden sentenced to death.

Feb. 18, 1976: Florida Supreme Court affirms conviction and

May 18, 1979: Gov. Bob Graham signs Darden’s first death war-

May 22, 1979: U.S. District Court grants stay of execution.

Aug. 5, 1983: Second death warrant signed.

Sept. 1, 1983: U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals grants stay.

Aug. 8, 1985: Third death warrant signed.

Sept. 3, 1985: U.S. Supreme Court grants stay of execution.

Aug. 5, 1986: Fourth death warrant signed, but U.S. Supreme
Court says the previous warrant still was in effect.

Sept. 24, 1986: Fifth death warrant signed.

Oct. 17, 1986: U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals grants stay.

dan. 8, 1988: Sixth death warrant signed.

Jan. 25, 1988: U.S. Supreme Court grants stay.

March 8, 1988: Seventh death warrant signed.

March 15, 1988: Darden executed.

Gov. Martinez told reporters out-
side hfs office that justice had been

served.

Asked whether the unique sev-
en-day warrant that led up the
execution gave enough time for
Martinez responded
sharply: “This isn’t a seven-day
wait, it’s a 15-year wait. He was a
career criminal, 40 years of com-
mitting crimes, 20 convictions.
Even a month before he killed this
victim, he made an attempt on
another victim and an attempt on
rape on well, so this was not
someone out of a choir. This is a
man who had a long history of
committing violent crimes and
was a career criminal.”

A half-mile from the prison, foes
and supporters of the death penal-
ty looked across the fields toward
the three olive-green buildings
that house the 286 Death Row
inmates at Florida State Prison,
the most in the nation. Five death
penalty supporters and 50 oppo-
nents stood separated by a wire
fence and a million miles of
ideology.

“If they’d start firing up that
thing more often,” said Larin
Cone, 35, of Baldwin, pointing
toward the prison and its electric
chair, “people would think twice
before they killed someone.”

Cone’s brother, Floyd, was shot
to death April 11, 1981. His
murderer, Edward Kennedy, also
lilled a Finrida Hiohwav Patrol

have mercy on their client.

Six hours before Darden’s exe-
cution, the U.S. Supreme Court
ruled 6-3 to refuse the condemned
man’s request for another stay.

“The system has failed,” Cary
said. “The Willie Darden case
symbolizes everything that is
wrong with the death penalty: the
racism, the politics, and the very
real possibility that an innocent
man has been killed. It is institu-
tionalized vengeance which helps
absolutely no one.”

Speakers, including members of
Amnesty International who spear-
headed worldwide support for
Darden, told the protesters and
about 100 members of the press
that Martinez had unfairly turned
his back on Darden, refusing to
hear testimony from two new alibi
witnesses. They called for a noon
protest Wednesday at the state
Capitol.

Aides said Martinez’s office got
about 1,100 calls Monday on the
Darden case and about 500 went
to the governor’s mansion over-
night.

Two calls came from presiden-
tial candidate Jesse Jackson, who
spoke about 3 p.m. with Brian
Ballard, the governor’s director of
operations. Ballard said Jackson
registered his opposition to the
death penalty generally but “he
didn’t seem all that familiar with
the facts of the Darden case
svecificallv.” :

tion (later labeled Post-Traumatic Stress Dis-

‘a deeply disturbed young man. The medica-

= : + Ter *
a « =
3 f a

Bele ener ede ora

By TOD ENSIGN:

Capital punishment has recently become ‘a ~
more immediate issue for the 2.4 million vet-
erans who served in Vietnam. On April 22,
Florida became the first state to put to death a
Vietnam combat vet for crimes he committed
while suffering from war-induced mental ill-
ness. ;

.David Funchess, 39, grew up poor and
Black in Jacksonville, Fla. Neighbors and
friends remember him as a friendly boy and a
good student. At 18, he enlisted in the Marines
and was sent to the northern tip of South Viet-
nam. After three months there, he was hit with
a mortar round and hospitalized for several
months. Navy doctors diagnosed him as suf-
fering from a psychoneurotic depressive reac-

order). Nonetheless, he was returned to duty. ©

_TERRIBLE NIGHTMARES
Funchess was discharged onto the streets as.

tion he was given for his chronic leg wounds
led him into a debilitating heroin habit.

His sister Queenie recalls, ‘They trained .
David to be a soldier. He never used weapons
or violence before. When he came back, he
would have terrible nightmares. He’d describe
women, children and wrinkled old men that he
had to kill. He told me about one old man who
could hardly walk, much less run. David had
to shoot him down in cold blood. Whenever he
came in the house, he'd crouch down like he
had a rifle and search the house.”’. _

Another sister, Mary, confirms this ac-
count: *‘David was crazy as a bedbug when he
came home. My mother told me that he dug
holes and would put newspapers in them and
sleep there at night. He'd lock himself in our
grandfather’s garage and stay in there without
lights for days. I called the veterans clinic on
many occasions, but they told me David
would have to come in on his own.”’

Unfortunately, no evidence on the issue of

mee ee

vet executed in Florida

atized.

Fat

David Funchess (left) and Wayne Felde:

Capital punishment has become an immediate issue for Vietnam vets.

delayed stress was offered at Funchess’s 1975
trial. He had murdered two people who Had
fired him for stealing from a restaurant.

For his clemency bid, psychiatrists con-
firmed that Funchess suffered from the classic
symptoms of delayed stress disorder. Veterans
for Peace in Tallahassee organized a clemency

vigil at the state’s Vietnam Veterans Memorial
‘ in the days before Funchess was to be exe-
cuted. : -
Jeff Thompson, an attomey and Vietnam
‘veteran, made an IIth hour appeal to Gov.
Graham, the appeals court and Supreme
Court. *‘All his life, David had never been

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violent, except in Vietnam. We don’t excuse
the violent murders he committed, but David
suffered greatly in serving his country. If not
for that service, he would not have committed
these crimes,’’ Thompson said.

Four other Vietnam veterans currently await
execution in Florida, according to Charlotte
Holdman of Capitol Collateral Representation,
a legal defense project that handled the Fun-
chess appeal. *‘We know that at least two of
these men also suffer from serious delayed

stress disorders,’’ she told the Guardian.

* DISRUPTED LIFE

~ Meanwhile, in Louisiana, a Vietnam vet-
eran on death row went on hunger strike.
Wayne Felde, 37, saw heavy combat as a
**tunnel rat’’ in Vietnam. After coming home,
he suffered flashbacks and mental problems
that completely disrupted his life. He was con-
victed of murdering a Louisiana policeman
and sentenced to death in 1980, even though
evidence of delayed stress was offered at his
trial.

After 11 days of his hunger strike, Felde
lapsed into a coma and was removed to a
Baton Rouge hospital where he is being force-
fed. His supporters are circulating a letter he
wrote to President Reagan to explain his fast.

““What started out as a 3-year hitch after
high school has turned into a 17-year night-

'mare,’’ Felde wrote. ‘‘Post-traumatic stress

disorder wasn't even recognized by the Ameri-
can Psychiatric Association until 1980, after
thousands of vets had committed suicide or
been imprisoned. I can’t understand why the
Iranian hostages got special professional care
but veterans suffering from PTSD didn’t. I ex-
pect political amnesty and need to be placed in
a VA facility and treated for delayed stress."”

Wayne concludes his letter: **I stopped eat-
ing yesterday and will fast until you release me

‘for treatment or until I die. This is not a threat,

but a promise. Who do you figure will fight
your next war, the way the government has
treated the Vietnam veterans?’’ m

y
e
.

\ 4

Protesters Lose F ight
In Two Executions:

P a 4 Warceh 15 19 88
FELDE, Wayne, white, elec. LA (Caddo) on March os —
yee) a)

STARKE, Fla. (AP) — Convicted
murderer Willie Jasper Darden went:
to his death Tuesday proclaiming his

‘innocence and thanking people
around the world, from Andrei Sak-
harov to Jesse Jackson, who aided
his 14-year battle to escape the cloe-
tric chair,

For the widow of the man he shot
between the eyes, Darden’s execu-
tion on an unprecedented seventh
death warrant offered hope, finally,
for peace of mind.

“I think it's long overdue,” Helen
Turman Baum said minutes after the
execution about 7 a.m. at the Florida
State Prison. “He did it to himself.
I'm just thinking right now I want
some peace of mind. It’s been a long
time and I’m glad it’s finally over.”

Mrs, Baum has remarried since her
husband, James C. Turman, was
killed Sept. 8, 1973, after Turman
walked into their Lakeland furniture
Store and found his ‘wife: being
robbed of $15,

y Fe LEE, (FD)

Gov. Bob Martinez also was
unmoved about the international
attention Darden attracted, from
death penalty opponents and people
who believed his conviction was ra-
H cially tainted, _Darden was black; slowly and matter .of factly, giving
Turman was white, three reporters separated from him

Among 1,600 telephone calls Mon- . by a glass window time to write down
day, the majority Protesting, was one cach word. “Sooner or later, you
from Jackson, a candidate for the have to acknowledge it for what it
Democratic presidential nomination. means, not for what you want it to
Nobel Peace Prize winner Sakharov, mean.” ;
actress Margot Kidder, rock star Pet. The 38-year-old killer was then led
er Gabriel, Amnesty International * by four guards a few steps from the
and other human rights and religious microphone to the big oak electric
groups also all called for a halt to chair. Four alternating jolts of 2,400
Darden’s execution. volts and 500 volts of electricity were

In Angola, Fla., Wayne F elde, who administered over one minute. Doe-
claimed post-Vietnam War stress tors pronounced him deat at 12:14
drove him to murder a rookie po- am.
liceman, died in Louisiana’s electric Felde died for killing Officer Glen
chair Tuesday after delivering a Tompkins in 1973, as Felde was be-
cryptic two-sentence message to ing driven to jail in Shreveport.
those who watched him die, Felde had been picked up on ag

“You can kill the messenger but drunkeness charge and apparently
you can’t kill the message,” he said had not been throroughly searched.

ng teak

SS
NY

he en ©. oA Ow aes

|: ere (Continued From Pace One) |

‘Juatices , ‘divided. five. to. four. Anat!
January in rujing against Franc ins |
Only. yesterday the: ‘supreme, court!
had turned down another. Plea, which]
Willie's: lawyer. had taken: to. ‘Wash!
ingtoss’ without: the. know ledge. of the;
} condemned : mand: acre

“Tho Louisiana Supreme .court a a!
the state Pardon hbonrd cach Tefitsed |
three times to prevent. Willie's second
trip ta. the chair... 95>.

Francis | ‘himself. told his tawyer this
morning to make no. last-minute ‘ate
tempt -to stay the execution; deciar-
ing he was ready. to dle. as

Francis walked his lust half. dcden
| Steps on ¢arth today without a flicker
of fear or apparent excitement, Twice

he’ wiped the’ palms’ of.’ his’ brown
' hands - against the’ legs: of: his: dark
|'pin-stripes ¢ trousers. He - caught ‘my
j eye as the broad chest strap wis bes
ing fixed, and snapped mea jaunty
! one-fingered salute. °°)

ie He’ said, “hello,”. slentiy, moving
\his lips emanated ke cohape. the
: word, Nata

fs As the lez. straps ‘were | being ad-
| Justed_ he looked at his lap, he ‘closed
j his eyes, then opened’: them: - and
grinned at another witness. The fact
that: more. than: a’ score ‘of. whites
were. jammed into a smoky. brick-
| walled room little larger than an: ine
door tennis. berbite didn't appear $0
affect Balers eestor:

Asked by the ‘electrocutioner. Ve ihe
had | anything. to say’. before’ going,
; Willie. said quictly,: “nothing at all’

When the current hit” chim, 2,700:

m= wun,

strap: there ‘and his fingers remained |
! motionlces against the scarred wooden
} arms of the chair. <->
it. The only physical change: ‘Apparent |
qT, in him was a reddening of hig’ upper;
: Mp’ where it bulged through a slit, in}
‘the leather hood against his face. ,
| With him at the end. was ‘Father
(Charles ’ Hannigan, Catholic priest,
‘who: had visited him every. day since
his first: trip to. the chair. last year. |
Willie refused. assistance in. walking
ito’ the chatr:, motioning for. Father
Hannigan to precede him:° heed
Attorney Bertrand Le- Blane, hag-
i pard: and ‘eleepy-eyed after. a fying
trip to Washington: in’ 8 ‘vain’ effort
to win. United States intervention,
went to’ “Willie's cell in the tiny St.
Martinville. jail at 10:15. a‘m.—less
than two hours before’ the hour. set

; “told Willie that: t thought - I “ No;

still could stay the erecullon ss: Le TU.
| Blanc Bald. eae ne fais TFhowk U/

& He told me: mets Ar Rinitegs Ck Cor ae

for the ‘unparalleled second attempt ef
jat electrocution, / 77 oe pe ,

Sek Ad del liatiatalatatintatetatatintietalatilictatintiatitatnlacialatatlictattctatalie Ltt tie tae te ee ee

Ba railroady perisers, EATS Ulta uovan

accepted vy the term “separate
but equal d only to railroad,
carriers," ot licable
otherwise, ae

~ Shot eir contention on this
point be sustained by the court, it
will knock out the heart of segre-|
ation theories in every State in|
the South, where general use of]
the term has been accepted as the
basis for segregation legality, The
far-reaching effect of the case’ is
recognized here and throughout the
entire’ South 73 ee

END JIM CROW IN WASHINGTON—~

Mother Weeps |
As Francis Dies

(Continued from Page t)

_ Should th

sobbing woman standing alone on|:
the fringe of the large crowd which
stood outside the little jail here, as
the time neared for Willie’s final
trip to the chair. Although there
were still thirteen other children
left, her Mother’s Day was not
going to be like that of other
mothers all over the Nation, Her|'
Willie was being taken away from|;
her, and her heart, like that of any
other mother in the world, was]:
heavy over the thought, 4
CATFISH DINNER ; {

Father Charles B, Hannigan, a}
Catholic priest who had. visited
Willie every day since May 8, 1946,
was with him at the end. He gave|
him consolation, as the condemned|!
man walked the twelve paces to
the death chamber alone.

Though extremely fond of fried
chicken, Willie passed up his favor-
ite dish on his last day alive, be-
cause he was true to his faith as
a Catholic, and it was Friday. In-
stead he called for, and got, a big

jdinner of catfish. He ate heartily.

He went to his death wearing his
Sunday best, and showing no traces
of fear, A warm smile broke over
his face as he paused and wiped
his hands on his striped trousers,
before entering the cigar-box-like
chamber where the portable elec-
tric chair awaited his body. ;
Strapped in the chair, looking
small in the big apparatus, not a
tremor shook him- as 2,700 volts
of hot current streamed through
his body. Death came quietly, and
so easily, that spectators could
not tell when the end came, His)
body gave no convulsive arching
movements like those customary
when men are electrocuted. ‘The,
doctor pronounced him dead five
minutes after the switch was
thrown’ at 2:05 P..M,

Willie had paid the penalty for'|
the slaying of Andrew Thomas,
white druggist of this city,

——END JIM. CROW: IN WIA CLA ame

fe us o ay grectal Correspondent o
_- ST. MARTINVILLE, La.—
A woman stood alone on the

‘street, 2,700 voits of electric-
hae were coursing through the
iP pody of her son, Willie Fran-
-@ cis. When the signal came
~ that death had taken Willie,
“tthe sorrow-laden mother

-! turned away alone, and walk-

away still sobbing. The
a Sale irancis case was

oe cee after noon last Friday,
just five blocks from his conn
home, Willie Francis, a convic ag
a murderer —- once before epaned
o death by a freak -accident-—paid
“' 28 his debt to society, just a year and
| "Ssix days after he had cheated the
“chair the first time. In the crow
) ‘Sparound the jail gy.
PY ywhen he died 3
| si dstood a few mem-
» “hers of his family,
‘2 but none knew
“) that the mother
ae ™was there. They
Baa thought she was
om at homes se .
oy, Most of Willie's
' wt, fourteen brothers
p {3 and sisters waited -
sl quietly in their
Ssahome, with _their
i @sefather, Fred
Ci Francis. Three
; “sisters and two
Wea Wine cary
ioe ated ie early Ss
Friday poorning ey ML _ Francis
and he had told |
them all was well, It was, and

arg RR

roma or ae eS
LEP

Sega ee

penseap ipa Pe tension ended at 2:10}

. M., when a Bb mciemnrenely oe
4 officially.
iy nie Beaettont had been made to
save Willie from the second trip
to the chair, But the Nation's
> highest tribunal, the Supreme
vi Court, had twice turned him down.
"Phe State Supreme Court had turn-
ed him down three times, and_so

edge of the crowd sobbing! |
hingiae the jail across the;

i r
uad the State Pardon Board. ! The
¥

wet

case had aroused international in-

terest. . ie eRe mene De-
, had fou well.
Bet none of that mattered to the

(Continued on Page 5, Column 8)

ST DANCE oe

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Francis Awaits New.
Ruling by La. Court

, f

By LUCIUS JONES, Louisiana Bureau (

NEW ORLEANS—Although refused clemency by the/!
Ir

Turned Down by B

State Pardon Board, Willie Francis, who survived one execu-
tion when the electric chair failed to work, won’t have to
face the electric chair again until the courts have ruled

on new motions filed in his behalf last Thursday, |
Motions for arrest of judgment @ f

and for a new trial were filed by
Francis’ attorney, Bertrand Le-

Blane, on the grounds that a thir-
teenth juror. se-
lected to try Fran-
cis Was never dis-
charged, and the
only eye-witness &
to the alleged :
slaying did not
estify at the tri-

1, although she

vas called to tes-

fy before the
yroner’s jury.

Governor Davis

ll not issue

‘ath warrants

til the court

es on the mo-
ns,

‘he final plea
clemency by
State. failed
week when
State Pardon Board turned

n his request. The youth ig un-
death sentence for the Slaying
ndrew Thomas, St. Martinville
gist. The case gained national
tion when the execution last
3 was not carried out because
lectric chair failed to work.

JPREME COURT

case had been carried to the
Supreme Court without suc-
\ilthough that court recom-
l that the State grant clem-
‘he action of the board pre-
the Governor from taking
action as he is able to
a court sentence only hy
endation of a majority of
abers of the State Pardon
All chree members of the
ted against granting Fran-

cis’ pleas for commutation to life|:
imprisonment,

Members of the board are, Lieut.-
Gov, J, Hmile Verrett, Attorney |’
General Fred S. LeBlanc, and the|!
trial judge, District Judge James
D. Simon, M, E. Culligan, assitant
attorney general, acted for the
State at the hearing,

Willie expressed his resignation
to death by saying, “I am going
to die, There cin’t nothing I can
do. I’ve gotta die.”

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Willie, black, electrocuted Louisiana,

OST EXECUTIONS go off smoothly

and. the condemned man dies. on schedule.
But what happens when some accident dis-
rupts the execution? Here are three cases
that cause one to ponder. -

In 1705, John Smith, of York, England,
stood with a noose around his neck after
being convicted of thievery. The trap was
sprung, and Smith plummeted downward to
dangle with a sickening jerk as the rope
reached its end. Then some wiseacre in the
crowd of witnesses shouted, “A reprieve!”
and Smith was cut down.

Strenuous medical efforts brought him
back to life before it was discovered that the
“reprieve” was a hoax. “Half-Hung Smith,”
as he was later called, said he felt intoler-
able pain as life flowed back into his veins.

Problem: Should Smith be hanged again
after going through this awful ordeal? Legal
experts pondered and finally said no. Smith
was pardoned and, sad to say, was in trouble
with the law several times thereafter.

Case 2: In 1894, Will Purvis awaited
hanging in Columbia, Miss., after being
convicted of murdering his neighbor, William
Buckley. The noose around his neck slipped
loose, and Purvis fell to the ground unhurt.
The crowd shouted that he should not be
hanged again, and the sheriff agreed to let
the courts decide.

After long delay the state supreme court
decided that he should be hanged again, but
the execution was delayed, and three years
later Purvis received a Christmas pardon.

"He became a good citizen and reared a large

family. The amazing pay-off in this case
came in 1920 when another man, on his death-
bed* confessed that he had committed the
murder for which Purvis had been convicted.
Purvis had been innocent all the time!

Case 3: On May 3, 1946, Willie Francis
sat in the electric chair at New Iberia, La.,
and waited for the ‘earing jolt that would
bring him death for the slaying of Andrew
Thomas, a Louwisiana-druggist. The current
was turned on, but Willie felt no jolt—only
a “tickling sensation.” The chair had gone
haywire, and no lethal current came through.

The law seemed clear—that the condemned
man should suffer electric shock until he
died—indicating that the chair should be
repaired and Willie put into it.again. |

But Willie Francis, through his lawyer,
claimed that this would not only be “cruel
and unusual punishment,” but would also
amount to punishing him twice for the same
crime. Said Willie: “God fooled with the.
electric chair.” ;

The state supreme court, however, held
that it had no authority to set aside the
court’s decision, meaning that Willie would
have to die. The case was then taken to
the United States Supreme Court itself, and
a august body will in due course review

e case. .

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94 DEATH AND THE SUPREME COURT

be of some help to you in your case? “I was now landed, and safe
on shore, and began to look up and thank God that my life was
saved, in a case wherein there was some minutes before scarce any
room to hope. I believe it is impossible to express, to the life, what
the ecstasies and transports of the soul are when it is so saved, as
I may say, out of the very grave; and I do not wonder now at
that’ custom, when a malefactor, who has the halter about his neck,
is tied up, and just going to be turned off, and has a reprieve
brought to him—I say, I do not wonder that they bring a surgeon
with it, to let him bleed that very moment they tell him of it, that
the surprise may not drive the animal spirits from the heart, and
overwhelm him, ‘For sudden joys, like griefs, confound at first.’

De Blanc and Wright finished their brief and filed it with
the Court. In addition to the arguments already advanced by
de Blanc, Wright added two additional ones so that every
possible avenue of escape would be probed. He argued that
Willie had been denied equal protection of the law—that is,
he had been treated differently by the state from its other
citizens—because Willie was not put to death mercifully but
instead had to face two electrocutions. Wright also argued
that Willie’s trial had been such “a farce and a travesty” that

even though there had been no appeal, the Supreme Court ©

could now recognize a denial of due process. But his chief
argument remained the one based upon the Eighth Amend-
ment, which provides succinctly: “Excessive bail shall not be
required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual
punishments inflicted.” What are “cruel and unusual punish-
ments’? Only a few times in its history had the Supreme
Court attempted to deal with this provision, which originated
in an Act of Parliament of 1688. The Court had clearly
established that an electrocution properly carried out was
not in itself such a cruel and unusual punishment as to
violate the Constitution, but beyond that, little had been de-
cided which aided Wright in his argument. He could only
reason from logic that for the State of Louisiana to put a de-
fendant through the agonies of electrocution not once, but
twice, was so cruel, so unusual, that the Constitution pro-
hibited it.

Right up until the time of the argument, the two lawyers
were thinking of new ideas and reviewing old ones. At one
point, de Blanc wired Wright: “To counteract any possible
suppositions on the part of the Court that it is impossible to
survive electrocution it has been suggested to me that the
citation of actual certified hospital cases on file of workmen
on high powered lines who have been electrocuted and have

IF AT FIRST 95

survived might prove important.” And Wright, for his part,
was obtaining historical materials from such sources as the
New York State Library and asking friends at law schools to
look into background documents dating back to Magna Carta
dealing with the “double jeopardy” and “cruel and unusual
punishment” clauses.

The day of the argument was a chill, bone-crackling
November 18, 1946. De Blanc flew to Washington to sit at
the counsel table, but Wright made the oral presentation. He
looked short, standing at the large lectern, though his heavy
build lent conviction and strength to his appearance. He had
curly, dark brown hair and regular features—a handsome
Irish type.

He was confronted by legal difficulties which the laymen
present could not very well appreciate. The so-called “double
jeopardy” clause of the Fifth Amendment and the “cruel and
unusual punishment” clause of the Eighth Amendment are
not prohibitions directly against the states but only against
the Federal Government. Through a long process of interpre-
tation, the Supreme Court had ruled that certain prohibitions
in the Bill of Rights, though not directly binding on the
states, are so involved with our fundamental concept of
justice that they are part of that “due process of law” which
every state as well as the Federal Government must provide
its citizens. Therefore, Wright’s job was to convince the Court
not only that a second electrocution would constitute double
jeopardy and cruel and unusual punishment but that these
prohibitions were a part of due process. .

He realized that even if he had little precedent to go on,
the factual situation was to his advantage. And so he drilled
home the facts of the case—the long ordeal of preparing for
death, the final hours, the horror of being put into the chair,
the hood and straps and electrodes and wires, the final rites,
and then the moment of truth itself. Yet when he began to
show from the affidavits of eyewitnesses that some electricity
must have reached the condemned man’s body, Chief Justice
Fred M. Vinson stopped him. Those affidavits, he said, were
not officially part of the record and could not be relied upon.
Wright tried to explain that since no hearing had been or-
dered in the state courts, he had been given no opportunity
to create a record, and he was forced to rely on the affidavits
whether officially admitted into evidence or not. Moreover, if
there was any question about the facts as recited in the
affidavits, the Court should at least send the case back for a

factual hearing into just what did occur at the execution.

96 DEATH AND THE SUPREME COURT

Several of the Justices asked Wright what would happen if
they reversed the case. They were concerned because of the
statement in the Louisiana attorney general’s brief that utter
confusion would result, since state officials lacked authority
to impose another sentence. Francis might be held in jail in-
definitely simply because the legislature had never dealt with
this situation. But Wright told the Court that the solution to
the problem of imposing a sentence less than death could be
left to the discretion of the state; he was sure the officials
could find a way once the Court ruled that the death penalty
in this case was unconstitutional.

The state’s case was presented by L. O. Pecot, the man
who had prosecuted Willie in the trial court, and Michael E.
Culligan, an assistant attorney general of the state. They
argued that the Supreme Court had no jurisdiction in the
case. The Louisiana courts had ruled that as a matter of state
law, they could do nothing; the Supreme Court could not
now rule that they must. Sending the case back would be a
futile gesture, since sole discretion to commute a sentence
lay with the Board of Pardons and the governor, whom the
Supreme Court could not direct to act.

It was a quiet though dramatic argument on both sides.
The Justices seemed unusually subdued, perhaps under the
impact of the terrible events which had already befallen
Willie and the possibility that those events would be repeated
if the Court failed to intervene. The spirit of the Court was
almost sullen, and the Justices, straight-backed or bent for-
ward, looked like brooding Rodin figures, black-robed and
black of mood, almost resentful that this insoluble problem
had been put before them.

Each “decision” Monday after the argument, Wright
checked with the clerk of the Court as to whether the Justices
had reached a result. And each Monday, he wired de Blanc,
who waited in his office until he had received the news that
as yet nothing had come down.

The opinions in the Willie Francis case were rendered on
January 13, 1947, just two months after the oral argument
and over two years after the murder of Andrew Thomas.
There was no “opinion of the Court’—that is, a majority of
the Court could not agree on any single opinion. Instead,
Chief Justice Vinson and Justices Black and Jackson (who
had returned from Nuremberg only a few months before
the argument) joined in an opinion by Mr. Justice Reed
holding that there was no constitutional bar to another at-
tempt at executing Willie. Justices Douglas, Frank Murphy,

IF AT FIRST 97

and Wiley Rutledge joined an opinion by Mr. Justice Burton

arguing that because of the cruel and unusual punishment

involved in a second attempt at execution the case should

be sent back to the Louisiana courts for a factual determina-

tion of whether an electric current had passed through

Willie’s body. The ninth and deciding vote was cast by Mr. -
Justice Frankfurter, who joined in neither of the other

opinions but wrote one of his own. Reluctantly, he concluded
that no constitutional violation was involved.

Thus, by a vote of five to four, the Supreme Court turned
down Willie’s plea.

Reed’s opinion acknowledged not only that this was a
“unique situation” but that “So far as we are aware, this case
is without precedent in any court.” For purposes of the deci-
sion, he assumed, without deciding, that violation of the
double jeopardy and the cruel and unusual punishment
clauses would violate due process. Thus, so far as these four
judges were concerned, Wright had successfully leaped his
first. hurdle. However, Reed then gave short shrift to the
double jeopardy argument. “Our minds rebel,” he said,
“against permitting the same sovereignty to punish an ac-
cused twice for the same offense.” But under previously de-
cided cases, a state can appeal a criminal conviction, ob-
tain a reversal, and try the defendant again without violating

ue process, and Reed could see no distinction between that
Foten and the one in which a state attempts a second
execution after a failure of equipment.

The argument based on cruel and unusual punishment
gave him considerable difficulty. “The traditional humanity
of modern Anglo-American law forbids the infliction of un-
necessary pain in the execution of the death sentence, he
wrote, and he cited as examples such barbarisms as burning
at the stake, crucifixion, breaking on the wheel, and the like.
Punishments are cruel when they involve torture or a linger-
ing death, but not simply because they involve death itself.
“The fact that an unforeseeable accident prevented the
prompt consummation of the sentence cannot, it seems to
us, add an element of cruelty to a subsequent execution.
There is no purpose to inflict unnecessary pain nor any un-
necessary pain involved in the proposed execution. The
situation of the unfortunate victim of this accident is just
as though he had suffered the identical amount of mental
anguish and physical pain in any other occurrence, such
as, for example, a fire in the cell block. We cannot agree that
the hardship imposed upon the petitioner rises to that level

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98 DEATH AND THE SUPREME COURT

of hardship denounced as denial of due process because of
cruelty.”

Reed rejected the equal protection argument on the ground
that Louisiana had not singled out Willie for unequal treat-
ment; he had simply been the victim of an accident. And as

to the suggestion that Willie had been inadequately repre- .
sented at trial, Reed said that the record before the Supreme

Court was too sparse to support any such contention.

To the surprise of many, Mr. Justice Black joined in this
opinion. Black is often described as a “liberal” and a “leading
member of the civil rights bloc.” His vote in this case shows

how misleading labels can be when it comes to judging |

judges. Black is not a humanitarian in the sense often pressed
by liberals. He does not decide cases on the basis of a visceral
reaction. He is not moved by an argument that a state’s
action is an outrage against humanity, or that it shocks the
conscience of civilized man. He considers himself, in fact,
a strict interpreter of the Constitution, and this is what so
confuses the casual observer of the Court’s business. The rea-
son he has so often been in league with Justices like Douglas,
Murphy, and Rutledge and Chief Justice Warren is that he
comes to their result by interpreting the language of the
Bill of Rights almost literally. To oversimplify for purposes
of example, a ban against restraints on free speech means
to Mr. Justice Black that all speech is free—not some speech
under some circumstances, but all speech under all circum-
stances. And so here, the difficulty for Black must have been
that Willie Francis was asking him to rule, not on the basis
of a precisely prescribed prohibition in the Constitution, but
rather on the basis of a shocked conscience and vague, un-
defined principles of liberty and justice. Finding nothing in
the Constitution which specifically prohibited what had oc-
curred, he probably could not bring himself to vote with
the dissenters. ;

If it was surprising to find Black voting with Reed, it was
just as unusual to discover Mr. Justice Burton writing for
Douglas, Murphy, and Rutledge. Burton, a quiet, sensitive
but utterly detached judge, was normally identified with the
more “conservative” element of the Court. A former mayor
of Cleveland and United States senator, he was precise and
undramatic but sometimes extraordinarily effective. His ten-
page dissent in the Willie Francis case persuasively built fact
upon fact and premise upon premise until the whole piece
conveyed a strange and exciting depth of conviction. Calling

the case “unique in judicial history,” he admonished his

ing to note the similarity between some

IF AT FIRST 99

brethren that “Where life is to be taken, there must be no
avoidable errer .of law or uncertainty of fact.” He said tha
taking life by unnecessarily cruel methods “shocks the most
fundamental instincts of civilized man,” as evidenced by the
fact that some states have eliminated capital punishment al-
together. Certainly no state could authorize capital punish-
ment by repeated applications of electricity over a period of
time until death finally resulted. The only thing that makes
electrocution constitutional at all is that it is instantaneous
and not “death by installments.” wie
Thus, to Burton, the all-important consideration in deter-
mining the constitutionality of an execution is whether it is
“so instantaneous and substantially painless that the punish-
ment shall be reduced, as nearly as possible, to no more than
that of death itself.” He wrote: “If the state officials deliber-
ately and intentionally had placed the relator [Francis] in
the electric chair five times and, each time, had applied elec-
tric current to his body in a manner not sufficient, until the
final time, to kill him, such a form of torture would rival that
of burning at the stake. Although the failure of the first at-
tempt, in the present case, was unintended, the reapplication
of the electric current will be intentional. How many de-
liberate and intentional reapplications of electric current
does it take to produce a cruel, unusual and unconstitu-
tional punishment? While five applications would be more
cruel and unusual than one, the uniqueness of the present
case demonstrates that, today, two separated applications are
sufficiently ‘cruel and unusual’ to be prohibited. If five at-
tempts would be ‘cruel and unusual,’ it would be difficult to
draw the line between two, three, four and ph inch omen
this language
and de Blanc’s argument before the Louisiana Board of
Pardons. —_—oe
Burton conceded that Louisiana’s highest court had ruled
that the issue was an executive rather than a judicial one and
that the state courts were without authority in the matter.
But he said that in this respect the Louisiana court was in
error; the defendant had properly pleaded facts which, if
true, made a second attempt at electrocution unconstitu-
tional. That is, he had alleged that electricity actually passed
through his body. There had as yet been no court hearing
to determine whether the alleged facts were true, and there-
fore the case should be sent back for just such a hearing.
As support for his thesis, he quoted in his opinion the very

DEATH AND THE SUPREME COURT

affidavits which Chief Justice Vinson had chastised Wright
for citing during oral argument.

It was Mr. Justice Frankfurter’s opinion, joined by no
other Justice and yet decisive in the result, which must have
been torn from the soul. For Frankfurter is an avowed op-
ponent of capital punishment. He opposes it not only on intel-
lectual grounds but on grounds of conscience and morality
and personal revulsion. He abhors the sensationalism ac-
companying a death case, the subjection of human beings to
the agonies involved in preparing for death, and the taking of
life itself. And so his opinion stands as a personal monu-
ment to judgment over feeling.

For five pages he argued that the “double jeopardy” and
“cruel and unusual punishment” clauses were not, per se,
binding on the states. Only if what occurred so violently
offended justice that it overreached due process could it be
prohibited to the states. Frankfurter was here expressing his
answer to Mr. Justice Black’s view that the prohibitions
against the states are specific and enumerated. Although
quick to point out that he might rule differently if there were
a series of abortive attempts at electrocution, Frankfurter
nevertheless concluded, in the sometimes concise and some-
times lumbering style for which he is noted:

I cannot bring myself to believe that for Louisiana to leave to
executive clemency, rather than to require, mitigation of .a sen-
tence of death duly pronounced upon conviction for murder be-
cause a first attempt to carry it out was an innocent misadventure,
offends a principle of justice “rooted in the traditions and con-
science of our people.” . .. Short of the compulsion of such a
principle, this Court must abstain from interference with State ac-
tion no matter how strong one’s personal feeling of revulsion
against a State’s insistence on its pound of flesh. One must be on
guard against finding in personal disapproval a reflection of more
or less prevailing condemnation. Strongly drawn as I am to some
of the sentiments expressed by my brother BURTON, I cannot
rid myself of the conviction that were I to hold that Louisiana
would transgress the Due Process Clause if the State were allowed,
in the precise circumstances before us, to carry out the death sen-
tence, I would be enforcing my private view rather than that
consensus of society’s opinion which, for purposes of due process,
is the standard enjoined by the Constitution.

The vagaries of fate which had plagued Willie and his

lawyers from the beginning were still operative. When Wright |

‘called the Supreme Court on the day these decisions came
down, he was told that the Louisiana court had been “re-

IF AT FIRST 101

versed.” Fortunately, he checked back before spreading the
news and found that once again, someone had made a mis-
take. The Louisiana court was in fact affirmed, and Wright
had lost the case. The mistake, however, led Wright to a
more careful reading of the Justices’ texts, and he came to
the conclusion that what Burton had written had at one point
been a majority opinion. He pointed out to the press that
certain language in the Burton opinion sounded very much
like a majority order. It said, for example, “We believe that
the unusual facts before us require that the judgment of the
Supreme Court of Louisiana be vacated and that this cause
be remanded for further proceedings not inconsistent with
this opinion,” and, later, “We believe also that the Su-
preme, Court of Louisiana should provide for the determi-
nation of the facts and then proceed in a manner not in-
consistent with this opinion.” To lawyers, this was strange
language for a dissent. It was Wright’s idea that perhaps Mr.
Justice Jackson had changed his vote—and the result—at
the last minute. While this is pure conjecture, it is not in-
compatible with the completely independent nature of the
highly likable Jackson. That independence was instilled from
childhood.

Jackson grew up a Democrat in a Republican county of
New York. He clerked in a law office while still in high
school despite his father’s hearty disapproval of law as a
career. He never went to college, and began the actual prac-
tice of law after one year of law school and while only
twenty-one years of age. He was a quick success at the bar.
He had a flair for it, a feeling for it, a natural bent that
made him think like a lawyer and act instinctively like one.
If a client had to be told he could not proceed in a certain
way, Jackson was quick to suggest other courses that ac-
complished the same result with less possibility of censure.
After many years of practice, his acquaintanceship with
Franklin Roosevelt ripened into friendship and finally into
government posts. He was perhaps the finest Solicitor Gen-
eral the country has had. He moved from there to the At-
torney Generalship and then to the Supreme Court. Less
than a year before the decision in the Francis case, he had
been engaged in the now famous feud with Mr. Justice
Black.

Jackson constantly worried about the Court’s habit of tell-
ing the states how to conduct their criminal procedures, and
in his beautiful prose style—pungent, witty, and incisive—he
did not hesitate to communicate his fears to his brethren.

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‘

‘meant. There was only one thing wrong

with Allen’s allegation: Gallagher couldn’t
possibly have killed Ella Foley. Two of
LeFever’s men had questioned the team

of girls who had spent their time in the ©

big rounder’s company from early the

_previous night until Patrick Foley had

awakened Gallagher to tell him about the
murder. The girls had taken turns sleeping

-during the night; but they had both been

wide awake shortly after dawn, and Gal-
lagher hadn’t been out of their sight from
then until Patrick Foley called. He had
tumbled into a deep sleep at about seven
o’clock in the morning, some three to
five hours before the crime, and hadn’t
even stirred until his ex-partner arrived
to shake him into wakefulness. The girls
had remained in the house, despite press-
ing appointments elsewhere on the Sab-
bath, because Gallagher had gone to sleep
without settling up with them.

The surviving sister and her fiance were
a little confused about the details of their
departure from the house before the mur-
der. Conklin, who had stepped inside
briefly, couldn’t remember whether he
had actually seen Ella or not. “Why, cer-
tainly you saw her,” Irene reminded him.
“She came out of the living room and
said so long to us when we left. - Don’t
you remember?” Conklin wrinkled his
aie and said he guessed he did remem-
er. ;

At the church services the day of the
funeral Patrick Foley turned to his
brother and complained of feeling ill—
too ill,-in fact; to go to- the cemetery. Fhe
day was dark and stormy; Julian Foley
leaned over to Gallagher and asked him
if he would take Patrick home.

The two ex-partners left the church

os
Tern

ALLEGED ARSONIST—

Jose Colon, identified as a Puerto Rican Nationalist, who was arrested when,
police say, he tried to set fire to a New York City post office. At right is the
a gasoline can in hand who arrested the alleged arsonist.

detective with

» gry ems vibes a:
csi oe Rn. ape atin eg FAI rears Bicep macae cs
aed Sy

- an hour he was summoned to the Fole

_cated the_shot had been fired at close

together. Gallagher took Foley: hor
partly undressed him, and made it to th
cemetery in time to see the coffin of the
girl being lowered into the grave? © Le
Fever, who had gone to the church and
then to the cemetery, passed the time of ©
day with the kin of the deceased, then ~
returned to police headquarters.

home, Patrick Foley was dead. 4%

HE DOVE carver lay across a four-
-poster bed. A bullet had gone throu
his right temple; powder burns indi-

range. A revolver identified as the prop-
erty of Patrick Foley lay on the floor
alongside the bed, just below the man’s |
dangling right hand. It had been fired ~;
just once.. There was a suicide note, writ-
ten in pencil, on a dresser. Patrick Foley
had feared death from the voodoos; he
had apparently decided to beat them to it.
LeFever examined samples of Patrick
Foley’s handwriting. The writing on the
note appeared genuine. The detective got
a piece of blank paper. There was a pen-
cil on the dresser: where the -note was
“found. LeFever scribbled a few words
with the pencil. The point of the pencil
was sharp, the lead hard; the pencil that
had written the suicide note had been of
soft lead and had a stubby point. None
of the Foleys had removed anything from
the room. If that were so, the death of
Patrick Foley was murder made to look
like suicide. The pencil. with which the =
‘note had-been written -just--wasn’t in-the-<=
death room or on Patrick Foley’s person. ‘
There was no stationery anywhere in the
house that matched that on which the
note was written. eee

uy mm

as eee ie io no alternative but to take Patrick Foley’s
Of the ae ave / dite ry \mpertect iy own gun and murder him with it. Then
€ Madam Facto i he reached into his pocket for a piece of

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been“a boy—a™ dul

med Malcolm, °F6ér:g"

fly had kept the little
Then Gallagher had

paper, took out a stubby soft pencil he
always carried and wrote out a_ suicide
note. Gallagher was careful to simulate
Foley’s handwriting, with which he had

UW * ‘ ef
sent to an in- Retaing neat presse ay, dand, Lt Brown, Dk, & become familiar over the years. He had # DILITE
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was a pencil on the dresser and that there
was no paper in the household similar to

lidn’t know what had
e Butterfly, to Thomas
ir son. > {atid pele
tse, did know. The
» dope. She had taken

her to cream puffs, —

why the boy’s face

the son looked strik- ~

r. Wty
w there was no hurry.
silences to let a pat-
week an envelope ad-
stubby pencil arrived
fly. That, the sleuth
a weekly allowance
zher was sending to
Ss for the support of
gitimate, half-wit son.

some things that even
understand. But that
p in a pinch. So he
ard into durance vile.

d spilled the part of -

nself knew.
iad visited him occa-

pstg. Money Hack Guarantee. @ L.T.-1950
LINCOLN TAILORS Dept. HOig2 Lincoln, Nebr.

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that of the note. Clever, clever.man up
to a certain point, then not much smarter
than his son.

Knowing. that LeFever had obtained a
description of Malcolm after Ella Foley’s
death, Gallagher, ingeniously enough, had
covered himself after Patrick Foley’s mur-
der by saying that he, too, had seen the
loiterer in the gray overcoat. It had never
occurred to him that LeFever would find
Malcolm Beard. But that’s the way it
turned out. Malcolm Beard went to an
asylum for the criminally insane and
Thomas Gallagher went to the gallows—
all because little John LeFever, in pick-
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crumpled paper bag.

PASSION’S PARTY

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larger than that which had left a print a
the scene of the struggle. , :

While the latest suspect remained in
jail, the local and state authorities inten-
sified their investigation along other lines.

‘w, too, that the maid Captain Howard Carlson, homicide ex-
astructed Malcolm to Sy | | pert of the State Police, entered the case
e saw Mr. and Mts. , and suggested a house-to-house canvass
rene Foley and Ira z be made of every home in the city in an
ouse at ten o’clock. s the Pick of the effort to learn whether any person “even
lla’s fiance, wouldn’t Bs ‘ remotely connected with Lorraine Hess or
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ent off as planned—
i tossed that empty
and LeFever found
olm out of thin air.
*, nailed, also con-
had been a _ secret
ley. If he couldn’t
€ was going to. He
or the girl’s murder
her sister simulated
ured he would have
had two witnesses—
-in his house during

illagher then killed
‘k Foley, a sensitive
er, begun to get in-
; nores, He had be-
y ; former part-
‘ de a pass at
iug wo do with the

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N THE first day of June it was an-
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icide note, writ-

Patrick Foley =]
1e voodoos; he =
beat them to it.
ples of Patrick
writing on the
ie detective got
qere was a pen-
the -note was
{ a few words
it of the pencil
the pencil that
tte had been of
xy point. None
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‘ made to look
vith which the
t-wasn’t..in- the
Foley’s person.
nywhere in the
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Se SATA PS no

E Wien Tom re ene had "rcaght ‘his

former partner home from the church he
had noticed a youth wearing a large, ill-
fitting overcoat loitering. down the street.
He had _ noticed the youth again when
leaving about ten minutes later to go to
the cemetery.

The outstanding detective has a sixth
sense that tells him not only what to fol-
low up but also -what not to follow up.
From the first LeFever had been inclined
to discount the obvious theory that voo-
doo enemies had been responsible- for the
murder of Ella- Foley.. He felt, rather,
that somebody who knew of the long-
standing threats against the Foleys had
attempted to utilize the voodoo enmity
as a red herring to cover himself.

The Foleys were prominent people. The
press was yowling for a pinch. The police
commissioner jumped on little LeFever’s
neck with both brogans. If, as LeFever
insisted, the death of Patrick Foley was
not suicide but murder, didn’t it occur to
him that it was, then, part of a pattern?
What about Irene Foley, sister of the
murdered girl and niece of the dead man?
Wouldn’t she now stand to come into
about one hundred thousand dollars?

_LeFever shook his head from side to
side. Irene Foley was above suspicion.
What, then, about [ra Conklin,
low who hoped to marry her? “No.”

“But how do you know_ all this?”
roared the commissioner.

LeFever shrugged. He knew human
nature; he knew innocent” people when he
saw them.

What, then, did the little man have?
LeFever produced the crumpled paper
bag he had picked up near the spot where
the fellow in the gray overcoat had been
seen loitering the morning Ella Foley had
been stabbed—the same fellow, apparent-
ly, whom Thomas Gallagher had seen just
before Patrick Foley’s end.

The commissioner examined the bag
and began to get purple. Two murders
and LeFever produces a paper bag.

“If you examine it more closely, Com-
missioner, you will find that there have
been cream puffs in this bag. There is
fine sugar all over the inside, and there
are crumbs from cream puffs.”

What, demanded the outraged commis-
sioner, did that prove? Elemental, Wat-
son. The loitering youth had a passion
for cream puffs. He must have had to
eat them while waiting his chance to slip
into a house and commit murder.

“How do you know he ate them while
he waited?”

“He would hardly have carried an
empty bag around with him, Commis-
sioner. He must have been eating them
while he waited.”

“But how do you know it was the fel-
“low in the gray overcoat who discarded
the bag?” LeFever said he just knew.
Instinct.

LeFever covered the city’s pastry shops.
He came to one shop near the waterfront
that had-sold cream puffs to a dim-witted
youth who answered the, description of
LeFever’s loiterer. The proprietor didn’t
know the name of his customer; the fel-
low came in every once in a while.
liked cream puffs so much that he often
ate several right in the store. There was
nothing for LeFéver to do byt wait until
the puff fiend showed. Patience is a vir-
tue of all good detectives; LaFever had it
in abundance. -

The suspect appeared at he end of a
week of surveillance. He bought two bags

of puffs and ate the contents of one while .

he made his way to.a shabby house on
Burgandy Street. LeFever learned that he
pe there with his mother—a Maimie
Bear

It was common knowledge in the neigh-

= borhood that Maimie Beard’s son, whose

the fel-.

He =

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‘Madame. Butterfly’s heyday.

’

name was Malcolm, was a mental défec-

tive. The mother herself was a morphine
addict. The youth didn’t work; the mother,

_a woman in her fifties, devoted herself to

the needle and stuff to put in it. Where
she got the money to support a. needle
and a half-wit son was one of the mys-
teries of Burgundy Street.

HE name Maimie Beard was vaguely -

- familiar to LeFever. He returned to

headquarters and began to plow
through old records. A Maimie Beard
had, a quarter of a century before, run
one. of the finest bordellos in all New
Orleans. She had been known throughout
the city as Madame Butterfly. She was
now a sallow-faced woman, old beyond
her years; as Madame Butterfly she had
been a blonde, -buxom beauty who drove
men nuts. :

LeFever had been a rookie cop back in

thinking about the Madame that night.
There was something about the name that
caused a bell to tinkle in the far reaches
of his memory.

During the night LeFever woke up with
a start. The bell was ringing clearly.
There had been, a quarter of a century
before, a death in Madame Butterfly’s
bordello—the death of one of the girls.
The police had thought for'a day or so
that the girl had died as a result of being
strangled by one of the patrons; it turned
out that she had died of heart trouble.

The patron who had been under sus-
picion at the time had manufactured
tombstones. His name had been Gallagher
—Thomas Gallagher. It was curious that
the son of Madame Butterfly should, a
quarter of a century later, be under sus-
picion in connection with two. deaths in
the home of that same Thomas Galla-
gher’s former partner. Very, very curious.

LeFever and his men put. Madame
Butterfly and her son under around-the-
clock surveillance. The pair seemed to

‘do little except indulge their respective

appetites for morphine and- cream puffs,
read the newspapers and receive occa-
sional mail. :

LeFever began to screen the trash can
behind the building where Madame But-
terfly and her son lived. He often took
the contents of the can home with him
and emptied it out on thé living room
floor. where he could sift for-clues in
peace and leisure—in peace, that is, if his
wife didn’t catch him. He finally came up
with an envelope addressed to Maimie
Beard. It bore no return address, but it
quickened the detective’s pulse just the
same. It had been addressed with a soft.
stubby pencil—the same type of. pencil
used in writing the. spurious Patrick
Foley suicide note. There now seemed to
be more than mere curious coincidence
linking the house on Burgundy Street
to the murder house.

There was something about Malcolm
Beard, the youth in the large gray over-

couldn’t figure out exactly whet it was: it
had something to do with the youth’s
face. That face began to haunt LeFever
at nights; he couldn’t determine why.
LeFever fell back on the police records
again. He dug up a list of the girls who
had once worked for Madame Butterfly.
Some of them would by now be happily
married, probably to former clients, and
leading lives of stiff respectability. As a
matter of fact, the very first of the women
that the sleuth succeeded in: contacting
had evolved into something of a social
leader on the outskirts of the Parish. She
recalled Thomas Gallagher, the tomb-
stone manufacturer who had gotten into
trouble over the dead prostie at Madame

Butterfly’s. Gallagher had been Madame

_ Butterfiy’s sweetheart—and more. He had <2

He fell to.

Tiare were still some things that even

The dick .

: vis
te } ; +

sired a secret child of the Madame. “#

The child had been“~a boy—a du
witted little boy named Malcolm. Fér a
time Madame Butterfly had kept the little
boy in the bordello. Then Gallagher had
Cecided that he should be sent to an in-
stitution. Years passed. The now-respect-
able woman who was dishing all this out
to the detective had left the profession to
get married. She didn’t know what had
happened to Madame’ Butterfly, to Thomas _
Gallagher or to their son. é tint eee

LeFever, of course, did know. The
mother had taken to dope. She had taken
the boy back with her to cream puffs.
LeFever knew now why the boy’s face
had haunted him; the son looked strik-.
ingly like the father. ee

The detective knew there was no hurry.
He retreated to the silénces to let a pat-
tern develop. Each week an envelope ad-
dressed in the soft, stubby pencil arrived
for Madame Butterfly. That, the sleuth
deduced, would be a weekly allowance
that Thomas Gallagher was sending to
his one-time mistress for the support of
herself and their illegitimate, half-wit son.

LeFever didn’t understand. But that

“could be fixed up in a pinch. So he
clapped Malcolm Beard into durance vile.
The cream-puff fiend spilled the part of
the story that he himself knew.

His father, who had visited him occa-
sionally, had called on him the night be-
fore the Ella Foley murder. He had
cffered Malcolm $250—enough for moun-
tains of cream puffs—to ring a doorbell,
follow the girl who answered it into the.
house and stab her. Malcolm, thinking of
all those cream puffs, was all for it. Be-
ing weak-willed, he was completely under
the domination of the old man; this was
to be a murder by remote control.

On the morning of the murder Mal-
colm’s father slipped the warning note to
the Foley sisters, apparently from the voo-
doos, under the door. - Being close to: the
Foley household, he knew the plans of
the occupants; he knew, too, that the maid
was away. He had instructed Malcolm to
hang around until he saw Mr. and Mts.
Julian Foley and Irene Foley and Ira
Conklin leave the house at ten o’clock.
Since Don Allen, Ella’s fiance, wouldn’t
call until noon, Malcolm had two hours—
between ten and noon—to commit the
murder. ; :

Gallagher had given his son a dagger,
which Malcolm had later tossed away.
The dagger was supposed to make the
murder look like voodoo work, as indeed
it did. Everything went off as planned—
except that Malcolm tossed that empty
cream-puff bag away and LeFever found
it, then picked Malcolm out of thin air.

Thomas Gallagher, nailed, also con-
fessed. His motive had been a secret
passion for Ella Foley. If he couldn't
have her, nobody else was going to. He
began the build-up-for the girl’s murder
by sending her and her sister simulated
voodoo notes. He figured he would have
a perfect alibi if he had two witnesses—
the undercover girls—in his house during»
the hour of the crime.

But why had Gallagher then killed
Patrick Foley? Patrick Foley, a sensitive
man, had, like LeFever, begun to get in-
formation through® his pores. He had be- ®
gun to sense that maybe his former part-
ner, the man who had made a pass at
Ella, had had something to do with the
murder. :

_ On the morning of Ella’s funeral, when
Gallagher took Foley home from church,
Foley turned on him in the bedroom and
demanded to know just what he knew -
about his niece’s murder. Gallagher had ~~
ft ‘ * ne

oe + high his of
hte with the
ri Seulaiten and ex-

eden "Wn at &
Mere Poweipg ts a ty,

ins as Whe Ceotr we

Tas ©

ante nine. ~ teat ane ae

B is: wounded 1 : ae

worst ever

Harold-W.- Hershey. phates
"was taken to LSU Hospital where he © i a a
was awaiting surgery early ths _ NEW_YORK (UPI) — The stock.
_ Market Friday closed with a sharp
. loss to cap @s worst ony Pere

somehow shot Thompkins. There
~ were four billet holes in the police
car..Police indicated that the suspect...
silicd the gun trom bis paves and.

<cwith his hands still cuffed behind his

é COR ON % icsameetnaiaaises’t \)

The Shreveport Times mentoned
the date of the Louisiana Tech-North-
western football game three times in

triday's editions. The date was cor...

et wn the sparts sectson and the It's
trvias weteon Fat, alas, @ was
mcorrect on Page One The game
chetcal ius ed tonight

¢ome to the fair and more children |

get fost.” he sad as one waif was
claimed by his parents,
There were no major incidents in

the afternoon, although a poanble _

pickpocket operabon was reported.
Shreveport pohce and auxiliary of.
ficers will patrol the grounds each
das dunng the far, Dunn said

The usual complement of food and

novetty huoths were open to cater -

the younssters, although games of

: back. fired side at the ome
‘ shirt wirhisph tian octo
officer. ayn ae loss of only 5.6 powmts
One bullet went through the roof of =
‘the car, another down through the
"fear passenger seat and two through -
the back of the-front seat, one ap-
garenly hitting _ _Thompkins, police

cient oa! ann as oem oma

ewiscen tald police the man ran
from the police car with his hands
still cuffed behind him Police said

- the gun carned by the suspect also.

was reloaded. A box of shells was
found with the suspect :
Witnesses told pohce that the car

» tan off the road in front of Wray inh ,

and Thomptins got out of his pat wos
car and fell to the ground. His gun f°. Football.
was. found in the ditch beside lum. f°
fhe suet apparety vanes | Hotline!”
Mansfield Road and through the | :
parking lot of the car dealership. "The Football Hothne.

Police cordoned olf the area of | _ I's a special service for Timgs-
Mansfield Road and 70th Street and readers and it begims today.
hegan an immediate dragnet of the | | By tetephoning AS55514 Hine can
area. Some $0 to 75 policemen took. get the scores of your vorite
part inthe search; footpen teams — igh school, col-

The was located in the - or pro.
bechyard oa home on West Canal Here are the times the Footbal!

west of Hotline’ will be un service:

sul and chance stayed closed una e~howles ard about_apiock seo as WryrTY—to-18Se-
Bh bev iaie ore _when Aids Day was over, ac- Mansfiid He wad shot

cording to far oe

Bamey Gh.

is aft atenin ce pm
= garner “us aera Faire Cet e SATURDAY — 4pm toms

7 STON (AP) — There was “

e Becelerating

again:

; ees Ora of eonde ped services i

op on
about aVerage for™

ae aot buificient to cep
At from getting worse.

z in inflation was .

"but other indicators :.

_But some of these officials, speaking

“privately, say they're worrted that
inflation may apet everything-They-

“Tere Reserve: may”

_ ¢redit so much that it could lead to a

_ Fecession.

. cin anise pC ad
noe growth next year depend

heavily our farther success ia bring-

promot nor hanna end ** she
said

yes Carter: 4m - believed: cay to set
voluntary mist? percent oa wage

t US workers cannot exe

ty real improvement in their
for several years — even if
aton’s new vere

wage limits would not apply to work-
ers earning less than $3 to $4 an hour.

= 1978 EPA ESTIMATES _

ON REGULAR GAS

r 30 M.P.G HIGHWAY AND 23 M. PG. CITY.

MBSA WH
Read we hinve hoses Jbactad ison :
undue pubhcity, but-we have to Bve.. -
_with it and that’s the way 2 is."

The Tr:

esumated the recall will cost the :

company $230 millon
tion Secretary Brock:
agreement ever

Transporta
. Adams reveaied the:

_ before Firestone had signed it, in an»
apparent attempt to force the com :

agreement racial ail anand teed

pany to act. He threatened to go to -

_ houncement.

es ee Ga pea

duty since 15969. He had been with the -
Shreveport Police Department since
‘ed: 6. He was married and the
her of two children.

Lanigan said W isnot customary ~

for a rookie police oficer to ride
patrol alone, but that a shortage of
policemen has resulted in many. of-
ficers being placed in a car atone -

Lanigan said Thompkins’ short

Special Group

would have amounted to $800,008.

Ralph Nader criticized the agree
ment, saying too many of the Gres...

not covered by the ag)

a contributing factor-to- his death

“No, this sort of thing has happened
before to: seasoned officers. There
was a certain amount of careless-

ness-.-invoived . but. both officers...

searched the supect,”” he said.

“This is a great tragedy and a
severe loss to the department Pub--—

he = Safety

Commuissroner. Terry
Hayes said - ee eee

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Death

(Continued from page 8)

- topsy on Evans showed that his body had

two fourth-degree burns on the temple
and a second-degree burn on the leg. But
the prison commissioner denied that the
execution had gone awry.

March 13, 1985, Texas executioners took

more than 40 minutes to find a suitable

vein in which to inject a lethal dosage to
Stephen Morin, a former drug addict.

\ 7

John Louis Evans

Execution of the emotionally ill
WAYNE ROBERT FELDE, 39, was

executed March 15 in Louisiana’s electric

chair for the murder of a Shreveport

|. police officer he had killed 10 years ear-

lier. There was no question of Felde’s
guilt, but significant debate about his cul-
pability has been raised.

Felde, the son of a World War II veter-
an who committed suicide upon his re-
turn to the United States, joined the

~ Army and arrived in Vietnam on his birth-

day in 1969. He was assigned “tunnel duty”
and had to crawl on his belly through
enemy tunnels, unable to back up, turn
around or move.

He was also recruited to recover bodies
of dead GIs. He told of finding a friend so
burned by napalm that his arms came off
in Felde’s hands as he tried to move him to
a waiting helicopter.

When Felde returned from the war, he
was suffering from nightmares, flashbacks

SCO Le Med

and other bizarre symptoms of a disease
now recognized as Post-Traumatic Stress
Disorder (PTSD), which has affected a half
million Vietnam veterans. Although it is

now treatable, when Felde returned it had.

not yet been recognized, and Felde re-
ceived no therapy. Instead, he turned to a
life of violence.

When his mother died in 1978, Felde de-
cided to take his own life. Shortly after her
death, he was arrested for drunkenness
and handcuffed in the back of a police car.
Felde reached for a gun hidden in his belt
and tried to aim it at his head. The police-
man in the front turned and tried to grab
the weapon as Felde fired, but was himself
fatally injured by two shots that went
‘through the seat of the car.

Felde’s trial attorney based his argu-
ment on his client’s symptoms of PTSD —
the first such defense of its kind in the na-
tion. But after his conviction, both Felde
and his lawyer asked the jury for a death
sentence.

The jurors tearfully obliged, adding in
a statement, “We feel the trial of Wayne
Felde has brought to the forefront those
extreme stress disorders prevalent among
thousands of our veterans.”

Two weeks after Felde’s electrocution,
the California supreme court unanimously
overturned the death sentence of a Cali-
fornia death row inmate, citing PTSD as
a mitigating factor in the case. Another
PTSD sufferer, David Funchess, was exe-
cuted in Florida in 1986.

Wayne Robert Felde

the highlights of
, along with the
of features and ex-

cunds open at 8
open from 10 am

dvaclage of a he
2 off trem schon in

panaher to sar
pg ihe matway a
the exhibas and
official openmng of
Fair Friday
ninated the first
6,500, up from an
on last year’s first

cotton candy. «e
is and other trad

on Page 104

. the flocks of chul-
“ARTS3y. Sore

ut called
el in

alks

ON fAP I Oo =— T

ware Laiek Cad ‘

—31_ was dead on arrival at Schumpert

CORRECTION

The Shreveport Times mentioned
the date of the Louisiana Tech-North-
western football game three times in
Firnday’s editions. The date was cor-
rect in the sports sectoon and the It's
tyxtay exton Baa. alas, @ was
wnourtect. on Page One. The game
will be played tomght

come to the fair and more ctuidren
get fost.” he sand as one waif was
claimed by his parents

There were no major incidents in
the afternoon, although a possble
packpocket operaQon was reported
Shreveport pobce and auulary of
ficers wil patrol the grounds each
day dunng the far, Dunn said

The usual complement of food and
novetty booths were open to caler to
the youngsters, although games of

skull and chance stayed closed unt! 6~

pm, when Kads Day was over, ac-
Barney Ghao

The wideeyed adventurous
of the earty afternoon checked out
Ci Varwty of sxteshow features to
cluding everything from giant
animals and re-enactmests of

(Coatiaeed on Page SA)

-. the —

Mansfield Road

assailant was shot

average tobogganed
~ $9.08 points to 838-01. the greatest™ ~

p.m.

- “Petice specuiated that the suspect

apparently had a gun with him and
somehow shot Thompkins. There
were four bullet holes in the police
car. Police indicated that the suspect
pulled the gun from his pants and,
‘with his hands still cuffed behind his

the back of the-front seat. one ap-

weekly toss
worst ever

one-week decline in the S3-year his-
tory of the bellwether bluechip m-
dicator.

Orn) Sic SU ire cu

persistent. mflanon =

afflicting the country. wth many
analysts and traders convinced-ne

solubon was on the horizon. Next —

Tuesday night President .Carter
takes to natrona! televmion to sa-

——— TS 2 new aamitistraton Cai

paign to get nflavon under control.

The Dow's toss this week topped
the previous record one week loss of
$1.78 poants in the week ended Nov. 2,
1973, during the Arab od embargo.

During the stock market crash in

parently hitting Thompkins, police pounts

Witnesses tald police the man ran
from the police car with his hands
still cuffed behind him. Police said
the gun carned by the suspect also
was reloaded A box of shells was
found with the suspect

Witnesses told. pobce that the car_
ran off the road wn front of Wray Ford
and Thompkuns got out of tis patrol
car and fell to the ground. His gun
was found in the ditch beside him
The suspect apparently ran across
Mansfield Road and through the
parking lot of the car dealership

Police cordoned off the area of
Mansfield Road and 70th Street and
hegan an immediate dragnet of the
area Some 80 to 75 policemen took
part in the search

The suspect was located wm the
backyard of a home on West Canal

Boulevard about _a_plock _west_of

Mansfield Road He wad shot about
1015 pm after threatening police

cormting to far Pubbeay Dwector gotficers with a revolver Police Chef

Kenneth Langan said that polce
recovered a 357 Magnum at the
scene

~ “Thompkins ts reportedly the first

police officer to be killed in Ine of
(Centineed cn Page 3A!

Football.
Hotline!

The Football Hothne

It's a special service for Times
readers and it begins today

By tetephorung 425-5514 you can
get the scores of your {avonite
football teams — Ingh school, col-

eor
wi re poi the times the Football
Hotline’ will be in service:
* =

pm
@ SATURDAY —4pm toms.

mght

@ SUNDAY —Sp.m to7 pm.
Call the Football Hotline —
23-5514 — for scores, then read
the sports secon of The Tunes
for all the detaib

aie s

ie a

en ee

sui

AOE

7. ape

Taree eee -

pie sgreedie

AR Gye BERET Se er Zits

“

§S6 86 SOUTHERN REPORTER. (La.

it took them 10 or 14 seconds to run over
the ground—evidently an exaggeration, as
they could not run the distance in so short a_
time. The statement of the witness re-
garding this fast running ceases to be absurd
only when it ia considered, as we infer, that,
this witness (one of the two officers in ques-
tion who came up after the shooting) de-
sired to convey the iden that no time was
lost in running from where they were stand-
ing to the spot of the shooting. They found
the deceased in the gutter, alongside of the
curb, It was at that time that the wit-
ness, one of the officers before referred to,
asked him who shot him. The answer of the
decensed was, “Foley shot me without cause
or provocation.”

It was to this statement of the deceased
that the defendant, through counsel, reserved
a bill of exceptions, which brings up the point
before us for decision. The court admitted
the said declaration of the deceased as part
of the res gest. ;

The trinl Judge adds the following to his
narrative in the bill of exception, which we
quote 2 second time for the sake of connecting
statements:

“The witness saw the entire affray from the
moment that the first flash was scen, and up to
the time that he renched the wounded man no
one had reached the scene.”

The defense Jays some stress upon the
form of, the answer of the witness. We, for
that reason, insert the tes(Imony on the
point in the words of the witness:

“Q. When you ran to this man, did you stop
and ask him immediately about his condition?

“A. Yes, sir.

"Q. Did you ask him, when he was lying
down who shot him right then?

“A, Yes, sir, when I went there I tried to
grind out who it was. I tried to find out who
shot him. (Italics ours.)

“Q. As soon as you reached him you began to
ask him questions right at once?

“A. Yes, sir.”

The contention on the part of the defense Is
that the statement of the witness was not coin-
cident with the shooting or immediately after.

It was not coincident with the shooting
it is true. ‘The question arises whether ft
was immediately after In time to consider it
a part of the res gestm.

Only a brief period of time had elapsed
and nothing we Infer had been said, after the
shooting, to the moment the officers came
to where the decensed was in the gutter,

In view of the gravity of the pennity, wa
would rendily adopt the view, followed in
certain jurisdictions, that the declaration
must be coexistent with the act, or so near
that the intervening time Is almost finper-
ceptible; but our court, as we rend the de-
cisions, holds differently, and, of course, that
which our jurisprudence held to be law yes-
terday must be held to be Jaw to-day, unless
there was manifest error committed.

Thus, in State v. Thomas, 80 La. Ann.
602, the court sald:

“It js not necessary that the declarations be
concurrent; it is enough if they exclude all ap-
pearance or idea of design.”

The decision In State v. Revells, 84 La.
Ann, 883, 44 Am. Rep. 436, is very simi-
lar.

The witness in that case heard the shot
and the cry of the deceased, hurried to the
spot, came to It about two minutes after
the shooting, and it was then that deceased
made statements “touching the person who
had shot him.’ The accused was. not pres-
ent. .

This testimony was admitted as part of
the res geste,

In State v. Mollsse, 38 La. Ann. 383, 68
Am. Rep. 181, the court sald:

“If the acts or declarations are unconsciously
associated with ond related to the homicidal
deed, even though separated from it by a short
time, they are evidence of the character of the
deed and a part of the res geste.”

This is an extreme case—as many as 16
minutes had elapsed after the fatal shot—
and yet the court held that the testimony
was adiissible as part of the res geste, be-
cause the homictdal act was sufliciently con-
nected with the statement “to be an imme-
diate concomitant of it.’ We must say here
we do not go that far in the case before
us for decision, ‘The learned court in that
case stated: . .

“And this is what Greenleaf means when he
says, ‘The trial judge must determine the ad-
missibility of the evidence, and a large discre-
tion is allowed him;’ and the court even adds
that, according to Greenleaf, the ruling of the
trial judge thereon should be conclusive.” Gr.
Hvidence, § 108.

To this decision we lend approval only to
the extent that {t may serve as analogy to the
case in hand.

he court held in State v. Harris, 45 La.
Ann. 844, 18 South, 109, 40 Am, St. Rep. 259,
that when there are connecting clreumstan-
ces they muy, even when made some time
afterward, form part of the res geste, citing
several decisions in support of its view upon
the subject.

This court approved the utterance of the
court of another state of this country, that
the tendency of “recent adjudications” Is to
extend rather than to narrow the scope of the
doctrine, and decided that a declaration not
made at the place of the event, but a little
over half a square awny, under the facts
circumstantlally stated in the opinion, was
ndimissible as part of the res geste. Id, 45
La, Ann, 844, 18 South. 199, 40 Am, Bt.
Rep. 250.

We have been at palns to examine each
of the decisions to which we have referred,
and, as we read them, in each case the state-
ment constituting res geste was held nd-
missible when made at a time so near the
act ns rensonably to preclude all iden of de
align.

While we are not inclined to go as far
as was held in some of the cited cases, we
think we find in each enough to preclude the
possibility on our part of retracing our
steps and of holding thnt the statement, to be
admissible as res geste, must be concurrent
with the act, ‘

.
p

La.)

In all these cases there was intervening
time between the statement and the act. It
is true it was found that the statement and
the act closely following were connected, un-
der circumstances, however, not more evident,
as to concomitance of the act and the state-
ment, than in the case at bar.

The cominentators upon the subject have
not interpreted jurisprudence differently from
the yews in the decisions to which we have
just referred.

They concur substantially in saying that
the statement of the decensed Is admissible,

provided It Is made so soon afterward ns to
exclude nll iden that it was made with the
view of fixing the act on the defendant or of
assisting in his arrest. .

Wharton, Criminal Kv. § 263; Bishop, New
Crim, Procedure, § 1086; Bradner on Tevi-
dence, 494—agree. Deliberate design vel non
is the test.

Here we have not found deliberate design
in the answer of deceased, who, while writh-
ing in pain, lying prone In the gutter, as we
understand, sald:) “Moley shot me without
cnuse or provocation.”

Nor waa there anything In this answer sug-
gestive of the desire to give Information that
might lead to defendant's arrest. It wns, we
tnke it, the natural utterance of a gravely
swounded man.

After no enreful review of the decisions to
which learned counsel for the defense invited
our attention, we did not leave the subject
impressed with the Idea that the deelsions
were ns far apart from those we have just
reviewed nas they at first appear,

In nearly every one of these cases the pred-
{cate was na statement narrating the events,
and the conclusion was reached that the dec-
Jaration was not part of the res geste. On
the way from premise to conclusion there are
expressions, properly, we think, holding that
the decimation, to be admissible beyond all
question, should be immediately after or in
some way “concomitant” with or directly rel-
ative to the act itself. There must only a
brief perlod intervene, and not the least de-
sign appear. We understand that this is in
the main the trend of the authorities in ques-
tion.

There is always some difference tn the
fncts of a cnse, ‘The siimilitude is not com-
plete. ‘There 1s no question but that the de-
clatons clted by counsel for defendant have
the appearance of belng In point. ‘The ques-
tion Is, shall we, because of this, change the
ruling of this court on the subject?

In one of the eases cited, the court sald:

“Rut it Ie well settled In this state that, to
moake auch matter admissible, it must have been
concurrent with the act or transaction in issue,
and n part of it, and that a narrative of a trans:
action completed and finished when the narra-
tive is given, though made while fresh Jn mem-
ory, and so soon after that the party had not
time, probnbly, to Imngine or concoct A false ac
count, is jnadmissible.” State vy. Carlton, 48
Vt. 643,

STATE v. FOLEY.

887

In that ease the court sums up the facts
on this point with the statement that the
declaration offered as part of the res gestre
was no part of the act or transaction from
which the death resulted; “that it was finish-
ed and ended some time previous to the mak-
ing of the declamtion, and it was not so con-
nected with any part of the act or transaction
as to minke it admissible.”

In the case before us for decision the pollee
officers ran to where the decensed wns, and
were near him and heard the dectaration be-
fore any one came up.

In the second case cited by defendant's
counsel, that of People v. Ah Lee, 60 Cal, 90,
the court says: F

“That in the admission of testimony of this
character much would have to be left to the ex-
wer the sound discretion of the judge at the
trinl.

The court said on the merits of the ques-
tion:

“In the ense now before us It does not appear
that anything occurred between the defendants
and the deceased after the stabbing, and yet the
prosecution was permitted to nak the witness
what he heard elther of the partics any at the
time of the atabbing or linmedintely after, In
response to it the wilness might have stated
what was sald by the injured party after the ns-
aailant had fled and he himself had reached a
place of safety, And such appears to have been
the construction which the witness, court, and
counsel placed upon the question, The state-
ment to what the witness testified relnted to an
act which had been completed, and the atnte-
mont wna clenrly made with a view to the ap-
prehension of the offenders.”

We do not infer that any one is of the Im-
pression In the case before us that the decla-
ration of the deceased was directed toward
enabling the police to apprehend the offender,
That theory has not been suggested, and we
must say that we have not been led to such
an inference by reading the testimony which
comes to us with the transcript.

The other decision cited, People ¥. Wong
Ark, 96 Cal. 128, 80 Pre, 1115, Is very much
to the rsame effect, and adds emphasis to the
rule that the declaration must be of facts
talking through the party. It all comes to
the Iden, expressed in other words, that res
geste is not admissible when it Is not part of
anything done or something raaid while some-
thing was being done, but is something sald
after something done, as clearly expressed fn
Rog. v. Redingtleld, 14 Cox, O41 (English ease),
which goes further In excluding auch declara-
tions than the courts of this country.

Cockburn, C. J., in the efted case, rays:

“T regret that, according to the law of dal
Innd, any statement made by the deceased should
not be admissible.”

Hore the same rule prevatles, except when
the words are prompted by the suffering en-
dured and while writhing with pain immedl-
ately after; when It is, as It were, the volce
of the wound inflicted that apenka,

We lenve the decisions cited by counsel for
defendant, to say that reliance ia placed by
the defense on the decision in the case of

am Fatectint to

888 86 SOUTHERN REPORTER. (La,

State y. Charles (decided in February last,
No. 15,098) 111 La. 938, 36 South, 29, in which
the statement of the deceased to bis attend-
ing physician was held inadmissible, under
circumstances which showed that there was
deliberation on the part of the physician at
lenst, who came to where the wounded man
wns, not a minute or two after the shooting,
but nine or ten minutes, and said in sub-
stance that he wished to know, before begin-
ning with the case and making attempt at
relleving the pains of the fatally wounded
man, “who did the shooting.” The question
was pregnant with a suggestion that some
one must be named as the guilty party.

There was nothing of the kind in the ease
here, unless the word “grind,” which we have
before italicized, can give rise to an infer-
ence of impropriety on the part of the public
officer, ‘Tie word seems barren of meaning,
used as, it was. It may be that It was, as
suggested by the district attorney at bar,
that, owing to a stenographic error, the word
“find” was changed to “grind.”

We have not found that this “grind” was
connected with any question asked, or with
anything which took place, while the police
officers were standing near the deceased,

The declaration of the decensed thnt he
was shot without cause or provocation is
part of a natural impulse, The wounded
man who feels that be has been wronged and
injured will nearly always immediately give
vent to the expression that he did not pro-
yoke the act. At any rate, we do not think
that there was anything in the words show-
ing a desire for revenge. One enn Iinpulsive-
ly declare that he is innocent without secking
thereby to injure, or to have his assailant ar-
rested and punished.

We hnve found no ground upon which to
reverse the verdict and sentence.

Only one alternative remains, and to it we
have arrived only after baving carefully con-
sidered ench of the decisions of this court be-
fore mentioned,

We are constrained, in our view of the Inw
and jurisprudence, to affirm the verdict and
sentence and judgment.

For these reasons, the Judgment appealed
from is aflirmed, ‘

(113 La.)
No. 15,146.
MIGURZ v. DELOAMBRE et al.
(Supreme Court of Louisiana. June 20, 1904.)
LETTERS OF ADMINISTRATION—VALIDITY.

1. Letters of administration Issued without
+: gamete of an order of court are null and
void.

(Syllabus by the Court.)

Appeal from Nineteenth Judiclal District
Court, Parish of Iberia; ‘T. Don Foster,
Judge.

G1. See Executors and Administrators, vol 22,
Cent. Dig. § 172

Action by Dominique Miguez against Lou-
is Delcambre and others, Judgment for de-
fendants, and plaintiff! appeals. Reversed.

Weeks & Weeks and J. Sully Martel, for
appellant. Burke & Burke, for appellees.

LAND, J. This case was before us in
1903 on an appeal by plaintif from a judg-
ment sustaining a plea of res judicata filed
by defendants. Sce 109 La. 1090, 84 South.
99.

We reversed the judgment, and decreed
“that the exception of res judicata filed by
defendant in the court below be overruled,
that the cnuse be reinstated on the docket
of the court a qua, nnd that it be proceeded
avith according to law.”

The issues presented by plaintiff's petition
are set forth in the opinion In that case, and
need not be repented,

Although many collnteral matters are al-
loged tn the petition, Its object is to have the
appointment of Louls Deleambre declared
null and yold because there was no order of
court appointing bim ns Administrator, al-
though Ictters of administration issued to
him as such,

There ean be no valid appointment of an
administrator unless such an appointment
is innde under the authority of an order of
court. j

Letters issued in the absence of such an
order are null and yold, Wirt v. Pintard, 40
La. Ann. 233, 4 South, 14; Succession of
Pieard, 33 La. Ann, 1136; Lawson, Curator,
v. Moscly, 6 La. Ann. 700.

The letters furnish prima facie proof of the
existence of the order of appointment, but
this presumption, in the instant case, is de-
atroyed by the evidence adduced on the trial
below.

The mortuary proceedings show an order
for an Inventory, but no order for the pub-
Heation of the application of Louls Deleam-
bre, and no evidence of publication of sald
application, which were essential prerequl-
sites for an order of appointment.

There is no order of appointinent on file
or recorded in the judicial record book, 08
required by law. The clerk's fee book shows
no charge for any order of appointment. The
minute clork who kept sald book testified
that he had no recollection of any such or-
der. The testimony of the judge and clerk
are to the snine effect. The attorney for
the administrator did not testify in the ense.

The letters were null and vold, We have
held that the Judgment homologating the pro-
vislonal account of the administrator was not
res judicata against plaintiff as to sald ap-
polntment for want of evidence to show that
he was cited.

Defendant, whop the case was remanded,
renewed his plea of the thing adjudged, and
attempted to prove that plaintif® was cited to
rhow cause why the account should not be
homologated, ey)

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thown to the agents, and this familiarity is a danger in itself.
case in point occurred in 1979. That year the Secret Service
had Joseph Hugh Ryan committed to a mental hospital out-
ide Washington, D.C. after he tried to break through a gate
it the White House. Following his release, Ryan turned up in
the Denver, Colo. office of the Secret Service to complain that
was being harassed by agents. Stewart Watkins tried to
alm him down, but when the agent moved close to him,
Ryan drew a .45-caliber pistol from under his coat and shot
Watkins twice, killing him. Another agent then shot Ryan
Head as the killer tried to turn his weapon on him.
f Of course, neither the 400 grouping nor the larger computer
isting is foolproof. Sara Jane Moore did not qualify for either
bf them despite the fact that she had threatened to kill President
Gerald Ford and had one of her guns confiscated by San Francisco
Police the day before she took a potshot at the President in
1975. Moore was interviewed by two Secret Service agents but
ound to be “not of sufficient protective interest to warrant
rveillance.” Although she had a long history of erratic be-
avior, her name was not put on the computer listing because
bf the fact chat she was simultaneously an informer for the FBI,
the San Francisco police and the Treasury Department’s Bu-
tau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. It is possible that the
secret Service considered Moore’s “kookie behavior” merely a
over for her other activities.

pee also: Secret Service.

RANCIS, Willy (1930-1947): Double
execution case

Uf everything had gone normally in the execution of Willy
rancis in Louisiana, the only unusual note in the matter
would have been that he had paid the supreme penalty at a
father young age. However, the Willy Francis case was to
ult in a landmark decision on what constitutes cruel and
inusual punishment.
y A 17-year-old boy, Francis was sentenced to the electric
air for a murder he had committed when he was 15. As it
urned out, he went to the chair twice. The first effort was
botched when a malfunction in the chair caused him to receive
in insufficient electric shock. Willy was returned to his death
tell. When the state of Louisiana prepared to electrocute him a
ond time, his lawyers appealed to the Supreme Court that
subjecting the youth to a second ordeal in the chair was cruel
ind unusual punishment. The Supreme Court ruled by a vote
of five to four chat since the first unsuccessful electrocution was
Only cruel because of an accident, it “did not make the subse-
quent execution any more cruel in the constitutional sense
than any other execution.” In May 1947, about a year after the
Mirst try, the chair worked fine.

Further reading: Death and the Supreme Court by Barrett Pretty-

man, Jr.

FRANK, Leo (1884-1915): Lynch victim

Probably the most infamous anti-Semitic lynching in America

FRANK 263

was that of Leo Frank, a 29-year-old Atlanta businessman.
Frank, Brooklyn-born, a graduate of Cornell and president of
the Atlanta chapter of B'nai B'rith, managed the National Pen-
cil Co. factory for his wife's uncle. On Saturday, April 26,
1913, Confederate Memorial Day, the factory was shut but
Frank was there catching up on paper work. At noon, as he
later told police, 14-year-old Mary Phagan, all dressed up to
go to the holiday parade, entered the plant to pick up her
wages. Frank said she left immediately, but her body was
found in the basement sometime after. She had been strangled
and beaten. Penciled notes found by the body were supposedly
written by the girl. One, addressed to “Mum,” described her
murderer as ‘‘a long, tall, sleam, black negro. .
tall black negro did buy his slef.”

The next day Leo Frank was charged with the rape-slaying.
James Conley, a semiliterate Negro employed at the factory
made some startling accusations against Frank, among them
that he had been summoned by the white man, shown Mary's
dead body and told to carry it to the basement. In addition, he
charged that Frank had ordered him to write the notes. At
Frank's trial Conley also said that he had often seen Frank
performing acts of sexual perversion with a number of young
girls who worked at the factory.

. that long

Lynch-law pervaded the atmosphere during the 30-day trial.
Mobs cheered the prosecutor and harangued the defense at-
torneys—“‘If the Jew doesn’t hang, we'll hang you.” A news-
paper editorial declared: “Our little girl—ours by the eternal
God!—has been pursued to a hideous death by this filchy
perverted Jew from New York.”

While the jury deliberated, crowds outside the courthouse
kept chanting the “Jew monster” had to hang. Frank was
found guilty and sentenced to death.

Leo Frank defense committees were formed in various parts
of the nation. In Chicago 415,000 persons signed petitions
asking Georgia's Gov. John M. Slaton to commute the’ death
sentence, but the chief executive was also under considerable
pressure, and threats of death, not to do so. The Frank defense
brought in William J. Burns, perhaps the nation’s leading
detective, to investigate, and he turned up considerable proof
of a police frame-up. The police would not open any of their
records to Burns other than those he obtained with a court
order; on one occasion Burns and his assistant barely escaped
from a lynch mob determined to make the case against Frank
stand. Ironically, this was perhaps the first murder case in the
South in which the word of a black was taken over that of a
white man.

Burns discovered a witness, a black woman, who had been
Conley’s lover from time to time, and she signed a statement
that Conley had told her he had killed the white girl. She also
had 100 sexually explicit love notes from Conley in which he
had described himself performing the very acts he later accused
Frank of. In response to the Burns findings, Gov. Slaton com-
muted Frank's death sentence; it proved to be an act of politi-
cal suicide. “The Annie Maude Carter notes, which were not
before the jury, were powerful evidence in behalf of the de-

ifakis

€

» by Carl Si

hn
Dy

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN CRIM

The doctor working over the victim
looked up at the officer. aut

“There’s nothing more I can do here,”
he said. “We’ve got to get her to a hos-

“pital.” The wound, the patrolman. saw,
had apparently been caused by a load of.

buckshot, which had torn ‘huge pieces of

gray lamb coat. She was sobbing now..

“T can’t understand it,” she cried. “I took
her picture before and nothing hap-
pened.” .

“Do you know. who she is?”

The girl nodded tearfully. “Her name
is Olga. She doesn’t know me.” .

He brought the blonde closer to the
victim. “Do you know the girl?” he asked
softly. | . .

Olga turned her’ head with painful
effort. “No—no——_”

“Is this the woman who shot you?” he
persisted. °

“No, no—” she moaned. .

Bonistalli was able to learn only that
her name was Ruocco, Olga Ruocco.

After taking the names of witnesses, he
turned to the Christmas-wrapped pack-
age which lay on the platform. Through
the ragged hole in the front he could see

a shotgun, wired into position between -

two wooden boxes. The barrel of the gun

had been sawed off. The force of the ex-_

plosion, he reasoned, had kicked the gun
butt back and lacerated the blonde girl’s
hand.

He turned to question her again, and
had learned only a few details of her
story when a Roosevelt Hospital. intern
and officers from a Third Detective Dis-
trict cruiser car arrived on the scene.

The victim was rushed to the hospital.
Pearl Lusk was taken immediately to the
offices of the 14th Detective Squad-on
30th Street. There she sobbed out her
story to the Squad’s Commanding Officer,
Lieutenant Francis Burns, and Detective
Henry Strauss.

T= Officers listened carefully while

Pearl tearfully sketched the circum-
stances leading up to the crime. If true,
her explanation of how she Kad been
tricked into shooting the receptionist
bordered on the fantastic. Writers of
Paper-covered “whodunits,” and the
fictional exploits of pseudo-detectives on
the radio had never conceived a more
bizarre criminal plot.

His name was Allen La Rue, she told
the officers, He worked as a private in-
vestigator for an insurance company, but
she didn’t know the name of the com-
pany. She could give the police his
description, and she knew that he lived
in a furnished room on Seventeenth
Street, but that was all. ‘He had told her
nothing else about himself, —

At once, Lieutenant Burns detailed
detectives to cover the Seventeenth Street
rooming house. Unless La Rue had been
mingling with the crowd in the subway
station, the officer realized, the man was
ignorant of the (Continued on page 69)

from his death cell to the place of
execution is generally spoken of as
“the last mile.” For this reason it
might be properly said that Willie
Francis on. May 9th, 1947, walked
the second of his last two miles to
. Louisiana’s portable electric chair.
He had walked his first mile on
‘May 3rd, 1946, but was spared death
because: the lethal chair failed to
work for. one reason or another.

Willie was only sixteen when he
killed Andrew Thomas, a St. Mar-
tinville druggist, during a holdup
which netted him four dollars and
a watch. Tried, convicted, and sen-
tenced to death, Willie: was placed
in the State’s portable electric chair
to be executed, in the New Iberia
parish jail, on May 3rd, 1946. When
the current was turned on, how-
ever, Willie commenced to strain
and squirm against the straps which
bound him. Presently he yelled at
the top of his lungs from beneath
the hood over his face, “Take it off!
Take it off!”

The current was turned off and
the hood was removed from Willie’s
head by amazed guards. Willie,
filled with conflicting emotions but
unhurt, was taken back to his cell
while Sheriff Leonard Resweber,
who was in charge of the execution,
conferred with his colleagues. In
the meantime, press wires from
coast to coast buzzed with the news
that a seventeen-year-old Negro
boy had walked away from the elec-
tric chair alive and unhurt. x

Willie’s attorney, Bertrand S.
DeBlanc, immediately requested
that the death sentence be com-
muted to life imprisonment. Gov-
ernor James H. Davis ignored the
request and re-set the date of exe-
cution as May 9th.

With only four days left to live,
Willie sat in his cell reading a
prayer book and singing spirituals,
In'reply to a question put to him
by a news reporter, he said at the
moment when the switch was
thrown on him he was thinking of

A CONVICTED KILLER’S walk

FRANCIS,, Willie, black, elec, St. Martinsville,

THE LAST 22: °* “x9; 1947 eee

' going-to heaven. He said the cur-

rent “tickled” him a little as it
passed through his body.

As news of the execution that
didn’t come off spread throughout
the nation, letters and telegrams

commenced arriving at the Gov-'

ernor’s office in Baton Rouge re-
questing, suggesting and demanding
that Willie’s life be spared... One
of these messages was from the
world-famous Father Flanagan of
Boys Town, Nebraska.

In Los Angeles, the prominent
attorney, J erry Giesler, commented
that “ . .. the youth really died

mentally, and in the name of hu-—

manity the State should commute
his sentence to life imprisonment.”

Moved by public sentiment, Gov--

ernor Davis on May 8th asked

Louisiana’s attorney general, Fred.

S. LeBlanc, to rule on the legality

of a second execution. At this point ©

the. National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People
stepped into the picture and urged
that the execution be delayed until
the matter could be ruled on by a
court of law. And so it was that
the question was tossed into the
lap of the Louisiana Supreme Court.

‘While the people of the world’s

greatest democracy debated the -

legal and humanitarian aspects of
Willie’s plight, the Louisiana Su-

preme Court, and also. the State :
pardon board, ruled that Willie .

would have to walk the second last
mile. His execution was postponed,

- however, in order that his attorney
could file an appeal with the United.

States Supreme Court.

On June 10th, official word came
that the nation’s highest. tribunal:
had. refused to review the case...

Willie’s hopes dwindled to a low
ebb, only to rise again next day

when word came that an error °

had been made’ in listing his case
and that the United States Supreme
Court would review his case in
October.

Willie’s appeal to the high court .

was based (Continued on page 88)

Thu Le ren 7
WWE,

SENTENCED to death for the murder of a St.
Martinville (La.) druggist, Willie Francis (above)
‘was strapped to the chair. The current was ap-
plied. Willie squirmed. When the current was
shut off, Willie was found to be not dead but
very much alive. “It tickled a little,” he said.
Louisiana authorities then got their heads to
gether to find if it’s legal for a condemned man
to be electrocuted twice for the same- crime.

IN PHILADELPHIA, a railroad brakeman
tried to dissuade blonde Judy Alferez (above)
from sleeping in her pajamas in the aisle of
a westbound Pullman. He charged that she
(1) ripped the buttons off his coat, (2) beat
him with a leather belt, (3) then chased him
and a porter through three cars. She was
booked on a charge of assault and battery.

A BADLY MAULED and dismembered fem-
inine figure, wearing only black pumps, was
found In a Chicago trash bin by Policeman
R. Murphy (far left), Only identifying mark
was the words “Size 17° stamped on her
wax back. Yep, the lady was a discard-
ed department store clothing dummy.

WELL-NIGH PANTSLESS, Lonnie Hollis (left)
stands before a judge in Chicago and ex-
plains that his odd appearance was caused
by a “couple of fellows” in a tavern who
amputated the lower half of his trousers as a
practical joke. The judge told a bluecoat
to loan Hollis a pair of pants so he could
go home with his epidermis legally covered.

(Continued from page 58) and warm them- ,

selves with hot coffee. After this rest period,
they returned to their seats and the trip was
continued.

As the bus left the city limits of Ironton,
the two youths who had almost missed the
bus began drinking openly from a bottle
of whiskey and arguing in loud voices. Their
language became both obscene and profane.

“Stop that kind of talk,” ordered the
driver. ‘“Can’t you see there are women
aboard?”

When the pair ignored his request, Still-
well added, “Stop that talk and put that
bottle away or get off!”

At that, the older and bigger of the two
pulled a revolver from his pocket and shot
through the floor. ‘Rising from his seat, he
fired several bullets through the lower por-
tion of the driver’s seat and announced in a
loud voice, “I’m takin” charge,/here.' I’m
gonna give the orders from ‘now /on....I’m
hijackin’ this bus, see.:An’ my brother,
Relph, will keep, the pees ati vem in line!”

,HE youliger man ‘now rose and stood. in

the aisle where he could watch all of the
passengers. His: hand was-in his coat
pocket and.no one could tell whether or not
it held'a gun.

His. -elder. bestia ckitien’ the Bottorn
from ‘an.empty. ‘whiskey bottle and held‘the
jagged edge against the bus driver’s rieck
as he ordered; more speed:or.less speed.
Sometimes, he thrust his own foot against
the accelerator, and frequently he empha-
sized his remarks. by banging the butt of
his pistol down yd hagep ean head.

Desperately, . ; experienced driver
fought ‘with’ wk eareerlini vehicle. ' The
wildly laughing and shouting tormentor
seemed to have a gift for increasing speed at
the most dangerous points, getting a thrill

out of tempting Death: Above them towered °

the shale hillsides and in the darkness be-
low. swirled .the broad cold waters of the
deep rivers. 4:3 %

' Stillwell ‘gravely ‘doubted: whether. any-
one could escape from the plunging bus
alive if.it should leave the road. °

‘The wheels skidded repeatedly on patches
of ice or moisture, and each time he swung
the bus back onto the pavement, but the
repeated blows on his head were increas-
ing his difficulties. He found himself fight-
ing off dizziness, double vision, and un-
consciousness as he struggled heroically to
save the lives of his passengers,

The woman with the child had shielded
the tiny boy with her own body when the
shooting started. Now Stillwell could hear
her praying. And he fervently hoped God
was listening.

“We're coming to some bad curves. Please
let me slow down,” Stillwell pleaded as the
bus speeded along toward Hanging Rock.

His fears were more than justified. The
sandstone cliff rises 400 feet at this scenic
point, overhanging the road. The highway
itself makes a number of abrupt turns in
getting through the old iron furnace yards,
past the cliff, and under the Norfolk &
Western Railroad tracks. It suddenly juts
above the stream for what is on clear days
a magnificent view of the waterway once
dubbed La Belle Riviére (the beautiful
river) by early French explorers. Then the
route plunges down into the valley. Nor-
mally, twenty miles an hour is top speed
for a heavy and cumbersome vehicle on this
section of the road.

Stillwell’s attacker only laughed and
cursed at his warnings and entreaties. Again
he pushed his own foot against the accelera-
tor. The needle on the speedometer climbed
above forty as they. spun around curves.
While Stillwell struggled with the wheel, he

The Wayward Bus

felt the blood coursing down his neck. The
drink-crazed madman had pressed the sharp
glass fragments against his neck, causing a
series of cuts. Sweat poured into Stillwell’s
eyes, and his teeth clenched as he ap-
proached the tricky S-curve underpass at
the railroad.

The wildly swinging arc of the headlights
picked out fences, neat homes, roadside oil
lines, darkened service stations, gas wells,
three-room shacks, and once the white and
startled face of a pedestrian as the heavy
automobile swung from side to side while
the tires hissed and sang on the bricks.

The driver was certain they would plunge
into the river, but he kept on battling for
control. After a nightmare series of skids
and a senseless, jumbled view of kaleido-
scopic lights, abutments, tracks and whirl-
ing roadway, the big bus, as though by a
miracle, swung clear. The highway ahead
was now comparatively easy to follow.

God must have been listening, Stillwell
decided, as he once again became conscious

CHILLY
Not long ago, Dorothy Snow, Omaha,
Nebraska, filed sult against Fred Snow.
Her attorney, Frank L.. Frost, pre-
sented the cold facts. —c. w. Golden

of the mother’s voice praying for the safety
of her child.
The armed man began to lose interest in

the straight route ahead. He again fired

bullets through the floor and at random in
the direction of his fellow passengers. Then
he announced, “I’m goin’ to shoot every war
vet on here. Then I’m gonna drive the bus
and the rest of you into this damned river!”

“You're first!” He shouted and waved his
gun at the driver. “Only, I don’t wanna
shoot you sittin’ down. You gotta stand up!”

In order to stand, Stillwell was forced to
stop the bus—a procedure that seemed to
go unnoticed by the berserk would-be exe-
cutioner, But this, happening in a matter of
seconds, turned the trick, for the moment
the vehicle rolled to a stop, the passengers
rushed the drink-maddened pair and after a
brief but violent struggle, both bandits
were disarmed and flung off onto the road.

The driver then continued on about one-
half mile to an all-night garage at Wheelers-
burg, a suburb of Portsmouth and some
thirty miles from Huntington.

The crazy pair, who had shanghaied :
motor transport, together with its opera‘
and passengers, made no effort to esca
They staggered along the same road trave!

a few minutes earlier by the bus and wal!
into the garage where they were imme
ately seized.

Deputy Sheriff Burl Justice of Sc
County took them into custody. His inves
gation revealed that they had fired fourt
shots into the bus.

When the horrified residents of Whe:
ersburg heard the passengers’ harro:
ing stories of the trip that had brought th:
so close to death, they gave the Griff
brothers a well-merited beating. Office
from the sheriff’s department then spirit:
the no-longer swaggering, but thorough!
frightened pair, away to jail.

Stillwell, the driver, was hospitalized. H:
sustained multiple head injuries, nec!
gashes, and severe loss of blood. A pas:
senger, Lawrence Steele of Cincinnati, wa
treated for a broken nose. Stillwell’s con-
dition was described as “very weak.”

For a critical time, it seemed that nigh:
of horror might result in the driver’s deatt
and the vandals would then have beer
charged with manslaughter or murder

| af be tra learned the two bus hijackers
Hobart Griffith, twenty-six, and Ralpt
Griffith, twenty-one, had roomed at Hutt-

.ington,. West Virginia, where they wer

employed. Wheelwright, Kentucky, wa:
their home city. The elder brother had
been released from a veterans’ hospital only
a month before.

The sturdy, thirty-six-year-old driver
ultimately recovered. Hobart Griffith then
was permitted to plead guilty to. assault
with a deadly weapon and received a three-
to thirty-year term in the Mansfield re-
formatory. After pleading guilty to assaul
with intent to kill, Ralph was sentenced to
from one to fifteen years in the same penal
institution.

At the hospital. Stillwell commented, “I
don’t know how we got through the sharp
S-curve underpass at Hanging Rock. Boy,
I thought that was the end.”

A male traveler added, “I still dream
about those skids and the river down below
We were lucky to have an expert and pluck
driver.”

Only the two-year-old passenger re-
mained completely unconcerned about his

.midnight ride with Death that night, along

the fast-flowing Ohio. ait

The Last Two Miles

(Continued from page 19) on the conten-

tion that a second trip to the thair would -

constitute “cruel and unusual punishment,”
which is prohibited by the Bill of Rights.
With new hope, Willie read his prayer book
fervently and regained his robust appetite,
never falling below his average one-hun-
dred-fifty pounds avoirdupois. In an inter-
view with a newspaperman, he said, “I’d
like to be a cook at the state pen. I can
cook pretty good—and I don’t want to sit
in that chair again.”

October soon came and the United States
Supreme Court, in a five-to-four decision,
ruled that Willie would have to die. Wil-
lie’s attorney, fighting desperately for the
life of his client, appealed once more to the
State pardon board. But once more the
pardon board refused to recommend ex-
ecutive clemency.

On April 30th, 1947, Acting Governor J.

mile Verret signed Willie’s death warrant

and set the date for his execution as May
9th, exactly one year from the day of his
scheduled second trip to the chair.

Thus it was that on May 9th, 1947, at about
one o’clock in the afternoon, Willie Francis.
now eighteen, walked the second of his last
two miles—only this time he did not come
back.

Willie’s strange reprieve and subsequent
death established a precedent in the annals
of American criminal jurisprudence. For
never before had any man sat in the elec-
tric chair with the current passing through
the body, then lived to tell about it.

Willie’s last words were .. . “Everything
is all right.”

Willie was a murderer and he deserved
to die.

But he had courage. He resigned himself
to his fate and he made no complaint:
against either God or man.

—C. G. Rep.

Lousiana ——

Wegr » Franh. Comyp. date (0-15-1855.

N.0.f ic. 6/9/55 A:3 and E/1/ FF /:6 Afferaton
Edition. Change date of execution from V/6/55 To
S/A4/55. He whe a retrial and So escaped The.
origina! cretion date. fe was a (5 year tld 404.
Murdered the ftv. J. 1. Weems by oecapitaring VEAL
a Lroadaxe. MMotve unknowsd.

Lousiana. ~~
Negro Frederick Af, 8/5 6

NO. Pie. 3/1/56 4:2 ttutions execution.
Condemned fey fining lus master’s ginhituse.

Slave FRANK, black, 15, hanged Rapides Parish, LA on August 24, 1855.

Warrant 1179, dated October 15, 1855, to John Connor for Slave Frank,
executed in Rapides Parish, LA in 1860 (no date), $500.00.

(Book E, Auditor’s Appropriations, 1854-1857, State Archives, Baton Rouge,
LA, page 424).

Newspaper extractions: |

He was originally sentenced to he hanged on July 6, 1855, but received a new

trial and the execution did not actually take place until August 24, 1855. Frank was
15-years-old and he had murdered Rev. J. J. Weems by decapitating him with a
broadaxe.
Pi , New Orleans, LA, June 9, 1855 (2/3) and 8/1/1855 (1/6).

Ni
= Lousiana Compensation Sr > Saag Rlel
iL, [0/15/55 Comp. dave

Negro Frank. Kapides Jarush

Opelousas Courier 6/93/5 5 A*/ Menfns Case.

Ordered @xecuted on 7/6 /5 5 tor murder of
hev.J-J. leews -

GS Rg eI Rg ot So he TERA OT aR Sh Rata

336 La.

the reversal thereon on a number of errors
allegedly committed during the trial to
which timely objection was made and bills
perfected.”

According to the record Alfred Thomas

Faciane, Johnny McMiller, and Elias Cy-
prian, together with Alfred’s brother Mil-
ton 3 went to Uneedas, Louisiana, to rob a
country store owned and operated by Ru-
dolph Hano, father of the deceased. Dur-
ing the course thereof, the boy was shot
and killed by Alfred Faciane as he begged
for his life, Cyprian, at the time, being
outside in the get-away truck as a look-
out while the other three entered the store.

The first bill of exceptions reserved on
behalf of both appellants is based on the
trial judge’s denial of their motion for a
change of venue.* Counsel argued, both
orally and in brief, that it was impossible
for the accused to secure an unbiased jury
and to have a fair and impartial trial in-
asmuch as public feeling against them was
at a fever pitch over what counsel term in
brief “so horrible a crime,” requiring re-
moval of the accused from the parish for
safekeeping, and particularly so since the
accused were members of the negroid race,
the deceased a thirteen year old white boy,
and the “holdup” occurred in a white man’s
store. Counsel point to the large number
of jurors allegedly excused for cause as
evidence of the bias of the jury. It is
contended, additionally, that the news
coverage and articles running in the local
paper were calculated to stir up wide-
spread public resentment and antagonism.

2. Faciane reserved 13 bills and MeMiller
reserved 4. In their first bills both urge
the trial judge erred in refusing them a
change of venue; additionally, McMiller
urges he. was prejudicially denied a sev-
erance. MeMiller’s second and Fa-_
ciane’s seventh bills contest the judge’s

ruling that one of the jurors was com- /!}

petent. MeMiller’s third and Faciane'’s |,
tenth and eleventh bills are levelled at
the admission in evidence of written
statements made by their co-defendants.
MeMiller’s fourth and Faciane’s thir-
teenth bills question the action of the
court in denying them a new trial. Fa-

ca Ringe ko Ns

99 SOUTHERN REPORTER, 2d SERIES

[1-5] The burden of establishing by,

legal evidence that applicant could not se-
cure a fair trial in the parish where the
indictment is laid rests with the applicant,
56 Am.Jur. 68, Section 68, verbo “Venue;”
State v. Rini, 153 La. 57, 95 So. 400, 404;
and State v. Roberson, 159 La. 562, 105
So. 621. And the test is not, as claimed by
counsel but, rather, as pointed out in the
Rini case: “Can there be secured with
reasonable certainty from the body of such
citizens, with the use of the safeguards of
the law, a jury whose members will be able

to try the case upon the law and evidence’
adduced on the trial, uninfluenced by what’
they may have heard of the matter, and’

who will give the accused the full benefit
of any reasonable doubt which may arise
from either the evidence or the lack of it?”
See, also, State v. Ford, 37 La.Ann. 443.
Furthermore, the power to grant a change
of venue is to be exercised with caution and
always rests in the sound discretion of the
trial judge whose ruling denying the mo-
tion is not reversible error and will not be
disturbed unless it affirmatively appears
from the evidence that his ruling was un-
fair and a clear abuse of judicial discre-
tion. See, State v. Powell, 109 La. 727,
33 So. 748; State v. Roberson, 159 La.
562, 105 So. 621; State v. Collier, 161 La.
856, 109 So. 516; State v. Washington,
207 La. 849, 22 So.2d 193; State v. Pear-
son, 224 La. 393, 69 So.2d 512; State v.
Johnson, 226 La. 30, 74 So.2d 402; State v.
Swails, 226 La. 441, 76 So.2d 523, certio-
rari denied 348 U.S. 983, 75 S.Ct. 574, 99
L.Ed. 765, and the authorities therein cited.

ciane’s bills Nos. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 12 em-
brace matters growing out of and con-
nected with the appointment of a com-
mission to examine into his sanity. And
Faciane’s seventh and eighth bills point
to alleged errors in certain portions of
the opening statement of the district
~-attorney and the testimony of the father
_ of the deceased.

Milton Faciane was killed by the father °
of the deceased during the affray.

The phase of McMiller’s first bill touch-
ing on his motion for a severance will be
discussed later,

STATE v. FACIANE

La. 337

Cite as 99 So.2d 333

[6] A review of the record discloses no
abuse of discretion on the part of the trial
judge in refusing the change of venue.
The defendant Faciane totally failed to
carry the burden of establishing local prej-
udice, as did McMiller, for we find no evi-
dence of any probative value to support
their motions, In an effort to establish
this claim five witnesses from various parts
of the parish were produced—a carpenter,

cafe owner, restaurant worker, service sta-

tion attendant, and optometrist—and while
they testified they heard the crime dis-
cussed in a general way, they knew of no
antagonistic feelings or prejudice against
the defendants, all stating unequivocally
they felt, the accused could receive a fair
and impartial trial in the parish. Indeed,
they all testified unhesitatingly they could
personally serve on such a jury if called
and render a just verdict. Counsel repre-
senting Faciane, apparently realizing the
failure to carry the burden of establishing
local prejudice has not, in argument, either
orally or in brief, mentioned the testimony
of these five defense witnesses. : Instead,
his attempt to have this ruling reversed is
limited to an effort to make light of the
testimony offered on behalf of the state,®

asserting it evidences prejudice on its face:
since “such complacence about the com-,

mission of so horrible a crime * * *

could not be genuine.”

It is true, as contended by counsel, that’

the accused was placed in a jail in Baton

Rouge immediately after the commission '

of the offense, but we find the record fully
corroborates the trial judge’s per curiam
wherein he advises that they only remained
at “Baton Rouge from March 26th until

5. We learn from the trial judge’s per
curiam that “some nine witnesses in-
eluding. the Sheriff of Tangipahoa parish,
heads of two banking institutions, mayors
of five incorporated towns in Tangipahoa
parish, and the chief deputy sheriff of the
said parish,” were called to the stand
by the state. All testified there had
been no “hostile demonstrations or out-
ward show or attempts” of violence at
any time subsequent to the crime; that

99 So.2d—22

April 25th when they were arraigned..
Since that time they have been kept in the
parish prison at Amite with no _ hostile
demonstrations of any kind and no attempt
at any mob violence. The deputy sheriff
testified that this was a usual procedure
for men charged with capital offenses be-
cause of safety reasons. * * * The tri-
al lasted a week and during that time there
was no incident of violence or prejudice
in the court room or on the outside. The
jury was obtained without calling more
than the normal number of talesmen for
such a case.”

[7] .With respect to the news coverage,
“Newspaper articles * * * are not
in themselves sufficient evidence of the ex-
istence of such prejudice as will justify:
a change, unless public hostility has been
so aroused thereby that it is improbable
that a fair trial can be had.” 16 Corpus
Juris 206, Section 309; 22 C.J.S. Criminal
Law § 196. As above demonstrated, the
appellants failed to establish that such
public hostility had been aroused. See,
also, State v. Rini, 153 La. 57, 95 So. 400;
State v. Roberson, 159 La. 562, 105 So. 621;
and State v. Swails, 226 La. 441, 76 So.2d
523.

. Bills of Exceptions Nos. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,
and 12, reserved by the appellant Faciane,
embrace matters growing out of and con-
nected with the appointment of a lunacy
commission and will be treated together.

It appears the trial judge, on June 14,
1956, some three months after the com-
mission of the crime, appointed a lunacy’
commission ® composed of the parish coron-

in their opinion the accused could be
tried fairly and impartially in the parish.

To this motion was attached the recom-
mendation of Dr. Alfred T. Butterworth,
employed on behalf of Faciane, who is
assertedly an expert psychiatrist of New
Orleans. This recommendation is as fol-
lows: “The mental status examination
and history pointed toward a_ schizo-
phrenic diagnosis. He shows some per-
secutory delusions, bizarre ideas and

99 SOUTHERN REPORTER, 2d SERIES

334 = La.

STATE v. FACIANE La. 335
Cite as 99 So.2d 333

days, defendant was examined as required
by law, though commission, in abundance
of precaution, recommended that defend-
ant be subjected to further examination by
staff of state hospital for the mentally ill.
LSA-R.S, 15 :269.

10. Criminal Law €=625

In murder prosecution, letter, which
had been sent to trial judge by clinical
director and senior psychiatrist and crimi-
nologist of state hospital for the mentally
ill, stating that examination of one of the
defendants disclosed that he was not in-
sane, was properly admitted in evidence in
connection with the testimony of its au-
thors. LSA-R.S. 15:267, 15:269.

it. Criminal Law €=625

In murder prosecution, wherein trial
judge admitted in evidence a letter, which
had been written to the trial judge by clini-
cal director and senior psychiatrist and
criminologist of state hospital for the men-
tally ill stating that examination disclosed
that one of the defendants was not in-
sane, such defendant was not entitled, as
a matter of right, to have in court all ex-
perts who participated at state hospital
in his examination. LSA-R.S, 15:267,
15 :269,

12. Criminal Law €=625

Anyone asserting an abuse of discre-
tion by trial judge in determining mental
capacity of defendant under plea of pres-
ent insanity has burden of establishing
such abuse. LSA-R.S. 15:267.

13. Jury C>131(6)

In murder. prosecution, defendants
should not have been permitted to question
prospective juror as to whether he would
convict an accused on mere fact that he
went to scene of crime with others, know-
ing what they intended to do, but making
no effort to stop them, because: he had no
interest in the matter, since questions
which have :for their evident purpose to
have jurors indicate in advance what their

decision will be under a certain state of
facts are not pertinent.

14. Jury 133

Where prospective juror, in murder
Prosecution, was obviously confused by
manner in which improper hypothetical
questions, which were confusing and in-
volved, were phrased by counsel of defend-
ants, but, when prospective juror’s exami-
nation as a whole was considered, he ap-
peared to be fully qualified to serve, trial
judge did not abuse his discretion in over-
ruling defendants’ challenge of the prospec-
tive juror.

15. Criminal Law €=730(2)

In murder prosecution under statutory
provision that murder is the killing of a
human being when defendant is engaged
in perpetration or attempted perpetration
of armed robbery, even though he had no
intent to kill, trial judge did not err in
refusing to instruct jury to disregard a por-
tion of district attorney’s opening state-
ment, on ground that it allegedly related
to premeditation, where such portion of
the opening statement merely detailed the
murder of the deceased while defendants
were engaged in the perpetration of a
robbery and was not intended to establish
that the murder was premeditated. LSA
-R.S. 14:30.

16. Homicide €>172_

In murder prosecution under statutory
provision that murder is the killing of a
human being when defendant is engaged
in perpetration or attempted perpetration
of armed robbery, even though he had no
intent to kill, trial court did not err in
overruling defendants’ objection to cer-
tain portion of testimony of deceased’s fa-
ther, on ground that such testimony at-
tempted to show that murder was pre-
meditated, where testimony merely showed
murder while defendants were engaged in
perpetration of robbery, and did not show

that murder was premeditated. LSA-
R.S. 14:30.

17. Criminal Law €=673(4)

In murder prosecution of three de-
fendants, written statements of two of the
defendants were properly admitted, over
objection of third defendant that they
were exculpatory as to their authors but
inculpatory as to third defendant and were
introduced merely to prejudice jury
against third defendant, where statements,
though containing some portions which
were exculpatory as to their authors, also
contained inculpatory facts that tended to
establish the guilt of their authors, where
trial judge properly instructed jury to dis-
regard statements as to any of the other
codefendants. LSA-R.S, 14:30.

18. Criminal Law @=412(1)

In murder prosecution of three de-
fendants, wherein statement of one of the
defendants was admissible because it con-
tained inculpatory facts tending to estab-
lish guilt of its author, it was admissible as
a whole, and part thereof was not rendered
inadmissible because it was allegedly an
attack on the character of one of the other
defendants. LSA-R.S. 14:30, 15:450.

19. Criminal Law €=622(1)

An accused is not entitled to a sever-
ance as a matter of right, and the granting
or refusal of his motion for a severance is
one that rests entirely within discretion of
trial judge. LSA-R.S. 15 :316.

20. Criminal Law G>1148

Trial judge’s ruling on motion of de-
fendants for severance will not be dis-
turbed on appeal, unless it is established to
be arbitrary to defendant making the mo-
tion. LSA-R.S. 15:316,

21. Criminal Law €=1166(6)

Denial of motion of one of the defend-
ants in murder prosecution for a severance,
on ground that defenses were antagonistic
because statement made by one of the-de-
fendants incriminated another defendant

and it was known in advance that the
state would introduce such statements, was
not prejudicial error, where such state-
ment was never in fact introduced in evi-
dence. LSA-R.S. 15 :316.

22. Criminal Law €>622(2)

An accused is not entitled to severance
on ground that he desires to call his co-
defendants as witnesses in his behalf.
LSA-R.S, 15 :316.

23. Criminal Law <=1166(6)

Where record of murder prosecution
of three defendants disclosed that defend-
ant, who made motion for severance, on
ground that he desired to call the other de-
fendants as witnesses in his behalf, did not
call the other defendants to the stand, he
failed to carry burden of establishing that
trial judge abused his discretion in deny-
ing the motion, and, further, that alleged
abuse resulted in reversible error. LSA-
R.S. 15:316, 15:557.

——_>—_———_

F. Irvin Dymond, New Orleans, Grover
L. Covington, Kentwood, for defendant-ap-
pellant.

Jack P. F. Gremillion, Atty. Gen., M. E.
Culligan, Asst. Atty. Gen., Duncan S.
Kemp, Dist. Atty., Amite, Leonard E.
Yokum, Asst. Dist. Atty., Hammond,
W. M. Dawkins, Asst. Dist. Atty., Denham
Springs, for plaintiff-appellee.

FOURNET, Chief Justice.

The appellants, Alfred Thomas Faciane
and Johnny McMiller, having been con-
victed on an indictment charging them
jointly with Elias Cyprian? with violating
Article 30 of the Louisiana Criminal Code
(R.S. 14:30), in that they did “wilfully
and feloniously and of their malice afore-
thought kill and murder Rudolph Berkley
Hano,” and sentenced to die in the elec-
tric chair, prosecute this appeal, relying for

1. Cyprian, found guilty as charged without capital punishment, did not appeal.

PERE ToT RR eA > a

a ee ee

338 = La.

er, Dr. L. L. Ricks, and Drs. A. L. Lewis
and C. E. Sturm—the former is a general
practitioner in the locality and the latter
was at the time clinical director and act-
ing superintendent of the East Louisiana
State Hospital for the mentally ill—to
inquire into the mental condition of the
accused at the present time and also at
the time of the commission of the crime.
He ordered them to report their findings
within 30 days. On July 12, 1956, the com-
mission addressed a report to the judge
stating, in effect, that in their opinion the
accused was normal mentally, but, in an
abundance of precaution, and in order that
he might be given every benefit of the
doubt, recommended that he be sent to
the Louisiana State Hospital for the men-
tally ill for observation and diagnosis for
a period not to exceed 30 days.

Accordingly, the accused, on the order
of the judge, was committed to the hos-
pital for observation, examination, and
tests by the medical staff, and, on August 2,

1956, Dr. Sturm, as clinical director, and:
Dr. C. J. Addison, as senior psychiatrist :

and criminologist of the hospital, addressed

a letter to the judge in which they stated: -
“After examinations, tests, observation and -

interviews he (Faciane) was presented to
our Medical Staff on August 2, 1956, and
the staff agreed that this man is not in-
sane at this time, that this man knows the
difference between right and wrong, that

he knows the usual and natural conse-~

quences of his words and acts and that he is
able to assist counsel in his defense.”
(Brackets added.)

demonstrates an inappropriate affect.
It is possible, of course, that this man
has been psychotic at some time and
I would strongly recommend the appoint-
ment of a lunacy commission to deter-
mine his responsibility in this alleged
erime.” (The emphasis has been sup-
plied.)

7. The pertinent part of this provision is
as follows: “The accused shall be kept
under observation by the physicians and
they shall proceed with an investigation
into the sanity of the accused and they

99 SOUTHERN REPORTER, 2d SERIES

The trial judge then’ set September’ 6,
1956, as the day on which he would con-
duct the hearing to determine the present
mental capacity of the accused. On that
day Dr. Lewis, a member of the commis-
sion, was absent, and the hearing was,
upon motion of counsel, continued to Oc-

tober 4, the judge, in counsel’s presence’

and in open court, ordering that summons
issue commanding all three members of
the commission and also Dr. Addison to
be present on that day, counsel represent-
ing Faciane then stating in open court he
would bring his own witnesses with him
at that time.

“Bill of Exceptions No. 2 was’ reserved
when the trial judge overruled defense
motion to have the testimony of Dr. Lewis
stricken from the record and disregarded
during the October 4 hearing and that no
further testimony be taken, contending the
accused had not been kept under observa-
tion by the commission and it had not filed
a report as required by R.S. 15:269,7

Predicated on this same contention ‘is Bill’

of Exceptions No. 3, reserved when Dr.
Sturm, another member of the commission,
was allowed to testify over defense ob-
jection, and Bill of Exceptions No. 12,
reserved when these same two witnesses
were allowed to testify with respect to
Faciane’s mental capacity at the time of the
commission of the crime during the trial
before the jury, he having filed a plea
of not guilty by reason of insanity.® Bill
of Exceptions No. 4 was reserved when
the trial judge ruled admissible in evidence
the document addressed to him dated Au-

shall have free access to the accused at
all reasonable times and shall have full
power and authority to summon wit-
nesses and to enforce their attendance.
They shall within thirty days make their
reports in writing to the presiding judge.
Their findings shall constitute the report
of the examination and the report shall
be accessible to the district attorney and
to the attorney for the accused.”

8. This bill is apparently abandoned as it
is not argued here, either orally or in
brief.

STATE v, FACIANE La. 339
Cite as 99 So.2d 333

gust 2, 1956, counsel’s objection being that
it was not signed by all three members of
the commission. The fifth bill was reserved
when the trial judge overruled Faciane’s
motion that his counsel be permitted to
question all members of the medical staff
of the hospital who had examined the ac-
cused when he was under observation at
that institution; and when the judge, at the
close of the October 4 hearing, overruled
the plea of present insanity, the sixth bill
was reserved.

From a review of the per curiam the
trial judge has attached to each of these
bills we think his appreciation of the case
in so far as the issues raised in them is
concerned may be fairly stated to be that
he considered the document of July 12 to
be the official report of the commission and
thus prima facie evidence of its findings;
that he committed accused for further ex-
amination and diagnosis as suggested by
the commission so that he might be given
every benefit of the doubt and also that
he (the judge) might be in a better position
to reach a just conclusion after a full
hearing on the plea of present insanity;
that although counsel was furnished with
a copy of this report, he raised no objection
thereto at the time, nor did he object to
the suggestion contained therein, to the
commitment to the state hospital under
that suggestion, and, further, did not ob-
ject to the results reported by the hospital
staff as reflected by the document of Au-
gust 2; that on the date fixed for the hear-
ing, September 6, still making no objection
to the report, the commitment, or the re-
sults obtained as the result thereof, counsel
secured a continuance on the ground that
“Dr. A. L. Lewis, one of the commission ap-
pointed by the court to examine Alfred
Thomas Faciane, was out of the state,” the
judge then in open court, and in presence of
counsel, summoning all members of the
commission as well as Dr. Addison to’ be

9. This expert did testify at the trial be-
fore the jury, and the jury, in finding
Faciane sane at the time of the com-
mission of the crime, obviously felt he

present at the October 4 hearing, while
counsel representing Faciane made no re-
quest that any of the other members of the
hospital staff who participated in the exam-
ination be summoned, but, rather, stated
in open court that “he would bring his
witness with him on said date.”

The judge advises further that on the
day of the hearing counsel proceeded to
trial without raising any objection to the
report, the commitment, and the findings
of the staff, his objection to the report
not being made until completion of the
examination and cross-examination of Dr.
Lewis, when, for the first time, he contend-
ed the mandatory provisions of R.S.
15:269 had not been complied with in
that the accused had not been kept under
observation and no report had been fur-
nished by the commission as required there-
in. He did not object to the report of
August 2 until the close of Dr. Sturm’s
testimony, and his request for examination
of all staff members who participated in
the hospital examination did not come until
the very close of the hearing, at which
time the trial judge ruled he had no right
to such testimony as a matter of law and
that if counsel felt this testimony was es-
sential, it was his duty to have these ex-
perts subpoenaed, which he had not done,
despite the fact he stated in open court on
September 6 he would bring his own wit-
nesses; in fact, he did not even call to the
stand Faciane’s own expert, upon whose
recommendation the lunacy commission had
been appointed, though he was present at
the time.®

{8] The judge not only considered the
document of August 2 important to assist
him in arriving at a conclusion as to the
mental capacity of the accused, but also
admissible in evidence in connection with
the testimony of Drs. Sturm and Addison,
who had signed it. And from the showing

was in error in the opinion expressed
in his recommendation that such a com-
mission be appointed.

AEE Pr rE sree se .
we Si et ee Nae spats piecing

340) La

made during the hearing he felt he had
no alternative but to conclude the accused
was sane and to order him to trial, the
judge being, under the law, the exclusive
judge of the sufficiency and credibility of
the evidence introduced to establish mental
capacity under a plea of present insanity.

It is apt to observe that counsel is not
here contending Faciane is insane or in
any manner unable to understand the pro-
ceedings against him and to assist. coun-
sel in the preparation of his defense. In-
stead, he is relying on technicalities in
the procedure followed by the commission
in conducting their examination of Faciane
and reporting to the judge, their sole com-
plaint in this respect, as above pointed out,
being that the commission failed to keep
the accused under observation and did not
make a report as required by R.S, 15:269.

[9] The contention of counsel that the
accused was not kept under observation
and examined as required by law is clearly
without merit. There is nothing in the
statute 1 requiring that an accused be kept
under constant observation for any fixed
period of time, and the legislature has not
therein attempted to dictate to these ex-
perts the manner and method to be em-
ployed by them in conducting their ex-
amination, undoubtedly feeling, as do we,
that they are eminently better qualified to
know just exactly how to best carry out
their duty in this respect as the particular
facts of each case may warrant. And once
the commission’s investigation as to the
sanity of the accused has been completed,
the only duty imposed upon its members

10. The pertinent portion of this provision
is set out above in Footnote No. 7.

11, The pertinent portion of RS 15:267
provides: “If before or during the trial
the court has reasonable ground to be-
lieve that the defendant against whom
an indictment has been found or informa-
tion filed is insane or mentally defective
to the extent that the defendant is un-
able to understand the _ proceedings
against him or to assist in his defense,
the court shall immediately fix a time
for a hearing to determine the defend-

99 SOUTHERN REPORTER, 2d SERIES

by the statute is that “They shall within
thirty days make their reports in writing
to the presiding judge,” which was done
in this case. The fact that the commission
in an abundance of precaution recommend-
ed the accused be subjected to further ex-
amination by the staff of the state hospital
for the mentally ill does not detract from
the fact this was the report of the com-
mission. The judge was under no obliga-
tion to accede to this recommendation.
The fact that he did so speaks eloquently
of his fairness and of his desire to give
the accused every opportunity to establish
his contention.

The record reveals the trial judge, ex-
ercising the discretion vested in him by
R.S. 15:267 14 appointed a commission to
inquire into the mental condition of the
accused, following precisely the procedure
set out in such cases under the law, and,
in accordance with these provisions the
commission made its written report within
30 days. This report was made accessible
to the district attorney and to the accused
and the case was duly fixed for hearing
on September 6, 1956. On that day, be-
cause a member of the commission was
not present, the defendant was granted
a continuance to October 4 so that counsel
might have the benefit of all testimony
he then stated he needed. At the hearing
all members of the commission, as well as
Dr. Addison, the head psychiatrist of the
hospital, were present, were examined by
the judge, the state, and tendered to coun-
sel for the defense, who subjected them
to searching cross-examination.

ant’s mental condition. The court may
appoint two distinterested physicians to
examine the defendant with regard to his
present mental condition and to testify
at the hearing. Other evidence regarding
the defendant’s mental condition may be
introduced at the hearing by either par-
ty. If the court, after the hearing, de-
cides that the defendant is able to un-
derstand the proceedings and to assist
in his defense, it shall proceed with the
trial. * * *” (The emphasis has been
supplied.)

Cil02ui STATE v. FACIANE

la. 341

Cite as 99 So.2d 333

©! [10,11] We readily concur with the
trial judge’s ruling under Bill of Excep-
tions No..4 that the document of August
2 was properly admitted in evidence in
connection with the testimony of its au-
thors, and in his conclusion that the ac-
cused was not entitled, as a matter of
right, to have in court all of the experts
at the state hospital who participated in
the examination of Faciane, as contended
under Bill of Exceptions No. 5. A mere
reference to the pertinent law, reproduced
above in Footnote No. 11, will disclose the
trial judge may, if in his discretion he feels
there is reasonable grounds to justify an
investigation into the present mental con-
dition of the accused, appoint two phy-
sicians to examine him and to testify at
the hearing. Continuing the statute stipu-
lates that “Other evidence regarding the
defendant’s mental condition may be in-
troduced at the hearing by either party.”
If Faciane’s counsel had been sincere in
feeling the testimony of the members of
the medical staff was necessary to establish
the present insanity of his client, he was
under a duty to avail himself of this itali-
cized portion of the statute and either
have these men present, as he said he would
when he sought the continuance on Sep-
tember 6, or else have them subpoenaed
during the intervening month. At least
he should have made some showing of the
importance of such testimony before pro-
ceeding with the October 4 hearing, and
have then secured a further continuance un-
til these experts could be present. (The em-
phasis has been supplied.)

[12] The final bill reserved in this
connection that has been briefed (Bill of
Exceptions No. 6) embraces an objection
made when the trial judge overruled the
plea of present insanity. Under our law
the judge is given the exclusive responsibil-
ity” of ultimately determining the mental
capacity of an accused under a plea of
present insanity, subject to review only
by this court, and the jurisprudence is

to the effect that anyone asserting an
abuse of that discretion has the burden of
establishing it. State v. Scott, 49 La.Ann.
253, 21 So. 271, 36 L.R.A. 721; State v.
Johnston, 118 La. 276, 42 So. 935; State
v. Seminary, 165 La. 67, 115 So. 370;
State v. Johnson, 226 La. 30, 74 So.2d 402;
and State v. Chinn, 229 La. 984, 87 So.2d
315. As above pointed out, counsel did not
introduce one single witness, either lay or
expert, at the October 4 hearing to estab-
lish the present insanity of Faciane, not
even the expert upon whose recommenda-
tion the commission had originally been
appointed to examine into his mental ca-
pacity. In fact, counsel, as above pointed
out, is not now arguing that the trial judge
abused his discretion in this matter, but has,
instead, predicated this bill on the same
basis that the other bills now being treated
are predicated on, i. ¢., as set out in brief,
that the record was in no condition to pass
on this plea since “the lunacy commission
had not filed its report in writing as re-
quired by law, had not kept the defendant
under observation as is also required by law
and that appellant was denied the right to
cross-examine all of the experts who par-
ticipated in the examination as to his mental
condition,” matters we have just disposed
of as being untenable.

The next bill, Bill of Exceptions No. 7
reserved by Faciane and Bill of Excep-
tions No. 2 reserved by McMiller, ques-
tions the judge’s ruling in disregarding
defense counsel’s challenge of prospective
juror James J. McLaughlin for cause and
holding him to be competent for service,
it being their contention this constituted
prejudicial error since they were com-
pelled to exhaust all peremptory chal-
lenges before the jury was finally selected.
These hypothetical questions were confus-
ing and involved. However, they were
apparently intended to elicit from the juror
an answer as to whether he would convict
an accused upon the mere fact that he
went to the scene of the crime with the
others knowing what they intended to do

12. Set out above in Footnote No. 11.

St ert cn ti

A A A ae re teanntt

—

MA ssa, 2

Wayne - Death sentence in Louisiane,

FELD,

Morning Advocate August 22, 1980

‘Defendant asks for»

d hh dict
eat O

ALEXANDRIA (AP) — In an extraordinary finish to an unusual trial, both
defendant Wayne Felde and his lawyer asked Thursday that he be sent to the
electric chair,

A district court jury obliged by recommending at 1:15 a.m. that Felde be put |
to death. - ;

Dette elements

Graves Thomas, Felde’s lawyer, had made a similar plea:

“T feel life in prison isn’t going to do him any good,” he
told the jurors. “If you returned the verdict you did, you
have to vote for the death penalty.”

Under Louisiana law, the jury that convicts ina capital
punishment case also decides, after an additional sepa-
rate hearing, whether the penalty should be death or life
in prison. on fey? .

Judge Guy Humphries said he would make a final deci-
sion on the recommendation in a few days. If he accepts
the recommendation, an appeal to the state Supreme
Court is automatic,

The same jury had returned a verdict at 11:05 p.m.
Wednesday convicting Felde of first-degree murder for
killing Shreveport police Officer Glen Tompkins in 1978 me as
by shooting him in the back. WAYNE FELDE

Humphries then suggested that proceedings end for the night, but the jury
wanted to stay on and complete the hearing on what the penalty should be.

Felde would be the fifth man on or headed for Death Row at Angola to await

However, prosecutor B. Woodrow Nesbitt said there was a simple and clear
reason why Officer Tompkins, who had arrested Felde on a drunk charge, was
shot. Though Tompkins didn’t know it at the time, Felde was an escapee froma

“Felde killed Officer Tompkins because he did not want to go back to the pen-
itentiary,” said Nesbitt.

Felde was serving a sentence ona manslaughter conviction when he escaped.

The trial was shifted to Alexandria at the request of the defense, which said
publicity on the shooting had madeit impossible for Felde to receive a fair trial
in Shreveport. :

et
=

FLORENZO, Joaquin, hanged New Orleans, La,, 6-15-1877.

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tks Wie tigi: Seis + rs ee wt RG PVA Spee te TS RS tg FASS IAB AARON Gilly 5 SOS DS ERIE EAE I RES NASIR I CRN He INP ORS LIS GOES BE eins nah AT aan yeaa co a Meh Seat A Ep
PRS REE SRO ete: LMT oe ei NS ec, oh sts Witenes 4 : He ees Pe ; ' 7 F

GEORGE. MORRIS, ADRIAN EVEQUE and JOAQUIN FLORENZO, all Hanged, New Orleans, Lae, 6-15-1877.

Gallows erected on northern ward'of- the 'yard', a paved court in the centre of the prison,
overlooked on the four sides by windows of the cells, The condenmed men slept a little
during last night by Eveque spent most of time in prayer. At 5:30 AM white shirts, duck.,
pants and slippers were handed to each one and they were instructed to dress in them
Bes, It was then that Morris' control broke and he began rushing about cell in frantic manner
io | ee. wildly gesticulating and exclaiming: 'Oh, my God! I am coming to thee! My Jesus who a -
Pee a spilt your blood for me, and for all sinners like me, I am coming! You will save me, ty
Fore Bless all the people on earth; all those who have been friends to me, and all my enemies," Pi
(oes | Florenzo though clothes nice until he realized he was to be hanged in them and he then
cass objected to putting them on but was persuaded to do so, Aveque dressed neatly and
ia: wibhout exhibition of nervousness, Aveque visited by mother and half-brother, Godin,
CA Ea shortly after 8 o'clock, He remarked to Godin, under sentence as accessor? to the murder
that he would die bravely and as a Christian, At 10:35 the executioner went with rope to
- bind the condemned, A few minutes later, Deputy Sheriff Hart read warrants, Aveoue
aa he sat silently and motionless with chin slightly depressed and eyes opened, Florenza moved
f dee 2 oe % his head from side to side, nervously, and muttered something in Spanish, supposedly a
prayer. Morris's whoe frame trembled, his lips moved convulsviely and his head fell back,
Drop fell at 11:12, Necks of all broken,

ern poke 3
mY Bree h "George Morris, The deed for which this man expiated on the scaffold, was one of the most
piciger : . atrocious and brutal ever perpetrated in this city, Early on the morning of Nov, 30, 1875,

he killed a young mlattress named Sarah Jones at No, 253 St, Louis St., within a few squares
a of the spot where he suffered death, The woman, who had been his mistress, deserted him,
He Ae e Morris, on the day mentioned, inflamed with maddening jealousy, went to her house and
| : attacked her with a long, sharp knife, She took to flight and endeavored to evade the
re tae LaF OR nea pursuing demon, but in vain, He leaped upon his victim with the ferocity of a tiger and
eh ie iP plunged the deadly weapon many times into her body, Then deliberately sharpening the knife
Tee TEN Pa on the curbstone, he took the head of the dying woman:on his lap and cut her throat, |
EAL Ms tee Pending the trial he manifested utter indifference as to his fate, and loudly and openly
‘¢ ; boasted of his prowess, and, after conviction, he proclaimed his readiness to follow his
Set ak Pita tos victim to the grave, His remarkable sang froid and recklessness of demeanor during the ESC at
ach aires past few weeks had been chronicled, He was of medium height, muscular and in color a Peers |
; } griffe, but of upprepossessing countenance, His dark eyes particularly when he was
angered, gleamed with passion ahd his lips trembled with the force of an ungovernable
instinct that raged within him, In age he was about 27,"

"Adrian Aveque, This man killed RichardyTurner, colored, on the evening of Feb, 6,

- ees 1876, at a negro ball, given at the corner of Claiborne and Ursulines Sts, Aveque,

fn who was somewhat under the influence of liquor, fell into a row with Turner and without
warning, drew a pistol and shot him through the head, The next day he was captured on
“ayou Road. He was convicted on April 8 and sentenced to death on May 2 by Judge Steele,
the Supreme Court thereafter affirming the sentence, He was a bright mlatto and in age
about 20 years though he looked much older, being tall and robust in stature, He was
the most religiously disposed of the three men and was generally to be found, during his
imprisonment, reading a Bible, He leaves a wife, mother, and other relatives, His
half-brother, Godcin, was charged as accessorry, convicted and is now serving out a term
of two years in the Parish Prison, his sentence having been commuted by Kellogg."

Anite tirenaeseiplecitng
qi # ‘1, MP ot

"Joaouin Florenza was a native of Manila in the Pacific, Several years ago he went to
Havana and thence came to try his fortunes in this city, The crime for which he suffered
the death penalty was the murder of a mlattress known as Marie Louise at No, 133 Bourbon

St. on Jan, 16, 1876, As in the case of Morris, jealousy was the incentive to the deed,

The wommn was his mistress and he suspected her fidelity, With a deliberation characteristic
of Oreientals, he prepared for the bloody act, which he executed with fatal certainty,

The woman was found in her bed early the next morning, a corpse, with a knife thrust throu gh
her heart, The bed and floor were strewn with told and silver coins and rolls of bank notes
which the murderer had scattered about in his frenzy, He seems to have slain his mistress

as she slept, The same morning he attempted the life of her suspected lover, but was
arrested, convicted on Feb, 21, and sentenced tg 6 ath on Mapeh, 6s, a DOESBAA knew but few

j is
ds in English and was able to converse only pan
thverior intel itaation, and it was long before he could be made to comprehend the circumstances |

Boe cs hee ik Ra kaeeiie en ce AE VSR dae RIA sala eli ae ee RGA alan WoL eee en Pane Oa LEER ga kn yee ta aeceetecteeratarreaeaete tare eek aT

Morning mavocees | Sealy

Last La. execution

-vears azo
nearly 20 years ago

Several years agoGary Gilmore paidfor Shortly after that then-Gov. Jimmie
his crimes against humanity by being shot Davis sealed Davis’ fate by signing an
to death by the state. Author Norman order for his execution.

Mailer chronicled the life and demise of That was nearly 20 years ago. _ rd
Gilmore and won a Pulitzer Prize.

After Gilmore, John Spenkelink paid for
his crimes by giving his life in a Florida
prison. There were no Pulitzer prizes
following Spenkelink’s execution. The
novelty apparently had worn off.

If the state carries through on its
promise to execute David Dene Martin at
Angola, sometime in the early hours of
Friday, there again may no be Pulitzer
prizes. But there will be remembrance.
For it has been nearly 20 years since
capital phnishment has been carried out in
Louisiana.

Jessie Ferguson was 39 years old when
he was strapped into the electric chair in
the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola
and executed early on the morning of June
9,1961. . ,

Ferguson, from Opelousas, was
executed for the murder of an 11-year-old
Opelousas girl, Joyce Thibodeaux. -

The execution ended a court battle to
save the convicted murderer’s life that:
lasted more than two years.

In his first trial, Ferguson was charged
with raping then murdering the
Thibodeaux girl. That effort ended ina
mistrial.

In a second trial, Ferguson was found
guilty of murder. -

It was a heated trial that gripped the city
of Opelousas. .

During the second trial, a statement
which Ferguson gave to police shortly
after his arrest was introduced.

In the statement, Ferguson told how he
had attacked the girl, slapped her and hit
her with his fist. He said the girl fell
against a heater in an abandoned building
into which he had brought her. Ferguson
explained how he had then carried the girl
to another spot in the room and covered
her with clothing he found in the building.

Ferguson’s existence then flowed
through a river of appeals. But on May 1,
1961, the United States Supreme Court
refused to hear Ferguson's case.

a J Sf *

FERGUSON, Jesse J., black, 39, elec. La. (St. Landry) June 9, 1961.

Times Picayune ' December 14, 1983

Killer-rapist’s ’61 death -
was ILa.’s last execution

By RICK RABERNC afi $3"

;. The last person put to ‘death in the

Louisiana electric chair was 35-year-
old Jesse James Ferguson, -who died

June 9, 1961... « a ee Tiene
_ The unemployed welder was con-’

victed two years’ earlier of the rape ‘*:
} and murder of a’9-year-old Opelousas -

irl. Cid Ned ei
, Ferguson introduced himself to
Joyce Thibodeaux as she was walking
‘through town on the way to her aunt’s
house, according to M.J. Goudeau, St.
Landry Parish district attorney, who
'was then an assistant tothe DA. -”
| After walking the girl severa]
‘blocks, Ferguson forced her-into an’
abandoned restaurant where hé raped -
her behind the food counter and stran-
gled her.-' Pyle
“Ferguson put his hand down on the
-counter when he pushed her. behind the
thing,” Goudeau recalled. “That: was
the clincher. He was picked up after
his prints were found.”
7 Ferguson had previously’ been
charged with rape but was acquitted,
Goudeau'said. _ “ty pe

- 8 | ee ;
an v, rae ert nt «

> and hit her with his fist on the''side of.

“e-

2 YBN Gag!
’ According to a story in The Times- .
_ Picayune after his arrest, Ferguson

made a statement to police saying he

had raped Thibodeaux, slapped her,
“the head.) =

‘ . 7 <: aan ' i tg tw
He ‘said she fell against a heater in

_the building and he carried “her to.
_ anther spot in the room and covered

her with clothes that' were in the build-
ing... FOSS, ee.
On June 23, 1959, Ferguson was con-
victed of first-degree murder. The jury.
Tecommended the death penalty. |
“He was very calm when he went,”
said Goudeau, one of 16 witneses at.the
execution. °. +’ : bi
' Another witness, deputy Harold Dou-’
cet of the St. Landry Parish Sheriff's
Department, said, “The Negro spoke
freely with his executioner and asked
Garret (the executioner) not to let him
suffer,” according to an account in The:
Opelousas Daily. World from June 10,
WR. ety i aad
Ferguson’s last words were a plea to
the witnesses to pray for him.

£%

FF SSS ar ne i eee ae

84 DEATH AND THE SUPREME COURT

that the electricity had “tickled” him. The coroner, listening
to Willie’s chest through his stethoscope, heard a fast heart
beat but otherwise no unusual symptoms. He said nothing
to Willie, and Willic did not speak to him.

When the coroner had gone, Ozeene asked Willie if
he wanted any water, but the boy, sitting hunched over on
a cot, shook his head. The Reverend Rousseve entered the
room and stayed about twenty minutes.

In the meantime, Sheriff Resweber had taken Captain Fos-
ter to his office in another part of the jail, and Foster was
placing a call to the warden’s home in Angola. The warden
answered and, as soon as he learned the nature of the call,
~ said he would let Foster speak directly to Governor Davis. The
governor listened patiently to Foster’s explanation of what
had happened, decided that a reprieve from an immediate sec-
ond attempt at electrocution was in order, and told Foster to
take Willie back to the New Iberia jail. The governor and the
warden agreed that another date for the execution should be
set at once, but when the governor started to fix the follow-
ing Saturday, May 11, for the new attempt, the warden in-
formed him that another execution was scheduled for Lees-
ville on that day, and he could not handle two at one time.
The governor therefore moved the date back one day to
Friday, May 10, and personally wrote out a temporary re-
prieve and a second death warrant.

Captain Foster returned to the room where Willie was rest-
ing and told Ozeene of the governor’s decision. Ozeene and his
deputies took Willie out of the cell and into the hallway
where Sheriff Resweber was waiting to ask how his prisoner
was doing. Willie said simply, “The Lord was with me that
time,” and the group moved quickly out into the sunlight.
The waiting townspeople, excited by those mysterious signals
from Foster to Venezia, were astonished to see the man who
supposedly had just been electrocuted come striding out be-
tween two deputies. He was hustled into the sedan, which
roared away, heading north from the courthouse square.

Willie was driven the eight miles back to New Iberia and
placed in the same cell he had occupied the night before—the
cell he had thought he would never see again. Though nerv-
ous and shaken, he ate a full lunch. Ozeene checked on him
at five o’clock and again at seven o’clock that evening, but
by then, the story of what had happened at St. Martinville
had reached the press, and reporters were arriving to take
pictures. When they left, Willie tried to sleep, but that night
and for two nights thereafter he was extremely nervous, start-

IF AT FIRST 85

ing up in his sleep and breaking out into sudden swaths of
perspiration. Then he became calmer and settled back into
the routine life of the jail.

The miracle that saved Willie Francis from death caught
the public’s imagination. The story was featured all across the
country, and letters began pouring in, commiserating with
Willie and admonishing the governor not to send the boy
through this experience again. Willie read all of the letters
delivered to his cell and even tried to answer most of them.
It was a good way to pass time.

Willie’s father was a farmer who eked out the family in-
come on poor and uncharitable land. He began asking where
he could find a lawyer to help his son. A friend advised him
to go see Bertrand de Blanc, a thirty-five-year-old graduate
of the Louisiana State Law School who had just returned from
three years in the service and had hung out his shingle next to
the jail. The father went to see the lawyer and explained to
him his impoverished circumstances, but de Blanc said he
would do what he could. His first task, he knew, was to delay
the new execution date so that he could file appropriate
papers in court. He accomplished this when the state’s
lieutenant governor, acting during the governor’s absence,
issued a thirty-day stay of execution.

De Blanc now had to face up to the legal problems con-
fronting him. Two methods of proceeding were open. He
could go to the courts, or he could appeal to the gov-
ernor and the State Board of Pardons.

The route through the courts was beset with difficulties.
His argument against another attempt at an execution would
have to be based upon some principle recognized in the law.
Since there had been no appeal from the conviction, he felt
he could not raise at this late stage a number of issues
relating to the trial itself, but instead would have to argue
that regardless of whether or not the conviction had been
valid originally, the unsuccessful attempt at electrocution
violated the defendant’s constitutional rights and vitiated
either the conviction itself or at least the sentence of death.
This would require some legal tightrope walking, and he
doubted whether the Louisiana courts would listen to him.

His route by way of the governor and the Board of Pardons
was more inviting. The argument here could be based upon
more equitable grounds. The board and the governor had
discretion to commute a sentence for whatever reasons
they deemed sufficient and were not required to hold either
the conviction or the original sentence illegal, void, or in any

78 DEATH AND THE SUPREME COURT

alighted from the train, the police followed him. The man saw
them, dropped his suitcase, and ran. As the police approached
the suitcase, they saw a second man, a Negro, crouched
under a nearby tree. Thinking the Negro might be an ac-
complice of the dope peddler, they picked him up and took
him in for questioning.

The Negro identified himself as Willie Francis of St.
Martinville, Louisiana. In his pocket was a wallet which
had belonged to Andrew Thomas. After a brief interrogation,
Willie stammered out a confession that he had assaulted and
robbed an elderly white man in a Port Arthur apartment just
a few days before. And in his confession, Willie also admitted
that months ago he had killed and robbed Andrew Thomas
in St. Martinville.

The Port Arthur police had heard of the Thomas murder.
While Willie’s confession was being reduced to paper for him
to sign, the chief of police was calling Sheriff Resweber of
St. Martin Parish to tell him that Thomas’s killer was in
custody.

Resweber immediately drove to Port Arthur with several
deputies. Because of the more serious nature of the St. Mar-

tinville crime, the Port Arthur police gave up their custody -

of Willie, retaining only a warrant against him in case he was
later released, and turned him over to Resweber. Resweber
and his deputies, with Willie in tow, began the return trip to
St. Martinville. ;

On the way back, Willie confessed again. He said he had
waited two or three hours for Thomas, whom he knew
slightly, and had shot him five times with a pistol that he had
stolen from a deputy sheriff’s car. He pointed out to Res-
weber the grassy area where he had thrown the pistol after
the shooting. It was the same spot in which the deputy’s pistol
had already been found. Willie told Resweber he had taken
Thomas’s watch to a jewelry store in New Iberia and sold it
for five dollars. Willie also gave the sheriff the names of two
Negroes who he said were implicated in the crime.

Resweber began checking out the details of the story. He
could find no Negroes with the names Willie had given him,
and he concluded that this part of the story was fictitious. The
pistol was sent to the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Wash-
ington along with a bullet recovered from Thomas’s body, but
the package was lost in the mails and never recovered. Res-
weber took Willie to the jewelry store in New Iberia where
the watch had been sold, but the jeweler could not remember
Willie or the watch. Several days later, however, the jeweler

IF AT FIRST 79

found among his bric-a-brac a watch case with the murdered

man’s initials on the back.
The deputy’s pistol had been encased in a holster at the

time it was stolen, and Resweber kept pressing Willie as to

what he had done with the holster. Finally, a few weeks
before his trial, Willie led Resweber to a railroad culvert
behind Thomas’s house where he said he had tossed it. Work-
ing with hoes, Resweber’s men dug out all of the accumulated
dirt under the culvert and discovered at last a holster with the
same leafy design as that owned by the deputy. The case
against Willie Francis was complete.

His trial for murder lasted three days. Since no one had
witnessed the crime and the pistol had been lost in the
mails, the state’s evidence consisted almost entirely of Willie’s
two confessions—the written one signed in Texas and the
oral one given to Sheriff Resweber. A dozen witnesses ap-
peared for the prosecution to testify as to the voluntary nature
of these confessions. Willie’s two court-appointed attorneys
called no witnesses in his behalf. The neighbor who had seen
the car parked in front of Thomas’s house did not testify.
No transcript of the trial was taken, no request for a change
of venue (site of trial) was entered, no motion for a new
trial was made, and no appeal was filed. Just a week after
his indictment, a jury. found Willie Francis guilty of mur-
der. The next day he was sentenced to death by electrocution,
and five months later, Governor James H. Davis signed a
mandatory death warrant, calling for Willie’s execution on
Friday, May 3, 1946, between the hours of noon and 3 P.M.

Sheriff Resweber was not taking any chances on mob rule.
He transferred custody of Willie over to his friend Sheriff
Ozeene for safekeeping in the New Iberia jail until the day
of the execution. eos

And now it was already May 2, and Willie was finishing
the biggest steak of his life and scooping up the last of the
cream. That was a good meal. He had heard that a man was
entitled to a last meal of his choice, and this had been a
good one. Even his nervousness did not prevent him from
enjoying it.

He put the tin plate on the floor and stretched out on the
cot. Well, he thought, one thing for sure. Seventeen was
pretty young to die.

Sheriff Ozeene came by to say good night, and the two
men chatted briefly on either side of the bars. Willie ended
the conversation by saying he guessed he was ready to die.
Ozeene left, and Willie lay down on the hard cot. He slept

SS SSS ote See a

SSS SE

80 DEATH AND THE SUPREME COURT

fitfully. Before he realized it, a grey shadow replaced the
inky black of the cell. Ozeene brought him breakfast, but this
time Willie was not very hungry.

Soon the sheriff and several of his deputies came to Willie’s
cell and told him it was time to go back to St. Martinville for
the electrocution. As they left, Sheriff Ozeene noticed for
the first time some writing laboriously etched on the wall of
the cell. It read: “I kill Andrew Thomas and today he is
lying in a grave and I am not a killer but I wonder where I
am going to be lying and in what kind of grave I don’t
know.”

The men drove mostly in silence during the eight-mile trip
to the St. Martin Parish jail in St. Martinville. Willie, hand-
cuffed in the back seat of the sedan, looked out the windows
at the familiar sights but said very little. He and his brothers
had been raised in this area. Willie had left school early to
work at odd jobs—in a food products plant, in a garage, and
at various places around town. He had been in a few
scrapes during his early teens, but nothing serious until the
Thomas affair. He had liked St. Martinville. Now he looked
at the approaching town without really seeing it, and as the
sedan swung around the courthouse square, where Willie had
often played as a child, and pulled up in front of the town’s
main building, which served the parish as both courthouse
and jail, Willie seemed hardly conscious of his surroundings.
He was ushered inside, where Sheriff Resweber took charge
and led him into a small cell, indistinguishable from the one
he had occupied in New Iberia for. the last seven months.

Unlike some states, Louisiana in 1946 executed its citizens
“on the spot,” so to speak. Instead of transporting con-
demned criminals to a central prison where a permanent
death cell was maintained, Louisiana sent its equipment about
the state, executing criminals in the various jails where they
happened to be held. The portable, hardwood electric
chair was carried from town to town in a truck operated out
of the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola.

The truck had arrived in St. Martinville the night before
and now stood parked at the side of the courthouse with the
electric chair still inside. The chair had already been tested
by the penitentiary’s chief electrician and found in perfect
working order. As was his custom, the chief electrician in-
tended to remain at Angola and send an assistant to take
charge of the actual electrocution. In this instance, the as-
sistant would be a prison inmate, Vincent Venezia. The man

IF AT FIRST 81

actually in charge of the chair would be Captain E. Foster,
a regular member of the penitentiary staff.

Normally, the warden of the penitentiary accompanied the
portable electric chair on its rounds. On this occasion, how-
ever, he stayed behind to entertain Governor Davis, who
happened to be calling at his home in Angola.

The inmate, Venezia, arrived at St. Martinville shortly after
8:30 a.M. He joined Captain Foster at the truck, and the two
of them, assisted by courthouse personnel, began unloading
the portable electric chair and a large panel of switches and
wires. The chair and panel were carried into the courthouse
and placed in a kind of anteroom—almost a hallway—where
the execution would take place. The room was bare, with
cells ranged around it and emptying into it on three sides.
The chair was placed in the middle of the room and the in-
strument panel laid nearby. The chair was so heavy that
it did not have to be screwed into the floor. Venezia began
attaching the wire leading from the chair to the panel and
then ran several wires from the panel out through the
window and on to the lawn outside. He went outside and
attached these wires to the penitentiary truck, which car-
ried its own generator, serving electric current directly to the
chair inside the courthouse.

When he had completed the rather complicated wiring pro-
cedures, Venezia set the generator voltage at 2500 and tested
his ammeters, A.c. and p.c. He ran the generator for about
five minutes to make certain that everything was in working
order. It was 11 A.M. before he and Captain Foster were able
to relax and enjoy a smoke.

Willie was being prepared for the ordeal. Another inmate
shaved all of the thick hair from his head and the smoother
hair from his wrists and legs. Willie did not protest. He re-
mained quiet, his mouth hanging open a bit, his large eyes
looking straight ahead. __

While Willie was being prepared, his father arrived at the
jail in a hearse carrying a wooden coffin. The coffin was un-
loaded and carried inside, where it would be ready as soon
as Willie had been pronounced dead by the coroner. A man
across the street from the courthouse saw the father “walk
frantically and stupidly around like a drunk man.” Several
curious bystanders began to gather about the courthouse
square.

Just before noon, the Reverend L. Maurice Rousseve, the
chaplain who would officiate at the execution, arrived at the
courthouse and was immediately ushered into Willie’s cell.

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82 DEATH AND THE SUPREME COURT

He spoke in soft tones, and Willie stuttered back a few words.

The priest decided that the boy was resigned to his fate.
Precisely at noon, Sheriff Resweber and his deputies opened

the cell door and told Willie it was time. Willie got shakily

to his feet, looked once at the Reverend Rousseve, and

walked out. The small group moved self-consciously together
to the nearby anteroom which had been converted into an

\ execution chamber. About a dozen men were present, only

a few of whom Willie knew. Four of them had been ap-
pointed by Sheriff Resweber as official witnesses of the exe-
cution. Captain Foster, in charge of the chair, stood in the
center to supervise the preparations, while Venezia waited
outside by the truck. Sheriff Ozeene, Sheriff Resweber, a
few of their deputies, and a state police captain milled about
inside, seeing to last-minute details. Two Negro priests
watched uncomfortably. The coroner of St. Martin Parish, the
same man who had performed an autopsy on the murdered
man, waited off to one side to pronounce Willie dead. An-
other doctor was also present, as required by law.

The condemned boy and the Reverend Rousseve entered
the anteroom close together. Willie hypnotically surveyed
the chair, oblivious of the curious stares of the onlookers.
He was led to the chair and seated. Deputies began strapping
down his arms and legs. It took a few minutes to make sure
the straps were secure; they had to withstand the strain of
the body when the current slammed through it.

Captain Foster placed a gauze dipped in salt water around
Willie’s head to help speed the electric current. The charge
would dry the gauze and burn the covered area of the head.
Electrodes were attached to Willie’s left leg and to his head
over the gauze. Wires were connected. Finally, Captain Fos-
ter walked to the window and signaled to Venezia that every-
thing was ready to go. Venezia had the generator going, and
his gauge checked out. By now, a large crowd had gathered
around the truck, some drawn by the deafening roar of the
generator and others by their knowledge of the event
scheduled to take place inside.

In the jail, the Reverend Rousseve stepped up to the electric
chair and administered the last rites of the church to Willie.
He held up a cross, and Willie kissed it. The priest stepped
back, and Sheriff Resweber leaned close to the boy to ask if
he had anything to say. Willie remained silent, staring straight
ahead.

The sheriff took a black hood and placed it over Willie’s

IF AT FIRST 83

head, covering his eyes but leaving his mouth free, with a
small slit at nose level to allow him to breathe.

The sheriff stepped back and nodded to Captain Foster. The
captain checked the dial on his instrument panel once more—
it registered at the proper level—and in a quiet voice that
seemed unconscionably loud in the complete silence of the
crowded room, said, ‘““Good-by Willie.”

Willie did not answer, and Captain Foster, with a quick
downward motion, threw the switch.

For a fraction of a second, nothing happened. Then Willie
jumped. He strained against the straps. He groaned.

But even those who were witnessing their first execution
knew something was wrong. Willie’s body, though arched,
was obviously not at the point of death. Captain Foster, all in
one motion, frantically threw the switch off and then on
again. Those closest to Willie heard him strain out the words,
“Tet me breathe.” Captain Foster yelled out the window at
Venezia to give. him more juice. The startled Venezia yelled
back that he was giving him all he had. His gauge showed
that electricity was being generated, and he could not under-
stand what the difficulty was.

Only a few seconds had passed, and yet the horrified spec-
tators inside the jail felt as if they had stood transfixed for
minutes. As they stared at Willie, they saw his lips puff out
and swell like those of a pilot undergoing the stress of
supersonic speeds. His body tensed and stretched in such
catatonic movements that the chair, which had not been
anchored to the floor, suddenly shifted, sliding a fraction
of an inch along the floor.

“Take it off. Let me breathe.”

The agonizing words spewed out from between the puffed
lips. They roused Sheriff Resweber into action. He signaled
to Captain Foster, who by now knew that his apparatus
would not kill Willie Francis. He threw the switch back into
an upright position. All in all, about two minutes had now
passed since the switch had been thrown, and some of those
present realized they had hardly breathed during the entire
period.

The hood was lifted from Willie’s head, the electrodes were
removed from his head and left leg, and the straps were un-
buckled all around. Although obviously shaken, Willie was
able to get to his feet by himself. He was taken by Sheriff
Ozeene into an adjoining room, where they were joined by
the coroner.

Ozeene asked Willie if he was hurt. Willie said no, but

F Phe.
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[S.

~ 16

By JAMES CAMPBELL

ATRICK FOLEY and Thomas Gal-
lagher were a couple of bachelors
in their early fifties, but that’s about
all they had in common—that and
the business they were partners in.

They manufactured tombstones opposite
the old Bayou Cemetery in New Orleans
back before the century’s turn. Foley was
a quiet, temperate little man with red
hair and a trim beard. He had the soul of
a poet. He was the carver of the outfit,
and he was always thinking up ways of
creating gentler-looking doves or more
beautiful angels to watch over the in-
habitants of the cemetery.

Gallagher was a bloated extrovert with |

sandy hair and a red-flannel face. Even
when supervising the placement of a
headstone over a fresh grave Gallagher
was occupied by thoughts of nothing
more uplifting than booze and women—
and not necessarily in that order. He
dearly loved to roam among the cribs in
the French quarter, being the possessor
of an enormous capacity for sampling the
wares therein. -He slept in hotels, lodg-
ing houses and elsewhere.

Foley, on the other hand, was strictly a

. home body. He resided with his brother

Julian and his family, which consisted

ot a wife and two exceptionally pretty
daughters—Irene and Ella, both in their
early twenties—-and “he never missed
church on Sunday.

Pat Foley lived in terror of two things:
his partner’s penchant for the practical
joke and periodic threats from a voodoo

society that frequently cooked up hex.

parties in the remote reaches of New Or-
Jeans Parish. Foley’s father before him—
a man who had become known as Nerv-
ous Mike—had, somehow or other, ,in-
curred the everlasting wrath of the do-
badders. Although Nervous Mike had
died of old age, the voodoo outfit had
tried him on for size. Nervous Mike had,
in the later years of his life, received a
succession-of threats from the hex boys
and had been aimed at and missed with
poisoned darts several times. When he
eventually passed on from the bad effects
of good living the voodoo mob began to
beat the drums for his son Patrick.
Every year or so Patrick Foley would
receive a threat by mail—a little notice,
sometimes written in blood; sometimes in
red ink, advising him that his days were
numbered. Sometimes the notice would
be followed up by a poisoned dart pro-
pelled from a clump of bushes along the

lonely road that Foley drove between his .

place of business and his brother's: domi-
cile. Sometimes a dart would hit Foley,

i ?
but the man was durable; as time passed ‘ i
he bore the scars of several darts, but his #
health was unimpaired. ae

What came closer to putting Patrick
Foley on the silent side of one of his own
tombstones was Tom Gallagher’s practical
jokes. Gallagher would be walking along
a lonely road with Foley when he would

ne
5
aie.

' surreptitiously plunge a dart into a blad-

der filled with red ink under his shirt.
“They got me, Pat, old friend!” he
would moan. Then, as the red ink began
to spread over the vast expanse of his
chest, he would roll his eyes and take a
dive. Although Gallagher pulled the same
stunt on Foley at least twice a year, Foley
always fell for it. Another of Gallagher’s
less enchanting practices was to wait until
Foley was intently engaged in a delicate
piece of carving, then sneak up behind j
him and hiss, “Watch out, Pat! The —
voodoos!” The wear and tear on little
Patrick Foley’s heart brought on by his
partner’s low comedy was far more inimi-
cal to his health than all the machina-
tions of the hex boys. ant

OLEY was completely soft on his two
pretty nieces. He seemed to have more
to say about their -choice of boy

friends than their own parents. Uncle Pat
wanted only the best for the girls—and 4
the best did not include Tom Gallagher.

\ Tike = -
a 0, Sete ES ’
+ hasan Sis Maes, PAN Be ec

ton eka oO

ELLA— a
Was startled when Gallagher walked in.
Uncle "Tom, as the girls called Galla-

gher, had watched them grow up. Once
they had sat on his lap; now they no

longer did so although he would have -

liked nothing better. Uncle Tom, of a
visit to the Foley home, developed the
habit of going up to the second floor, os-
tensibly to go to the bathroom, and wan-
dering into the girls’ rooms while they
were getting dressed to go out. It was
Patrick Foley who put a stop to the prac-
tice. “It’s just not decent, Tom,” said
Foley, “and I don’t want you to do it
any. more.” af

Ella Foley, the younger of Patrick’s
nieces—she was tall and dark, full of
ginger—became engaged to Donald Allen,
the scion of a wealthy family. Then, not
long afterward, Irene, her sister—a
thoughtful, brooding type—appeared to

be receptive to the buzzings of a young -

Man named Ira Conklin. Uncle Tom
thoroughly approved of Conklin and just
as thoroughly disapproved of Allen. The
Socialite had been educated abroad and
Was an impressive linguist. “Who does he
think he is,” Gallagher would storm to
the Foleys, “talking languages nobody
understands.” jones

. Strictly mutual.

i i ae
8 we AE

DAGGER OF DOOM— ts
Bloodstained: knife’ and= threatening.
notes. were’ sent to Foley and his nieces.

Allen’s feelings for Gallagher were
Once, when he saw the
tombstone magnate making a pass at his
fiancee, he got into a quarrel with the big

Irishman. “You’re jealous of me,” stormed

Allen. “I think you'd like to have Ella
for yourself.”
“And what,” countered Gallagher,

“would be wrong with that? I’m a better
man than you are, you young pup. Just
remember that!”

- One day Patrick Foley stopped dream-
ing’ about bigger and gentler doves and
Tom Gallagher got his mind off women
long enough to contemplate the future.
Foley, who liked music, had often dreamed
of spending all his time listening to it;
Gallagher, of course, had long yearned
for unlimited leisure for other pursuits.
The upshot was that the boys decided to
sell their tombstone ~business. They got
a good price, being in a position to wave
toward the Bayou Cemetery, filled with
users of their product who, while not ex-
pressing satisfaction, had at least never
complained. cans

At the insistence of the Foleys, Gal-
lagher built a house right down the street
from them. Patrick Foley had a talk with
Gallagher on«he subject of respectability;
he had never brought up the matter be-
fore, fearing to, wound the feelings of his
business partner and jeopardize his own

livelihood. Now,—however, that he “had
something like a hundred thousand in the
bank, as did Gallagher, Foley had no
such fears. He told Gallagher bluntly
that he thought he should step patronizing
houses of ill fame. Gallagher squinted at
Foley briefly, then replied that he didn’t
know but what he was right. Thereafter
Gallagher brought the girls to his house.

The Foleys—Patrick, his brother Juli-
an, his brother’s wife and their two daugh-
ters—continued to invite Gallagher into
their home; the. man had a certain rough
charm.’ He was also a bulwark against a
kind of terror that had begun to insinuate
itself into the Foley household.

Patrick Foley had of course been con- :
tinuing to receive threats from the voo-

-doos. Now, however, his two nieces were

beginning to get threats, too. The venge-
ance of the voodoos was extending to the
third generation. Every so often a cheap
envelope would be slipped under the door
of the Foley home, bearing the name of
either Irene or Ella Foley. Inside was
a drawing of a dagger, dripping with
blood, and a printed BEWARE. eer

Gallagher, who believed in dealing sum-
marily with such matters, was all for call-
ing in the police. The Foleys, people with
social aspirations, didn’t want a scandal.

“All right,” said Gallagher, “then get a

private investi- (Continued on page 54). on

is no capital punishment in Mich-

NESTS
news magazine,
It had your
afl over it.” ae
unds blinked again. “So?
” Anderson said, “that p: -
ne is published on Thursday. The
Ly ocket was put on the news.
( hursday, October twen

; anerefore you were in “yo
Ss house on or after Thursday, “In
after she was dead. Why didn't
ee her bag 1S ica
munds didn’t answer, ler.
Secause he killed her.” ig
2 was a long silence. At last Ed-
said; “All right, I killed her. But
‘er fault. She spoiled me. She was
ve. She never gave me’ enough
She wanted me to stay home at
he disapproved of my girl friends,” ~
indictment of his mother went on
better part of an hour. Then a
ipher was called in and Edmunds’
on recorded for the district attor

ket was a
xr thirty-first.

Edmunds told reporters that h
od clothes, good food and “pick-
hecks.” That he just saw red when
her flatly refused to indulge him
things any longer.

life sentence is the severest pen-
it Edmunds wouldn’t care to wear

nd to eat plain food for the rest
itural life.

PAY US eit

Pore wat oct Pie ee he

= Ae Fr

RE
17

oo
-
.

z _@ hallway, just inside the
or, stabbed twice, once in the
i once in the back. Uncle Pat-
' had made it his business to be-
juainted with the appearance of
ounds, pronounced these dagger
it turned out he was right. —
Foley raced down the street to
agher. The retired tombstone
had been occupied since early
us evening with a case of bour-
with not one but two undercover
had dropped off to sleep only a
le before. It was with the great-
Ity that Foley awakened his ex-
nd made him understand what
ened. Gallagher, a good man in
‘ncy, sobered immediately, pulled =
clothes and went to the murder aS

er began a prowl of the house
ng nobody else had thought to
ound af envelope on the piano
ag room, addressed to both Ella
Foley. Inside was a note writ-
d ink and bearing a crudely-
pping dagger and the warning:
ou will die before Christmas.
Jallagher wanted to know, had
note been received? The dead
‘nts and uncle knew - nothing
Her sister Irene, who now ap-
th her boy friend, did. Irene
{ the note slipped under the
that very morning. She and
( paid any attention to it; they
¢-~"“"1g threatening notes right

1 sted Gallagher, “none of
said anything like this before—
you would die, and within two
t. A funny thing to pay no at-

v Orleans police department of
s boasted a little detective who
out as close to the detective of

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fiction as it is possible for a man with
flesh and blood. to get. His name was
John LeFever, and he was a bear for un-
peeling a mystery. He was in his early
fifties, with unkempt clothing and a head
crammed with millions of photographs

that his eyes had taken; photographs of.

everything—the expressions of men’s eyes,
moles on women’s faces, a peculiar gait,
a crooked picket in a fence, the width of
the lead with which a pencilled note had
been_ fashioned.

On his way to the Foley home LeFever
noticed a discarded brown paper bag
blown against a hedge that skirted a va-
cant lot—just a twisted brown bag that
might have come from anywhere.

Irene Foley and young Conklin told
LeFever that when they had left Ella
alone in the house they had noticed a
loiterer down the street. And what had
the loiterer looked like? He had been a
youth of perhaps twenty. He was tall and
had a vacant look in his eyes. He had
— a gray overcoat much too big for

im.

LeFever had Irene Foley and young
Conklin point out the exact spot where
they*had noticed the loiterer. It was di-
‘rectly across the street from the hedge
where the little sleuth had noticed the
brown paper bag. ' :

On the off chance that the bag might
somehow have been associated with the
loiterer and that the loiterer had been in-
volved in the murder of Ella Foley, Le-
Fever crossed the street, picked up the
bag and ‘stuck it in his pocket. He did
things like that all the time— accumulated
possible clues that eventually turned out
not to have anything to do with the in-

vestigation at hand. The result was that —

his house was littered with a miscellane-
ous assortment of junk that almost drove
his wife crazy. LeFever just shrugged
about the matter. Better to pick up 99
useless clues than pass up a single good
one. And so he now had a paper bag. in
the murder of Ella Foley.

Foley sisters. He familiarized himself

with the background of the notes to
Patrick Foley, uncle of the sisters, and to
Patrick Foley’s father, Nervous Mike
Foley. He absorbed other pertinent de-
tails, such as Gallagher’s bad habits and
the fact that Irene Foley, by virtue of her
uncle Patrick’s will, would be a very well-
heeled young lady should Uncle Patrick
fall afoul of a poisoned dart.

LeFever put the note to the sisters in
his pocket without comment. “When,” he
inquired brightly, “is the funeral?”. The
family said they intended to consult Don
Allen, the dead girl’s fiance, about the
details.

“I should like to meet Mr. Allen,” said
LeFever. “Kindly arrange it, yes?”

When Don Allen had called for Ella
Foley at noon to take her riding he hadn’t

[ “Foy s studied the death note to the

succeeded in getting any- response to re-

_ peated knocking on the front door. He
decided there had been a mixup in plans,
so he had gone riding by himself. Le-
Fever’s soulful gaze was fastened on the
socialite as he talked. “Now tell me,
Monsieur,” he said when Allen had fin-
ished, “who do you think killed the young
lady?”

Allen didn’t hesitate. “That man Gal-
lagher,”- he said. “Gallagher wanted to
possess Ella.” ‘

“And how do you know that, Mon-
sieur?” =~.

“I could tell it the way he looked at
her. He®*used to pinch her, too, and wan-
der into her bedroom when she was get-
ting dressed.” rhs

LeFever studied a photograph of the

girl; he could now understand what Allen |

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terred no explanation whatsoever.
.. At 12:30, Detective Sergeants Glenn
Coller and Arthur Anderson strode grimly
into his cell. Edmunds .was intelligent
enough to know ‘from their demeanor
that something was wrong.

He said disarmingly: “You’ve come to
release me?” x.

“No,” Coller replied, “we’ve come to

charge you with the murder of your |

mother.” | a
Edmunds blinked. “I didn’t kill her.
I know enough to be aware that you have
to prove a charge like that.”
Coller said: “We can prove it.”
Edmunds shrugged and waited.
Anderson: “You told us that you hadn’t
been in the Fenmore Avenue house since
the twenty-third. Is that right?”
“Of course it’s ,right.”
“Naturally, if you had, you’d have

found your mother’s body, and as a good. -

citizen with nothing to hide you would
have called the police, wouldn’t you?”

“Of course.”

“Well,” Coller said slowly, “you were
in that house after the twenty-third, after
the Medical Examiner says your mother
was dead. And you did not notify the po-
lice. You didn’t tell anyone.”

Edmunds lit a cigarette. He inhaled
deeply. He said: “You can’t prove I was
in the house after the twenty-third.”

“We can,” Coller said. “On the bed in
your room we found a suit of yours, In

prints all over it.”

denim and to eat

the pocket was a news magazine, da’
October thirty-first. It had -your finge:

Edmunds blinked again. “So?”
“So,” Anderson said, “that particular’
magazine is published on Thursday. The
issue in your pocket was put on the news
stands on Thursday, October twenty.
seventh. Therefore you were in you
mother’s house on or after Thursday. In 7
short, after she was dead. Why didn’t =
you report her death?” . ee
John Edmunds didn’t answer. Colle
did. “Because he killed her.” “8
There was a long silence. At last Ed.
munds said: “All right, I killed her. Bu
it was her fault. She spoiled me. She was
possessive. She never gave me enough
money. She wanted me to stay home at
night. She disapproved of my girl friends.”
This indictment of his mother went on
for the better part of an hour. Then a_
stenographer was called in and Edmunds’
confession recorded for the district attor-
ney. / : “eg
Later Edmunds told reporters that he
liked good clothes, good food and “pick-
ing up checks.” That he just saw red when
his mother flatly refused to indulge him
in these things any longer. Bre:
There. is no capital punishment in Mich-
igan. A life sentence is the severest pen-
alty. But Edmunds wouldn’t care to wear
plain food for the rest
of his natural life. ca

VOODOO VULTURE

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 17

gator.”
either. :
Patrick Foley, with time to indulge his
love- for music, began to attend all the
concerts and society musicales. He was a
somewhat incongruous figure at such af-
fairs—dressed to kill and carrying a
sawed-off shotgun; Gallagher had talked
him into toting the weapon for self-pro-
tection. Foley’s in-laws, especially his
two nieces, were mortified at the man
making such a spectacle of himself.
Foley didn’t seem to be extracting any-
thing approximating the maximum bene-
fit from his new leisure. He was still get-
ting threats; he was harassed and fear-
ridden. He told Gallagher he didn’t think
he was long for this world. Gallagher
made a vain pitch at cheering him up.
Foley communicated his dread misgivings
to other members of his household. He
decided it was high time to make a will.
He informed his beloved nieces that he
was leaving everything to them; if, perish
the thought, one of them died before he
did, the surviving sister would inherit his
entire fortune. : :

The Foleys didn’t want that,

Fis FOLEY, the peppier of the two

girls, forfeited her share of Uncle
Patrick’s fortune a month after ‘the

- will was made by getting herself mur-

dered. The crime occurred on a Sunday

‘morning, two days before Christmas, right

in the Foley home. Uncle Patrick and the
girl’s parents had left for church at 9:30.
Young Conklin, Irene’s boy friend, had
called around ten o’clock to take her

- Yiding in his carriage. The family maid

was off, having gone to visit a sick rela-
tive in an outlying part of the Parish,
leaving Ella alone in the house. Don AI-
len, her fiance, was due to call, but not
until noon, to take her riding.

- Ella’s uncle and parents discovered her

when they returned from church. She

__.The New Orleans police departmen

was lying in the hallway, just inside the
front door, stabbed twice, once in the
heart and once in the back. Uncle Pat-
rick, who had made it his business to be-
come ‘acquainted with the appearance of -
dagger wounds, pronounced these dagger
wounds; it turned out he was right.
Patrick Foley raced down the street to
get Gallagher. The retired tombstone
magnate had been occupied since early
the previous evening with a case of bour-
bon and with not one but two undercover
girls. He had dropped off to sleep only a
short while before. It was with the great-
est difficulty that Foley awakened his ex-
partner and made him understand what
had happened. Gallagher, a good man in
an emergency, sobered immediately, pulled
on some clothes and went to the murder
scene.
Gallagher began a prowl of the house
—something nobody else had thought to.
do. He found af envelope on the piano -
in the living room, addressed to both Ella
and Irene Foley. Inside was a note writ
ten in.red ink and bearing a crudely
drawn dripping dagger and the. warning:
One of you will die before Christmas. 2
. When, Gallagher wanted to know, had
this latest note been received? The dead

girl’s parents and uncle knew - nothing i
_ about it. Her sister Irene, who now ap-
peared with her boy friend, did.

Irene
had found the note slipped under the
front door that very morning. She and —
Ella hadn’t paid any attention to it; they
had been receiving threatening notes right

tention to.” © en

the Nineties boasted a little detective wh

_ Was just about as close to the detective of

Felde awaits execution in Angola’s death house |

ANGOLA (AP) — Wayne Felde
visited calmly with his relatives
Saturday in the death house at
Louisiana’s state prison, where he was
scheduled to walk to the electric chair—
_fearly Tuesday for killing a Shreveport

policeman. a

“He has several visitors today. His

|| two sisters and a couple of nephews and

an uncle,” said Hilton Butler, warden of ~~

the state prison at Angola. “They’re all
over there at once, but they’re taking

turns visiting.” ~~~
He said Felde, who slashed his wrists °-

the day before he was formally _

sentenced in 1981, was calm Saturday.
eented - ade ee: bn. ~

—— =

ig <
|

— Felde was condemned to die for

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He was was moved late Friday from
death row to the small cinderblock
building where Louisiana’s electric
chair is kept, Butler said.

shooting 33-year-old Officer Glen
Tompkins in 1978, as he was being
driven to jail on a charge of public
drunkenness.

Defense attorney Millard Farmer of
New Orleans wouldn’t discuss the case

or say whether’ any legal avenues.

remained open for Felde, who asked the
-jury which convicted him in 1980 to send

him to the electric chair.
“It wouldn’t be in his best interest to

wa;Je= >

- talk about it,” Farmer said Saturday.

. On Friday, the state Supreme Court
rejected a plea from another attorney
who claimed that Felde’s trial lawyer

. would never have backed up his request

for execution — or let Felde ask for it —
had he not been physically and mentally
exhausted. :.- 2 '

“Tf ‘Wayne Felde and his lawyer,
Graves Thomas, who was a dear friend
of mine, had been in their right minds at

the conclusion of that trial, they would °

have asked for life and the jury would

have given it to them,” Wellborn Jack-

Jr. said in an interview Saturday.
Felde — a former soldier: whose

woes

?B——.._1 SUNDAY ADVOCATE, Baton Rouge,La, G\

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specialty was ferreting out Viet Cong
tunnels -— was the first. criminal
defendant. in Louisiana to use the
defense that stress from his Army
service in Vietnam.and.exposure to
Agent Orange left him subject to
flashbacks and unable to tell right from
wrong. ; nd “3
He had escaped from a-work release
program in Maryland, where he had
been convicted of. assault and
manslaughter, and was arrested in
Shreveport on a drunkenness charge. As
Tomkpins, a rookie policeman, was
driving him to jail, Felde pulled a
hidden gun and shot him in the back. -

c1
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10
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ch:
2

Ina statement addesto its verdict,
the jury said, “We, the jury, recognize
the cantribution of our’ Vietnam
veterans and those who lost their lives in
Vietnam. We feel that the trial of Wayne
Felde has brought to the forefront those
extreme stress disorders prevalent
among fhousand of our veterans,”. °°.

However, the statement added, “We
felt that Mr. Felde was aware of right

and wrong when Mr. Tompkins’ life was
taken.”} } .

After jurors rejected his plea of -

innoceyt by reason of insanity, Felde-

SEE EXECUTION, 4B
i

sealant nthe

Wayne Felde_ ... ;

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Felde

“bE

in an

ys filed a 250-page

appeal with the Supreme Court

Felde’s attorne
SEE FELDE, 8A

CONTINUED FROM 1A

Ain

effort to win a stay, but said at the time
they thought it was futile.

The same appeals, which were based
on incompetent representation during
the penalty phase of the trial, were
rejected Friday by the Louisiana
Supreme Court.

Felde’s attorneys then turned to

Roemer, seeking a 30-day reprieve to
ceive Woldea chance to go before the new

governor’s Pardon Board.

More than a week ago, Gov. Edwin
Edwards’ Pardon Board unanimously
rejected Felde’s request for a life
sentence instead of death in the electric
chair. . ,

Roemer has not yet appointed his
Pardon Board.

Roemer — who has reviewed the case
-- said last week he was prepared to
proceed with the Felde execution.

Roemer said a jury voted 12-0 for the
death penalty, and eight court decisions
since then upheld the verdict.

“Unless there’s a legal ramification
or new evidence, it will proceed,”
Roemer said. pe

At Roemer’s inauguration
ceremonies Monday, several people
handed out fliers seeking help in efforts
to block Felde’s execution. The fliers
urged people to call Roemer or send him
a telegram. . es

“Please request that our new
governor, Buddy Roemer, grant
repricve to Wayne Felde, so that his own
newly appointed Pardon Board can
review the compelling issues of Wayne’s
case,” the flier said.

Butler said Felde seemed calm as his
impending death approached — visiting
during the day with two sisters, a
brother-in-law, niece and uncle. One of
Felde’s attorneys, Millard Farmer of

Atlanta, visited him until time for Felde
to be readied for the electric chair.

Felde ordered a pepperoni, sausage
and mushroom pizza, fried shrimp and

ginger ale for his last meal, Butler said.

Felde was convicted in 1980 for the
killing of Thomas Glenn Tompkins, a
rookic Shreveport police officer who
had arrested him on a drunkeness
charge. Felde had gone to Shreveport
after escaping from a work-release
program in Maryland, where he had
been convicted of manslaughter.

Tompkins responded ‘ aN ahouta
drunk at a Shrevepo: ge. He
arrested Felde and pla vim in the

back seat of the police car. ’n tlie way to
jail, the handcuffed prisoner pulled a

Wayne Felde

Since his conviction, Felde has
attempted suicide and escape. The most
recent escape attempt came at Angola
in December 1987. Two previous
scheduled executions were stayed.

Fifteen people have been executed in
Louisiana since 1983. The most recent
was Sterling Rault, executed Aug. 24,
1987.

gun from his clothing and shot

Tompkins in the back.
A couple of hours later, Felde was
found by police officers in a nearby

neighborhood. During the capture, he.

was shot and seriously wounded.-~~

mont

wwy 4 ~

PELDE, Wayne, white, elec, La (Caddo) 3-15-1988...

failed for Wa
yne Felde
condemned murderer dled 1:10

In Louisiana’s

Felde, Convicted in the 1978

ae of a Shreveport police
pare a the 15th person
tou tec ie the first to
| ! S electri i
oh eight men were ecu
es: acto at the Louisiana
e enitentiary at Angola
The most recent was Ste

Re Sterlin
ei who was executed Aug. 24
The U.S, Supreme Court

leated the w
ay Mond -
ne ge eeecution ire oe
% ugn they said their ef.
prise se anid futile, Pelde's
; YS ted a 250-pa
with the: Supreme Court ye
effort to wina Stay, “
Keen “sae appeals, which were
- On. incom
representation during the pena

Wayne Felde dies
in electric chair

Wayne Felde

phase of the trial, wer j
ane , were rejected
come by the Louisiana Supreme
Warden Hilton Butl i
ers
bier Felde did not want a 7 Noe
€ wasn't looking for
he age ready to goan ed
nant e didn’t get one,” Butler
Felde’s attorne
YS also sou é
30-day reprieve from fi aa
_ Felde a chance to g0 before
€ new governor's pardon board

UUDSLU Y LO Cysssaw vv asvv

(Please sée FEuveE, Page 7)

FELDE . a wR

Former Gov. Edwin Ed-
wards’ pardon. board
rejected Felde’s request for
a commutation to a _ life
sentence more than a week
ago. ae .

Roemer has not yet ap-
pointed his pardon board but
reviewed Felde’s case last
week. He said a jury voted
12-0 for the death penalty,
and eight court decisions
since then upheld'the verdict.

“Unless there’s a_ legal
ramification or new
evidence, it .will proceed,”’
Roemer said.”

Felde, a 38-year-old
Vietnam veteran who
claimed as his defense a type
of mental illness spawned by
his experiences in Southeast
Asia, was convicted for the
1980 killing of Thomas Glenn
Tompkins, a_ rookie
Shreveport police officer who
had arrested him on a
drunkeness charge. Felde
had gone to Shreveport after
escaping from a_ work-
release program in
Maryland, where he had
been convicted of man-
slaughter.

~ —aat

~w wow

On the way to jail, the
handcuffed prisoner pulled a
gun from his clothing and
shot Tompkins in the back.

Felde, who was moved to
Angola’s death house Sun-
day, seemed calmed as his
impending death = ap-
proached, Butler said. He
added that Felde received
visits from two sisters, a
brother-in-law, niece and
uncle. :

Millard Farmer, one of
Felde’s attorneys, visited the
condemned man until time
for him to be readied for the
electric chair.

“Vou can ‘kill the
messenger, but you can’t kill
the . message,”

witnesses before being

strapped into the electric’

chair. ois
Felde ordered a pepperoni,
sausage and mushroom

Felde told.

From page one

pizza, fried shrimp and
ginger ale for his last meal,
Butlersaid.

At Roemer’s inauguration
ceremonies Moriday, several
people handed out fliers
seeking help in efforts to
block Felde’s execution. The
fliers urged people to call
Roemer or send him a
telegram. vi

“Please request that our
new governor, Buddy
Roemer, grant reprieve to
Wayne Felde, so that his own
newly appointed Pardon
Board can review the

- compelling issues of Wayne’s

case,”’ the flier said.

Felde attempted suicide
and escape since his con-
viction.., The, .most .,recent
escape attempt. came at
Angola in December 1987.
Two previous scheduled
executions were stayed.

St. Francisville Democrat, Thursday, March 17. 1988-Page 7,

° a

°.Wta Zachary

Hina

_—we VuYy

Court won’t

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The
Louisiana Supreme Court refused
Friday to stop the scheduled execution
next week of convicted killer Wayne
Felde.

Felde, who visited with a minister
Friday while awaiting word on the
court’s decision, is scheduled to die in
the state’s electric chair early Tuesday
for the killing of a rookie Shreveport
policeman in 1978,

Shreveport. attorney Wellborn Jack
Jr. filed'the writ on behalf of Felde.
Jack said he asked the high court ina
lengthy brief to block the execution

because the trial jury had not been told
‘. to balance mitigating and aggravated

circumstances in the case.

~ Jack also said Felde’s counsel during

the trial, Graves Thomas, had been
physically and mentally exhausted
when he asked the jury to sentence his
Client to death.

“I know if Graves Thomas hadn’t
been in that state of mind, he wouldn’t
have asked for the death penalty,” Jack
said. “When the jury came in and found

Waucssuu vaupel Ape

3-12~

ee we peril tor
clectricity, _

halt Felde execution

(Felde) guilty, he asked for the death
penalty.”

Jack said he thought Felde told
Thomas to ask for the death penalty in
his case.

“My point was that the Louisiana
Legislature wanted the death penalty in
order to punish the worst offenders for
the worst crimes, not for the purpose of
providing sick Vietnam veterans with
an opportunity to commit suicide,” Jack
said.

Gov.-elect Buddy Roemer, who will

_ take his oath of office about 12 hours

before the execution, has said he has no
plans to stop it.

Gov. Edwin Edwards does not plan to
intervene. either, the governor’s
executive counsel, C.W. “Bill” Roberts,
Said Friday.

Roberts said he has been contacted by.

one of Felde’s sisters.

“She wanted the g0vernor to do
something (to stop the execution),” said
Roberts. “I told her there was nothing
the governor could do because he had no

Pardon Board recommendation. The
€0vernor can Only act upon a

recommendation made by the Pardon .

Board.”

Hilton Butler, warden of the state
penitentiary at Angola, said the Rey.
Richard White visited Felde on Friday
afternoon, and members of Felde’s
family were expected to visit later,

Felde would be
executed in the electric chair at the
State prison since the death penalty was
revived following a U.S, Supreme Court
decision in the 1970s.

The first was Robert Wayne
Williams, who was put to death in 1983.
Kight men were executed in 1987. The
last was Sterling Rault, who was
executed i Aug. 24, 1987,

In 1980, Felde was convicted for
killing police officer Glen Tompkins,
The Shooting occurred in 1978 as
Tompkins was carrying Felde to jail on
a drunkenness charge. Felde, Sitting in
the back of the police car, pulled a gun
that was hidden in his clothing and shot
Tompkins in the back.

Felde escaped, but authorities caught
up with him about two hours later and
brought him down with a shotgun blast
that left him crippled.

As part of his defense, Felde, a
Vietnam veteran, claimed he was
suffering from post-war stress and
exposure to Agent Orange.

After the jury convicted him, he
asked that same jury to vote for the
death penalty.

“All I can advise you all is to give me
the death penalty in this case or you wil]
have other people’s deaths on your

- hands,” Felde Said, implying that he

would kill again,

He later changed his mind and
pursued numerous appeals that delayed
his execution for seven years.

In another death-penalty _ case,
Roberts said Edwards has not acted ona
clemency recommendation for Herbert
Welcome, a death row. inmate whose
attorneys claim he has the mind of an 8-
year-old and does not understand what
is about to happen to him.

Edwards’ Pardon Board
recommended that Welcome’s death
sentence be commuted to life in prison
in the Iberia Parish murder of his aunt.

“He hasn’t said anything,” Roberts
Said.

If Edwards does not act, the
clemency request will be left for
Roemer.

—____|

tri

404 795 FEDERAL REPORTER, 2d SERIES

493-494 (5th Cir.1986), and do so again
today. More to the purpose, the Supreme

~ Court has now likewise done so. Lockhart
y. McCree, — US. —, 106 S.Ct. 59, 88
L.Ed.2d 48 (1986). ,

[5] The petitioner’s next claim is that
his Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights were
violated by prosecution references to state-
ments made by the petitioner to a psychia-
trist during the course of the court-ordered

sanity commission examination. Assum-
ing, arguendo, that these statements were
inadmissible in the state’s case in chief
since Felde had not been given the Miranda
warning before the examination (even
though Felde placed his sanity at issue),
the statements were properly used during
Felde’s cross-examination and in the prose-
cution’s closing statement and rebuttal for
impeachment purposes. Harris ?. New
York, 401 U.S. 222, 226, 91 S.Ct. 643, 646,
98 L.Ed.2d 1 (1971).

Conclusion

We find no merit in any of petitioner’s
claims save his contention that he lacked
effective assistance of counsel in the sen-
tencing phase of his trial. Since the record
is incomplete on that point, we REMAND
to the district court for proceedings consist-
ent with this opinion. 7

w
° E KEY NUMBER SYSTEM
TS ik

UNITED STATES of America for the Use
and Benefit of BALBOA INSURANCE
COMPANY, Assignee, Plaintiff-Appel-
lant,

ALGERNON BLAIR, INC., et al.,.
Defendants-Appellees.
No. 85-4571.

, United States Court of Appeals,
Fifth Circuit.

‘July 25, 1986.

Surety, as assignee of temperature
control subcontractor, brought Miller Act
claims to recover amounts due subcontrac-
tor for work on construction of barracks at
military base. The United States District
Court for the Western District of Louisi-
ana, Nouman S. Scott, J., dismissed case as

violative of public policy, and appeal was
taken. The Court of Appeals, Brown, Cir-
cuit Judge, held that: (1) suits brought by -
surety were type of suits contemplated by
Small Business Administration’s surety
bond program; (2) suits: represented judi-
cially honorable means of mitigating losses
sustained by surety which had financed
completion of job after its principal had
walked off job or defaulted; and (3) Small
Business Administration’s reimbursement:
of surety’s attorney fees in suits to recover
amounts due surety’s principal was not
champertous. ;

Vacated and remanded.

1. United States @=53(8)

Suits brought by surety for, and as-
‘signee of, temperature control subcontrac-
tor to collect amounts due subcontractor
were type of suits contemplated by Small

_ Business Administration’s surety bond pro-

gram; expenditures made by surety to fi-
nance completion of job after subcontractor
had defaulted or walked off job qualified as
loss under surety bond program, Small

Business Administration was liable for up

to 90% of surety’s expenditures, and sure-
ty, as assignee of subcontractor’s rights,
was merely seeking to be reimbursed
through prosecution of causes of action
assigned it by subcontractor.

2. United States €°53(8)

Surety, which was participating in
Small Business Administration surety bond
program, had affirmative statutory and
contractual obligation to mitigate losses
covered by program.

3. United States €=53(8)

| Suits brought by surety for, and as-
signee of, temperature control subcontrac-
tor to collect amounts due subcontractor
represented available and judicially honora-
ble means of mitigating losses sustained by
surety which had financed completion of
job after subcontractor had walked off job
or defaulted. oe

4. United States ¢°53(8)

Attorney fees expended by surety in
prosecuting suit to collect amounts due its

402 795 FEDERAL REPORTER, 2d SERIES

Autry and all the witnesses.. Those wit-.
nesses included the priest who attended
Autry on the eve of his aborted execu-
tion, Autry’s mother and prison officials.
None suggested that Autry was or is
other than competent.

While categorization of decisions as the
personal choices of a criminal defendant
or the tactical choices of counsel is not
always an easy task, cf. Jones.v. Estelle,
722 F.2d 159 (5th Cir.1983) (en banc), the
United States district court found that
Autry made the decisions he now
charges his lawyer incompetently made.
If Autry knowingly made the choices,
Carver was ethically bound to- follow
Autry’s wishes. Foster v. Strickland,
107 F.2d 13389, 1343 (11th Cir.1983) (em-
phasis added).

* * 7 * s * - ®

In sum, Carver [Autry’s attorney] was
not ineffective in not seeking a compe-
tency hearing before abiding Autry’s de-
cision, absent a more substantial rea-
son to suspect incompetence than the
lawyer’s view that Autry’s decision was
injurious to the case. 727 F.2d at 362-
363 (emphasis added). ,

In its disposition of this issue, the United
States district court stated:

The record shows that the court and de-
fense counsel were familiar with the
facts and circumstances underlying the
defendant’s demands, the physical condi-
tions under which the defendant was
maintained, and defendant’s apparent
competence to assist defense counsel in
preparation and conduct of trial. In the
absence of apparent mental deficiency,
defendant’s pursuit of an “all-or-noth-
ing” result was not sufficient in itself to
warrant a competency hearing. Defense
counsel’s familiarity with the. defendant
precludes a finding that he was ineffec-

1. A “person whose mental condition is such that
he lacks the capacity to understand the nature
sad object of the proceedings against him, to

onsult with counsel, and to assist in preparing
“is defense may not be subjected to a trial.”
Prope v. Missouri, 420 U.S. 162, 171, 95 S.Ct.
896, 903, 43 L.Ed.2d 103 (1975). Felde does not

tive in failing to seek a competency hear-

ing.

The record shows that Felde’s attorney
was familiar with his client’s condition as
the trial commenced. But given the de-
fense theory, insanity, and the evidence
introduced to support it—as well as the
facts surrounding Felde’s incarceration—it
is less clear to us that on the face of this

record there was an “absence of apparent —

mental deficiency” on Felde’s part.

[1] We note the Louisiana Supreme
Court’s observation that. Felde’s sanity
commission concluded that he was compe-
tent to stand trial at the time of the com-
mission’s report, State v. Felde, supra, 422
So.2d at 376, and the Louisiana Supreme
Court’s conclusion that Felde was “mental-
ly competent to stand trial.” Jd. at 395.
Counsel ordinarily would not be deficient in
failing to request a second competency
hearing for a defendant whom the state
trial court has already found to be compe-
tent. Th. rt’s finding of mental
competence t sta trial, and, inferential-
ly, mental compeiznce to waive sixth
amendment rights through the instructions
Felde gave his attorney, is a finding of fact
entitled to a presumption of correctness
under 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d). Maggio v. Ful-
ford, 462 U.S. 111, 116-17, 103 S.Ct. 2261,
2263-64, 76 L.Ed.2d 794 (1983).! However,
there are certain situations in which the
presumption of correctness does not apply.
§ 2254(d)(1}1{8). One of those situations is
arguably present in this case. Section
2254(d)(8) states that the presumption of
correctness does not apply to fact determi-
nations “not fully supported by the
record.” The issue we face, therefore,. is
whether the state court’s determination of
competence is fairly supported by the
record, or if another exception applies.

The Louisiana Supreme Court’s finding
that Felde was competent to stand trial

argue that he was incompetent to be tried. See
Rec. v. 1, at 44-45. Rather, Felde’s competence
is an issue in this case, in light of the allegations
of the petition and his brief on appeal, only as
to whether he could knowingly and intelligently
waive his sixth amendment right to effective
counsel at the sentencing hearing.

FELDE v. BLACKBURN’ . 403 —
Cite as 795 F.2d 400 (Sth Cir. 1986)

was apparently based entirely on the re-
ports of the sanity commission members.
However, the ‘sanity commission reports
are absent from the record before us, and
there is no indication when its members
completed their reports. The Louisiana Su-
preme Court states that Dr. Marceau, one

of three examining psychiatrists, saw Felde ~

on January 31, 1979, some 18 months be-

fore Felde’s trial. The second commission

member, Dr. Braswell, examined Felde on

January 22 and February 19, 1979. The.

third, Dr. Mauroner, examined Felde on

January 29, and February 5 and 19, 1979.

[2] In light of our reasoning in Autry,

we believe the district court was obligated -

to determine whether the state court find-
ing.that Felde was competent to stand trial
and thus: to waive his right to counsel is

fairly supported by the record. Such a_

determination cannot be made on the basis
of the present record, which does not in-
clude the only information on which the
state court based its finding of competence.
Whether. the examinations of Felde were
close enough to the time of trial that the
defense attorney need not have requested a
competency hearing, in light of the inter-
vening events Felde alleges took place,
may be relevant to the district court’s in-
quiry as to whether the state court finding
is entitled to a presumption of correctness
and to whether Felde’s counsel should have
asked for a second competency hearing.

We will thus remand for the purpose of
considering this issue on an expanded
record. If, on remand, the district court
concludes that the state court finding of
competence is not entitled to a presumption
of correctness, the district court should
conduct an evidentiary hearing and make
findings as to whether or not there was an
“absence of apparent mental deficiency” on
Felde’s part so that the principles enunciat-
ed in Autry were satisfied.”

2. If the finding of competency by the state court
is fairly supported by the record on which that
finding was made, the state may nevertheless be
required to resentence Felde depending on the
findings of the district court on remand. A
resentencing will be necessary if Felde can es-
tablish that his mental condition deteriorated
significantly between his competency hearing

~Felde challenges as prejudicial certain
remarks by the prosecutor in his closing
statement and rebuttal. In those remarks ~
the prosecutor referred to evidence not in
the record, warning in addition that if the
petitioner was found not guilty by reason
of insanity he might easily escape.

[3] In federal habeas actions, improper
jury argument by the state does not
present a claim of constitutional magnitude
unless it is so prejudicial that the petition-
er’s state court trial was rendered funda-
mentally unfair within the meaning of the

‘Fourteenth Amendment’s Due- Process
Clause. Kirkpatrick 2. Blackburn, TTT

F.2d 272, 281 (5th Cir.1983). To establish

that a prosecutor’s remarks are so inflam-.

matory as to prejudice the substantial

rights of a defendant, the petitioner must

demonstrate either persistent and pro-
nounced misconduct or that the evidence
was so insubstantial that (in probability)
but for the remarks no conviction would
have occurred. Jd. At best, the petitioner
suggests that “it cannot be said with any
degree of certainty” that the allegedly pre-
judical remarks “had no effect on the out-

‘come”. of the case. That is true. The

burden, however; was not on the state to
make such a showing. The petitioner has
failed to carry his burden of showing that
the evidence against him was so insubstan-
tial that but for these remarks no convic-
tion would have occurred.

[4] Citing Grisby v. Mabry, 758 F.2d
226 (8th Cir.1985) (en banc), the petitioner
next argues that his right to a jury selected
from a cross-section of the community was
violated by the exclusion of thirty venire-
men stricken for cause under Witherspoon
v. Illinois, 391 U.S. 510, 520, 88 S.Ct. 1770,
1776, 20 L.Ed.2d 776 (1968) because of their
moral qualms about the death penalty. .We
have rejected this argument before, see,
e.g. Wicker v. McCotter, 183 F.2d 487,

and trial and: (1) his counsel was or should
have been aware of his deteriorated mental con-
dition, and (2)-reasonably effective counsel
‘ would have determined that if another compe-
_ tency hearing had been requested the court
probably would have found Felde incompetent
to stand trial.

400 \it 795 FEDERAL REPORTER, 2d SERIES

tiffs’ failure to completely achieve the re-
lief they sought. Such consideration, one
of the Johnson factors, is appropriate. See
Hensley v. Eckerhart, 461 U.S. 424, 103
S.Ct. 1933, 76 L.Ed.2d 40 (1983). However,
as a result of this appeal, the district
court’s assumption that only two of the
fourteen plaintiffs prevailed is open to sub-
stantial revision on remand. We therefore
vacate the award of attorney’s fees in or-
der to permit the district court to consider
this factor in the further exercise of its
discretion.’

III. CONCLUSION

We reverse that portion of the judgment
denying plaintiffs relief on their disparate
impact claims. We vacate the award of
attorney’s fees. Affirming in all other re-
spects, we remand for further proceedings
not inconsistent with this opinion.

REVERSED in part; VACATED in part;
AFFIRMED in part; REMANDED.

w
° E key NUMBER SYSTEM

cKe Cutee/
Merck (498%

Wayne Robert FELDE,
Petitioner-Appellant,
Vv.

Frank BLACKBURN, Warden,
Louisiana State Penitentiary,
‘Respondent-Appellee.

No. 85-4437.

United States Court of Appeals,
Fifth Circuit.
July 21, 1986.

State court defendant who was convict-

- ed of first-degree murder petitioned for
habeas corpus. The United States District
Court for the Western District of Louisi-

‘ 19. We express no opinion as to the propriety of
the hourly rates used by the court, since recalcu-

—_

ana, Tom Stage, Chief Judge denied relief,
and petitioner appealed. The Court of Ap-
peals, Gee, Circuit Judge, held that: (1)
district court was obligated to determine
whether state court finding that defendant
was competent to stand trial and thus to
waive his right to counsel was fairly sup-
ported by the-record, requiring remand; (2)
petitioner failed to carry his burden of
showing that evidence against him was so
insubstantial that but for remarks of prose-
cutor referring to evidence not in the
record no conviction would have occurred;
and (3) statements made by petitioner to
psychiatrist during course of court-ordered
sanity commission examination were prop-
erly used during petitioner’s cross-examina-
tion and in prosecution’s closing statement
and rebuttal for impeachment purposes.

Remanded.

1. Habeas Corpus €85.1(2)

State court’s finding of defendant’s
mental competence to stand trial, and, in-
ferentially, mental competence to waive
Sixth Amendment rights through instruc-
tions defendant gave his attorney, was
finding of fact entitled to presumption of
correctness in defendant’s habeas corpus
proceeding. 28 U.S.C.A. § 2254(d); U.S.
C.A. Const.Amend. 6.

2. Habeas Corpus ¢90.2(5)

District court was obligated to deter-
mine whether state court finding that de-
fendant was competent to stand trial and
thus to waive his right to counsel was
fairly supported by record in habeas pro-
ceeding, which record did not include the
only information on which state court
based its findings of competence. 28 U.S.
C.A. § 2254(d); U.S.C.A. Const.Amend. 6.

3. Habeas Corpus €85.2(1)

Burden was on habeas petitioner, who
claimed that remarks of prosecutor refer-
ring to evidence not in the record rendered
his state court trial fundamentally unfair
within due process clause, to show that

lation of the attorney's fees award is required in
any event. ;

’. FELDE v. BLACKBURN cae 401
Cite as 795 F.2d 400 (5th Cir. 1986)

evidence against him was so insubstantial
that but for the remarks no conviction
would have occurred. US.C.A. Const.
‘Amend. 14. ‘

4, Jury €33(2.1) : :

_ Exclusion of veniremen because of
their moral qualms about death penalty did
not violate right of defendant in first-de-
gree murder prosecution to jury selected
from cross section of the community. U.S.
C.A. Const.Amend. 6.

5. Witnesses €=390 on
Statements made by defendant to psy-
chiatrist during course. of court-ordered
sanity commission examination were prop-
erly used during defendant’s cross-exami-
nation and in prosecution’s closing state-
ment and rebuttal for impeachment pur-

‘poses, even assuming that the statements

were inadmissible in the state’s case in
chief since defendant had not been given
Miranda warning before the examination.
U.S.C.A. Const.Amends. 5, 6. -

Millard C. Farmer, Atlanta, Ga., Quigley
& Scheckman, William P. Quigley, New
Orleans, La., for petitioner-appellant.

Paul Carmouche, Dist. Atty., Shreveport,
La., Wm. Guste, Jr., Atty. Gen., Baton
Rouge, La., A.M. Stroud, II, Asst. Dist.
Atty., Shreveport, La., for _respondent-ap-
pellee.

Appeal from the United States District
Court for the Western District of Louisi-
ana.

Before GEE, RANDALL, and DAVIS,
Circuit Judges.

GEE, ‘Circuit Judge:

In 1981, petitioner Wayne Felde was con-
victed and sentenced to death in Louisiana
state court for the first degree murder of
Shreveport police officer Thomas Glen
Thompkins. His appeal unsuccessful,
State v. Felde, 422 So.2d 370 (La.1982),
Felde has since sought habeas relief in the
state courts and federal district court to no
avail. We now take up his habeas claims.

The petitioner’s first claim is that he was
denied effective assistance of counsel in
the penalty phase of his trial, when his
attorney, concededly acting on instructions,
suggested to the jury that life imprison-
ment would be unbearable and requested

that it return a sentence. of death, a re- -

quest the jury obliged. The petitioner con-
tends that he was mentally incompetent to
give such instructions and that in any event
the attorney was derelict in his duty to
follow them. ©

‘We dealt with a stindla 2 claim of ineffec-
tiveness of counsel in Autry v. McKaskle,
727 F.2d 358 (5th Cir.1984). In Autry; the
petitioner: was convicted of two counts of

first degree murder after a vigorous de- -

fense. In the sentencing phase of the trial
that followed, the defendant gave instruc-
tions to his attorney not to argue against

the imposition of the death penalty, instruc- .

tions that the attorney obeyed. Autry’s
habeas petition argued that the failure of
the attorney to seek a competency hearing
before abiding by such __ instructions
amounted to ineffective assistance of coun-
sel in the sentencing phase. We rejected
that argument, declaring:
[T]he Supreme Court has refused pro se
withdrawal of a petition for writ of cer-
tiorari absent a competency hearing
when counsel questioned his client’s com-
petence and supported his concern with a
report by an examining psychiatrist who
found him incompetent. Rees v. Peyton,
384 U.S. 312, 86 S.Ct. 1505, 16 L.Ed.2d
583 (1965). It does not follow for us that

refusing to plead for mercy after being °

convicted of two execution-style slayings
will alone so implicate a defendant’s
competency as to render his counsel con-
stitutionally ineffective for not seeking
an inquiry into competency before abid-
ing the client’s decision. There is no
other. evidence from trial or from the
post-conviction evidentiary hearings
that raises questions about Autry’s
competence. The United States district
judge found no suggestion of incom-
petence after reviewing the entire trial
record and listening to the ‘testimony of

pops eam '2¢ 744

: ‘Kigota 1a

TIT Ne VENTE ~ 7 a

Vodiaaner'€ Execiites::
_ Vietnam Veteran

- United’ Press International

Wayne Robert: Felde, a: Viet-
‘nam veteran who said his harrow-
ing wartime experiences. had led
_ him to kill a police officer, was exe-
- cuted ‘in’ Louisiana’s electric: chair
last night.

_ tentiary. He had been condemned
_ for shooting Glen Tompkins, a rook-
ie cop: in Shreveport, in October

' 1978 as the officer drove Felde to

A. fall for being drunk and disorderly.
| Felde, whose specialty during

finding enemy tunnels, ‘contended

- at-his trial that the effects of: his.
~ combat’ experiences ‘and’ his’ expo-
_-sure‘to the defoliant' Agent Orange.
, Subjected. him. to flashbacks: He

pleaded insanity, saying that’ “post-

_ traumatic stress disorder: had left

~ him unable to tell geld from’ Apron.

oa Franco Orie

Po- AY

___ Felde, 38, was pronouiiced dead
at 10:14:p.m. PST-at:the state’ peni-

his. Army service in 1968-69 was.

Tuedy, March 15, 1988

% jae

Louisiana man executed;
Florida convict waits ~*-*

ANGOLA, La. — Wayne Rob...
ert Felde, who had pleaded | ‘with; YW
a jury to impose the death: 4
ty to keep:-him from killing: S
again, was éxecuted in the elec. NQ
tric chair early today: for - the’ \
1978 slaying: of a rookie police.” N
man. Felde, - 38, went to his death,

at 12:14 a:m. after the U.S. Su->
preme Court yesterday refused X
in a 7-2 vote to stay the execu-.

tion. In Starke, Fla., meanwhile, . \

Willie Jasper Darden, who_sur-
vived an unprecedented six death:

. warrants and became an intérna-. -
_ tional cause“celebre, awaited ex-.. aN’

ecution in the electric chair early:
today for the 1973 slaying of a
businessman during a robbery.

By The Tribune news services ee

ust, to: At 12:10 pim;, after. {wo jolts of ‘to. town to. interview people who.
ae ae

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or the \. that another appeal for a'stay could be * execution again ‘surfaced "ins St.

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he first time —~ some drunks, they fooled around:
d’ve been turned a loose, If he had a been any-.

with it — and he shoul 3 |
body else, he would’ye been turned a loose, It was God talkin’, but
nobody listened. 3376270005 ED Ted ag SE
—Joe Flugence.

at Fi

s 2

_. A year later, on May 9, 1947, Francis . His . controyersial failed first
again was transported from the Iberia execution 39 years aga still is discussed
Parish Jail to the St. Martinville jailand © by those who remember, who were:

made to the. U.S, Supreme Court, » Martinville when a reporter and film>«|t
Francis again faced death, “! > erew with ABC’s 20/20 program came »|f

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remember Willie Francis.

Two of those interviewed included 99-
vear-old Joe Flugence. 4 black resident
who recalled the controversy
surrounding Francis’ escape from
death, and area attorney Bertrand
DeBlanc, who handled Francis’ appeals.

DeBlanc was 39 at the time and was
described in one Associated Press story
as a ‘dapper” attorney. Flugence was
60 years old.

DeBlanc, who later served as district
attorney for Lafayette, Vermilion and
Acadia parishes and now is an indigent
defender in Vermilion Parish, said the
20/20 segment dealing with the Francis
case should air in late September or the
first of October.

He speculated that the controversial
nature of the Francis case and
current controversy surrounding the
death penalty are reasons behind ABC’s
interest.

Flugence also agreed that the case
still is interesting and he personally
believes Francis’ execution was a

_miscarriage of justice.

“They claimed that boy killed a white
man,” Flugence said, holding a half-
smoked King Edward cigar between his
fingers. “But as far as we know it to be,
{hey never did prove it outright.

“So they said he had to die, had to die
for killin’ a white man. But the first
time, it didn't work. The chair didn’t
work. The Lord was tryin’ to say it
wasn’t right.”

Flugence said a crowd had gathered
to wait for Francis’ execution. When
word came that the execution failed and
Francis was escorted from the jail back
to New Iberia, the people — primarily
black people — believed it was a Sign
from God showing that Francis was
innocent of murder.

“They said he yelled out ‘y’all are
killin’ me,’ and the electricity, it was
joltin’ him but wasn’t killir him,”
Flugence said. “And they told the boy,
‘Boy, we want you to tell the truth,’ and
the boy said ‘I’m tellin’ the truth, I didn’t
kill that man,’ and the white man, he
said, ‘We know better.’ Those white
people, they made their own laws back
then, y'know.”

DeBlanc said Francis was accused of
killing druggist Andrew Thomas, a
prominent Jocal citizen. Authorities
<aid Thomas was shot five times while
walking between his garage and home
one night, according to DeBlanc, and his
watch and a wallet containing $4 were
taken.

Months later, Francis — who
reportedly knew Thornas -- was picked

a
-

up in Texas, and Thomas’ wallet was
found in his pocket, DeBlanc said.
Francis reportedly confessed to the
murder and showed authorities where
the gun holster was discarded the night
‘of the shooting.

“There never was a question of his
ovilt in my mind,” DeBlanc said. “I took

-- 6

the.

Willie was a gentle person, not vicious, and a quiet per-
son. I think he would have ma
tence had been commuted to life. Back then he would

have gotten out after about 10 years for good behavior.

__ Bertrand DeBlanc

aaa Te eE. Riera LES ST ES. ee TE 5 TD

over his case because of the question of
whether or not he should be subjected to
the chair twice. .- - I never argued
about getting anew trial or disputed his
conviction. I felt no man should go twice
to the chair for the same offense.

“Tt wasn’t his fault the chair
malfunctioned, and some people said
the executioners were drunk and had
fiddled around with the wires — that
caused the malfunction. But Willie paid
the supreme penalty. His mind died that
first time. I just didn’t think he should
have to face another trip to the chair.”

It was the first time in the state’s
history that an execution failed,
DeBlanc said, adding that he knows of
no other occurrence since that time.
Because of the controversy and mixed
moral/judicial implications, the case
became a landmark in history, the
attorney said.

“There was no money in it for me, but
I took the case because it was
interesting,” DeBlanc said. “We took it
on appeal to the district court, appeals
court, state Supreme Court and the
United States Supreme Court, and we
finally lost it there on a 5-4 vote.

“Tt took about a year, and the last
time I was there in the U.S. Supreme
Court, I argued on a question of
negligence. I said there were
intoxicated people involved with the
chair. But I lost. Then I rushed back to

Jew Iberia and told Willie we lost twice,
but we can still go back. He said ‘No,
leave it alone. It’s all fixed up and I’m
ready to go.’ :

“Willie was a gentle person, not
vicious, and a quiet person. I think he
would have made a good citizen if his
sentence had been commuted to life.
Back then he would have gotten out
after about 10 years for good behavior.”

During the course of the appeals,
DeBlanc said, he received thousands of
letters from throughout the country
claiming Francis had paid the price for
murder and should not go back to the
electric chair. DeBlanc said he, too,
agreed that Francis had died mentally
because of the stress of facing death,
and that he had suffered enough m ntal
anguish.

“The Pardon Board could have
commuted his sentence from death to
life. Sure, Willie was guilty, but lar gued
he shouldn't have to go pack to the chair,
that it was double jeopardy,” DeBlanc
said.

SA 9/8/85

de a good citizen if his sen-

‘anybody else, he would've been turned a
loose. It was God talkin’, but nobody :

“at the Supreme Court, if you res if

through the whole decision, you get the
opinion that it's in my favor until you get
to the bottom line that said he goes back
to the chair. It looks like somebody
changed their mind during the night.”

To Flugence, justice had no real
bearing on Francis’ eventual execution.

“That chair, it failed the first time —
some drunks, they fooled around with it
— and he should've been turned a
loose,” Flugence said. “If he had a been

listened.”

At the time of the execution, two local
musicians cut a record, ‘The Lord
fooled around with that chair,” telling
the story of how a young man escaped
death in the electric chair. DeBlanc said
he gave 20/20 a copy of the record,
which may be included in its broadcast.

Almost 40 years later, the Francis
case still is of interest, partly because of
folklore and partly because of judicial
importance, DeBlanc said.

“after all this time, J really have no
strict opinions one way OF another about
the death penalty,” DeBlanc said. “But I
don’t believe it’s right to go twice to the
chair. That's what still makes this case
important.”

oe ee Oe ee ee

FR AT ONY A tats 2
4NCL5, Wiilie, black, elec, st
eo Wie

Martinsville, La, 5-9-1947,
99

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By MELINDA SHELTON — ~ youth as say!ng: eh yng sy Se cramer eee

Advocate state writer ' “Cut if off. You're killing me,” and | |

“That’s enough, that’s enough.” ‘That chair, it failed the first time — some drunks, they fooled around: |
ST. MARTINVILLE — On May 3, Willie Francis became the first man. With it ~'and he should've been turned a loose. If he had a been any mB
1946, 17-year-old Willie Francis was in Louisiana to walk away from an ‘body else, he would’ye been turned a loose, It was God talkin ’ but ae
strapped into the state’s portable. execution because of a malfunction of _ nobody listened. BE ee ree ee 7 tate. ye el
electric chair. _. , the electric chair. The voltage that’ —Joe Flugence :4,)",,. 025060: iS CG or en a
Convicted of the murder of a St..' should have killed Francis was inneisienitubal inten
Martinville druggist, the black youth ~ grounded by the malfunction, ~ a ed ae ae en '
had been sentenced to death by-. For the next year, Francis’ unique. _A year later, on May 9,1947, Francis ; His controversial ‘failed first
electrocution, and the chair had been escape from death was discussed in _ again was transported from the Iberia execution 39 years ago still is discussed
transported by truck to the jail here. - 7 state, district and federal courts — up to ,. Parish Jail to the St. Martinville jail and °. by those who remember, who were:

After a leather hood was placed over. * the U.S. Supreme Court. The judicial '» strapped into the portable chair.: ‘wey vf; there or who knew someone who was’,

Vhalg

Tey ry

Francis’ head, the executioner threw’ ‘system had to decide, among other ; Without a comment from, the'inmate ~ there. , Deas ev a WE
the switch that was to deliver enough”. things, if it would be double jeopardy to..." and despite’a plea from: is attorney. \..\. Several weeks’ ago, talk of the [he Mo
voltage to kill the condemned man. -‘ attempt to take a man’s life for the “that another appeal'for astay.could be.” execution again’“surfaced’ in’, St... Raf"

According to published reports, ° second time for the same conviction, or’. made to the: US. Supreme Court, « Martinville whena reporter and film“: Bs :
Francis reportedly said: »-if it would be cruel and unusual”. Francis againfaced death; *,/ ?;erew with ABC’s 20/20 program came «|i

: ° . “aes . y . : a ; wal H * .
“Take the cap off, I’m having a hard ‘,punishment,-and morally unjust, to s. At 12:10 p/m; ~affer..two jalts of ' to. town to. interview people. who [|
~dime breathing.” , ., Subject Francis to a second execution « § electricity, Wille), Rrancis - was He de an PT :
Still-circulated Tumors quote the. attempt. § . a pronounced deada yi. 54. Sieg” ' SEE EXECUTION, 3B “y ‘Joe Flugened
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102 DEATH AND THE SUPREME COURT

Even a practical awareness that police and local officials were
often overzealous did not dissuade him from a dislike of
what he once called “interferences with states’ rights under
the vague and ambiguous mandate of the Fourteenth
Amendment.” It would not have been unlike Jackson to vote
originally against a second electrocution and then, when the
opinions were in cold print, to change his vote in favor of
leaving Louisiana to its own devices. If Jackson had not
yet returned from Nuremberg, and the votes of the other
Justices had remained the same, the decision would still have
gone against Willie, but by a different method. The Louisiana
court would have been affirmed by an equally divided Su-
preme Court, but no opinions would have been written.

Sheriff Ozeene brought Willie the news of the Supreme
Court’s decision and found the boy standing at the window
of his cell, looking out at the bleak winter scene. Willie lis-
tened and then sat down hard on the cot, got up again, and
walked up and down the cell. “It’s the same thing again,”
he stammered. “It’s the same thing all over again. I got to
start worrying again, and, boss, I thought I’d get out of it.
But I guess a man’s got to die some time. And I reckon my
time has come.”

The sheriff offered to take the news to Willie’s relatives,
but Willie declined. “No thanks. If I need you, I'll let you
know. I got four bucks and some funny books and the Good
Lord’s Bible, and I still got the breath in my chest. No
thanks.”

Once again the reporters descended on New Iberia to
interview the jail’s most celebrated inmate. They were ush-
ered in and found Willie singularly cool and composed. He
told them he was “right interested to find out if I can die
like the man I thought I was.” He leaned back against the
damp wall of the cell. “I always sort of wondered if I was a
brave man. Now I guess I’m gonna find out. And I’m going
to find out the hard way, boss, so there won’t be no doubt in
my mind when I leave. A lot of men never find out. A lot
of men die still wondering if they was the men they thought
they was.” :

The reporters told Willie that Governor Davis had just
announced he would sign a new death warrant as soon as the
mandate from the Supreme Court arrived. Willie smiled.
“Death and me is old neighbors,” he said, stuttering on the
word “neighbors.” “But remember this, I’m a closer neighbor
of the Lord.”

De Blanc told the reporters that Willie “is a lot calmer

IF AT FIRST ; 103

than he was last May when he walked away from the chair.”
The attorney shook his head. “He’s amazing. And he’s still
got a chance, since the Supreme Court ruling against him
was only five to four. We're filing for another hearing as soon
as possible.”

Willie was not so sure. He prophesied: “This time it'll be
different. That electric chair is going to work.”

In Washington, Wright was filing a petition for rehearing
in the Supreme Court. In it, he pointed out an interesting
fact that had escaped notice up until this time. Prior to
Willie’s attempted execution, Louisiana law laid down no
specific qualifications for the operator of an electric chair.
Two months after Willie’s experience, however, the Louisiana
legislature changed the statute to require that the operator of
the electric chair be “a competent electrician who shall not
have been previously convicted of a felony.” This was an
admission by the State of Louisiana, argued Wright, that the
attempt to electrocute Willie had been carried out in an in-
competent manner. This was particularly important in view
of the fact that Mr. Justice Reed’s opinion had assumed “that
the state officials carried out their duties under the death
warrant in a careful and humane manner.”

The Supreme Court, however, denied Wright's petition for
rehearing and his supplemental petition for rehearing and
vacated the stay of execution which it had previously entered.
Almost immediately, de Blanc requested a second hearing be-
fore the Board of Pardons in Louisiana. For the first time in
any pleading, he alleged that “at least-one” of those who
acted as officials in conducting the electrocution “was thor-
oughly intoxicated.” De Blanc hoped that the close vote in
the Supreme Court, the expression of personal distaste by
the Justices, the nationwide attention focused on the case,
and his new allegation in regard to intoxication, would all
combine to sway the Board of Pardons. He was greatly dis-
appointed when the board once again unanimously rejected
his pleas. ;

Time was now a critical factor, with the end of April ap-
proaching and a new execution date set for Friday, May 9,
1947, At one point, Sheriff Resweber later told reporters,
Willie threatened to kill himself with a razor smuggled into
his cell in a Bible. In the meantime, de Blanc persisted in his
efforts. He filed, instead of habeas corpus in a Federal court,
a motion for a new trial and a motion in arrest of judgment
in the trial court of the state. By the time the trial court

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106

before, he was taken to the anteroom and strapped into the
chair. The dozen witnesses milled about, nervous, uncomfort-
able, embarrassed, and a few of them not feeling very well.
Willie was given the last rites and asked if he had anything
to say. He didn’t.

One year and six days after the first try, the switch was
thrown again.

It was all the same, except that this time the chair worked.
The gauze on Willie’s head dried up, and the burns appeared
where they should have. This time the coffin could be used,
and the crowd was not disappointed. |

As the hearse drove away, with Willie’s father up front,
bent over with grief, Sheriff Ozeene stood on the courthouse
steps. He might have been recalling the garbled epitaph of a
boy old beyond his years. “I kill Andrew Thomas and today
he is lying in a grave and I am not a killer but I wonder
where I am going ta be lying and in what kind of grave I
don’t know.”

DEATH AND THE SUPREME COURT

spt OE ON PRE Pat ares

Wondrous Ways

BAXTER GRIFFIN lay on the couch in his three-room apart-
ment, waiting for supper. It was five o’clock, February 8,
1947, and his wife was cooking his favorite meal of black-
eyed peas, spareribs, and apple pie. ‘

Baxter overflowed the couch. He was six feet one inch, and
he weighed over two hundred pounds. The couch groaned and
expanded under him as he shifted around to get a better
look at what was on the stove.

He had been raised in North Carolina but had come to
Washington, D.C., in time to meet and marry his wife in
December, 1939. They had had no children. Aside from a
conviction for simple assault in Virginia in 1941, Griffin had
stayed out of trouble. He loved his work—operating a bull-
dozer for a contractor in Anacostia, a section of Washington
—and he loved to play cards. No one knew which he loved
more.

Whenever cards were mentioned, the middle part of Bax-
ter’s face spread into an impish grin, and his tiny mustache,
never conspicuous on the broad expanse above his mouth,
folded into the smile and became almost lost from view.
His normally puffy eyes scrunched up in delighted anticipa-
tion, and his light-brown, almost reddish, complexion became
mottled from the strain of the merriment.

But he liked to work the bulldozer too. It gave him a pecul-
iar sense of power to operate that machine. He would slam
the gears into place and lurch over the landscape, taking
everything with him as he went, like an All-American back
stampeding a light line.

Dinner was almost ready when the thought occurred to
Baxter that this would be a fine night for cards. He was
fecling particularly restless, and a game might simmer him
down. But then Baxter eyed the stove, and he was not so sure. _

This was a hard choice—between cards on the one hand

107

106 DEATH AND THE SUPREME COURT

One year and six days after the first try, the switch was
thrown again.

It was all the same, except that this time the chair worked.
The gauze on Willie’s head dried up, and the burns appeared
where they should have. This time the coffin could be used, .
and the crowd was not disappointed. :

As the hearse drove away, with Willie’s father up front,
bent over with grief, Sheriff Ozeene stood on the courthouse BAXTER GRIFFIN lay on the couch in his three-room apart-
steps. He might have been recalling the garbled epitaph of a ment, waiting for supper. It was five o’clock, February 8,
boy old beyond his years. “I kill Andrew Thomas and today 1947, and his wife was cooking his favorite meal of black-
he is lying in a grave and I am not a killer but I wonder eyed peas, spareribs, and apple pie. ‘
where I am going ta be lying and in what kind of grave I © Baxter overflowed the couch. He was six feet one inch, and
don’t know.” i he weighed over two hundred pounds. The couch groaned and
expanded under him as he shifted around to get a better
look at what was on the stove.

This was a hard choice—between cards on the one hand

107

Wondrous Ways —

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104 DEATH AND THE SUPREME COURT

and the Louisiana Supreme Court had denied his motions, it
_was May 7, with only two days to go.

De Blanc flew to Washineton. He and Wright filed in the
Supreme Court not only a petition for a writ of certiorari,
the traditional method of requesting the Ccurt to hear a
case, but also an original petition for a writ of habeas corpus.
This is the writ issued by a judge directine a iailer to
_ produce the prisoner and state the reason for his being held;
. it is the traditional method of testing the levality of some-
' one’s detention. Normally, habeas corpus is filed first in a
Federal District Court and then appealed up to the Supreme
Court, but there was no longer time for any such procedure,
The ground for their petitions was that they had discovered
new evidence. The “newly discovered evidence” was an
affidavit signed by a former city judge of New Iberia. On
the basis of this affidavit, Willie’s lawyers alleged that “on
the day so appointed for [Francis’s] execution, [Francis]
was placed in an electric chair, that at the time, the execu-
tioner and other persons connected with carrying out the
execution were so drunk that it was impossible for them to
have known what they were doing, that the scene was a dis-
graceful and inhuman exhibition, that as soon as the switch
controlling the current was taken of, the drunken execu-
tioner cursed Willie Francis and told him that he would be

IF AT FIRST 105

intoxication on the part of the executioner. While the torture
to the condemned man may be as great regardless of why the
execution failed, the culpability of the state is clear in one
case and not in the other. The difficulty for the Justices,
however, was that in the Hawk case, decided three years
before, they had ruled that habeas corpus must first be
filed in the Federal District Court rather than in the Su-
preme Court. Hearing Willie’s case would mean overruling
Hawk.

On that same afternoon, May 8, while de Blanc was still in
Washington, the Supreme Court handed down a brief order:
The petition of Willie Francis “for leave to file an original
petition for writ of habeas corpus is denied for reasons set
forth in Ex Parte Hawk, 321 U.S. 114. In view of the grave
nature of the new allegation set forth in this petition, the
denial is expressly without prejudice to application to proper
tribunals.”

This rather pointed language might be roughly translated:
“We are powerless to help you in view of our previous de-
cision, But you’ve got a good point, and there’s nothing to
stop you from filing the same petition in the Federal Dis-
trict Court.” Mr. Justice Murphy thought the petition should
be granted; Mr. Justice Rutledge thought the petition should

ioe neato ages Laer eae

SE asinine ne cath ar BN

Se eee
Be.

pap
oe ort ae

be treated as a petition for rehearing and granted and the
case sent back to Louisiana for a factual hearing; and Mr.
Justice Douglas took no part in the decision.

De Blanc flew back to Louisiana and immediately went to
see Willie in the New Iberia jail. They had a long and serious
conference. When he left the jail, de Blanc wired Wright that

Baits S Boe

back to finish electrocuting him and if the electricity did not
kill him, he would kill him with a rock. {Francis] also
alleges upon information and belief that the executioner
was actuated by sadistic impulses and either willfully, de-
liberately and intentionally applied less than a minimal lethal

ope me

RO ee ae
te

12-3 ee

current, for the purpose of torturing [Francis], or acted
with such wanton, reckless and inhuman indifference to the
probability of inflicting excruciating and unnecessary pain
upon [Francis] that in fact less than a minimal lethal
current of electricity passed through the body of [Francis];
and that as a consequence of the premises, [Francis] was
cruelly, inhumanly, and excruciatingly tortured. The punish-
ment thus inflicted upon [Francis] was cruel, unusual, and
due to the conscious cruelty or wanton indifference of the
executioner.”

These petitions were filed in the Supreme Court on the day
before the new date for execution, and the Chief Justice im-
mediately called a special session of the Court to consider
them. The allegations were obviously serious. It is one thing
to fail to execute a man because of a simple mistake; it is
quite another to subject him to this experience because: of

Willie had requested him not to initiate any further proceed-
ings. Willie was ready to die.

The next morning, Willie Francis was taken back to
St. Martinville over the same eight miles as before, past the
familiar sights, around the square and up to the front of the
courthouse. The only difference was that this time the day
was warmer: and the hour earlier—Sheriff Resweber was
taking no chances on letting Willie come through the crowd
that would be gathering a little later in the day. He was put
in the same cell as before. The same truck and the same
heavy, portable, wooden electric chair arrived from Angola,
although a new electrician accompanied it. The chair was
carried to the same anteroom as before, and the wires run
through the window to the truck. The generator was warmed
up to its deafening pitch. Willie was shaved in the appropriate
places. When the time came, shortly after noon, just as

~
ff *
MW LSaAVVeTT |:
- a |

7 he St. Macy Baan cn (Fe anklis , Lous! ana

lll

3-39-(F+ page 7, col. 3

— hl cide. tek

fruch Load of Liquor Seized. Syivester Garreit Hanercd.

a ‘ “ 8
a \ i Pte |
gt «Tuesday = morning Sheriff On Friday of last) week, Syivestes “ boos
les Pecot aod his deputies oap- Garrett, condemned meurdeter, ws | os ees ee |
ta srwok load of Hquor, valned hanved at the Parich proson by Spo bo ° ey i cw
yout 81,500, when they caught a ovo chee. BPoeet NG Pot dacte sets 7
legger by the name of Jim ell, THe Bemot: assembled the Lec wi. - ore
passed through franklin wt esses and siarted the death marci. 0) ren a a
. at ae J ola: ma vricole (;re\

speed, whea Sheriff Peoot saw Garrett walking between the Sheriff
sad became suspicious. He tel- and Depoty Sheri Arthur Martel.
ed to Conetable W. 1. Badeanz secompaniod by Rev. J. J. Rour-
iidwia te eiop him. Whoa Boll xeu, whe administered to the man pee tale Pod oS tandoen:
10d Baldwin ke paid no wttentlom hire the last hours of life. While cy teeete
Nee commands of Coustadle tia- Ivins prepared the negro talked to gel oso
x and Judge Chaproo ts stop, tp. oficial. and thanked the good Bo he to gh Webeees Phe

¢
Perot lertcs r, Rohert
C, .

kept right oo golog. Constable wii gagnle & ' ; eae 1. J i,
i : i: sople for all that the s} are . ,

yeux aod Judge Chaproo fwliowed yon. a hit, ‘Saving that is ma 7 Be | : / a ie a

ae hep an ably aie BY ar Peave with the world. and his ' oS aes ner silica

at Lowoo = Vue. Pa: Gol and was “ready. te® yo,” 8 Peon (eee mane

ieriffe Arthur Marte) sod Philiv At . ried, Sevond,

1:15 the trap was ocprany rj i. 0 . ah ;
ree followed the truck = from: .4°y4.9° Dr. ae a oot pate Podlaes Polls Po 20) LeBlane,
‘ : ¥ nalts ow oot . ». . e”*,. Lavy Cay | . ‘ a * 5° *y .
klio, and arrived at the suyar Ye gedian WW EO oRewtins, ~ Com
eu few minutes after he was cap- eee : ] ors: Dien Carnie Clerk.

; lavinyg been brok the. ¢ iy
|. Bell was en route from New he broken “by the fall. His,

Toind Vauared, direst Preeiset

funeral took place from the Cathole ); , " te. ‘

oT ey : Mace from the Cathole jin tall: Joh Sintms, Joh
ote deliver the I nol cea where church, interment being made in the lorvy. Chenier aeulicnen

i] was arraigned botura the Dis. Ptuper craveyard. i PP endwenne “Chee.
Court Wanda miening ‘and Garrett was eonvieted last fall fer A aad Siepnd. |
je ’ . - e i . t e e yt* . i
} guilty of haviog intexicwtiog therbrutal murder of | Maggie: Ver- toldwin Pall: ‘Louis Worms
’ . ‘ ds ‘ ‘ . . , we
rs in his possession and was samen tO ee ipa ta the Wo- Breaux, Fernaad Barilleaux,
$200.00 sod gosts: H 4 : oO A Cann yan ACK re ae the ixstoners: 4%: PP. Greig. Cler
astable bedeaux sand Judye cee Dace below . Patterson. Here -Fevrth Ward, First [Precis
a e : : , 2, fe t r : ; : ; aad ‘ ’ ; : 4.

row are to be congratulated on found her fishing with twa. othor ¢eavilts Poll: LDS.

alertress 10 this mnatter, as well’

nevyro women. He ordered the other
ne obher officers. Bouotlagy-r«

pronouneed tne man dead, his ner.

a?
.

ANieman,
Bttenue, @. J. Peltier, Com

woaito star el; yj le oo Ae
t fe) ta yd hn i and deliberata \ oys Aripor Depersis, ( lerk .

no show io St Mary, us Sheriff ram pe Ye mel and blew pisth Ward, First) Presin
t is detwermiued wo entorcs the SY Aer head, nothwithstandine. the w.scny Polls TF. Marin.
. ‘ rac that she heeged for her life, Daperde | ‘on Lanne (om

This ix. the first hansing TOA e page pe Lnssus, Clerk.
MARY PARISH SCHOOL | Can ip pe dst ne ae Sivth Ward, First) Precine
RALLY SAT. APRIL Sth. of the murder of Mary MeCoy oa (iy) (t¥, Dells Tlarry Chase
= ep September 28. 1908. He was hanged 7. ga pty ch. Clock =
turday, April oth is the day set on March 5, 1909, by Mr. Milsou 'T. En aa. . Clerk,
the St. Mary Parish School Ral: peterman; at that time sheriff of the ‘eke Poll: AN

Second Preci:
len Poll: Atheet Areoin,

Never before jn tke history qof ‘ch (
schools of tht Parish. or on ; eran - eats SAA Er) Commis
rs, y has a Rally been attempte ‘ » CRA ND J U RY REPORT P 1 aan : Nani. First 1

uch a large seale.. The boys and - Initen ‘Voll A. FE. Gar.

of the aigh schools, the graded Franklin, La., Mar. 24th, 1924. Portier, Gaory :
ols, the big, Ones and the little To the TMWanorable I2wd Judicial Dis Partie Sr cia

ae Da tbada

‘Truch Load of Liquor Seized.

gt Tuesday morning Sheriff
‘les Pecot aod his deputies gap-
ta $ewok load of HNWaquor, valned
yout F1.900, when they caught 1
logger by the name of Jim Bell,
passed through Franklin ist
sped, whea Mberif! Peaot saw
sad became suspicious. He tel-
ed to Conetable W. I. Badeanx
iidwin te eiop him. Whea Boll
10d Baldwin ke paid no sttention
19 commands of Constable tia-
x and Judge Chaprou to stop,
kept right oo golog. Constabie
yanx aod Judge Chaproo foliowed
ruck which was overtaken by

at Liowood snyer huusy. Depu-
seriffs Arthur Marte) sod Philiv
ree followed the truck = from
klio, aod arrived at the suyar

eu few minutes after he was cap-
|. Boll was eo route froin New
ins to San Antoolo, Texsus, where
as t@ deliver the liquor.

i] was arraigned before the Dis-
Court Wednesday morning and
| guilty of having totexicstiog
rs in his possession and was
$209.00 end Gosts

ostable tsadeaux sod Judye
(ron are to be sonyratulated on
alorbiess 1b this inabter, as well
ne obher officers. Bouotlagy-re

no show io St Mary, us Sheriff
t te dewrmiued & enlorcsy the

——

MARY PARISH SCHOOL |
RALLY SAT. APRIL Sth.

turday, April Sth is the day set
the St. Mary Parish School Ral-

Nover before jn the history — of
schools of th Parish or fev

rs, has a Rally been attempted
uch a larwe seale.. The boys and
of the aigh sehools, the graded
ols, the big ones and the little

19 a e .

2 ae © WHO Og core

nf the

Syivester Garreit Haneed,

OQ Feiday of last. week, Seles!

Garrett, condenined merdepfor, wots
hanced at the Praich procom diy Si]
wT ‘ Vie, Brovere ’ \ 1: . ’ : wt
rif ther seot ascemncd than aye WW
Nesses and siarted the dean oimarci,

Garrett walking between the Sheriff
asd Depoty Sheri® Arthur Marwl,

aecsmpaniod by Rev. J. J. Rous-
seau, whe administered to the oman
durmy the last hours of life. While

eins prepared the neyro talked te
the offictale and thanked th goed
Wiite people for all that they had
done, for him, vaving that be wees

“at peace with the work’ and oho:
God and was “ready to? yo."

At 12:15 the trap was cprang ani
M2 Dr. BoOW. Sasith, corener,
pronounced tne man dend, his necer
having been
funeral took place from the Cuthole
church, interment being made in the
pauper graveyard.

*“.¢
alt

Garrett was eonvieted last fall fer
The brutal murder of | Magyie Ver-
dun, nevro, having followed the wo-
man ito accannl bank back of . the
Clarke place below .Patterson. Here
he found her fishine with two other
nevro women. He ordered the other
two to stand baek and deliberately
teok aim wih his shotyvun and blew
eff her head, nothwithstandin« . the

fact that she heeved for her life.

This is. the first haneing
place in St. Mary Parish siaee tho
execution of Jack Ratier. econviete |
murder of Marv MeCovi oon
September 28. 1908. He was hanged
on Warch 5, 190, by Mr. ilsoo T.
Peterman, at that time sheriff of the
parish,

to tnuke

GRAND JURY REPORT.

Franklin, La., Mar. 24th, 1924.
To the Tanorable 28rd Judicial Dis-

broken by the fall. Hoe.

. 4 ee on
ry ‘ hie
‘ f' [ft
‘
‘ ‘
we asf ' , re ‘
Coto Poavh ANvrieole Gres
Pierent Forter, lobert
Contiiscigners: Up: Te Petat
oe OW foo eagle ined Preeir
Te, } grt? ye ed Wet hetts W
bare Se detae o Bey be so. Com
eyo eat ber fore tqarl,
e: fot a) poo
* , ‘} : , a yy
ye ! !. se 1 Aa
: . P
h. Pit aces ae Coil
A H ae | ‘ at '
Pu , a i secon,
I. ill: i hie, LeBlane,
sel WN is velbs, Com

Gaarie, Clerk.

qe OVgee

Vninvd: Vogt, Teast) Preehiet
Posy UM Phe Johes Stnimys, John
Perey Cirotir, Conrnissioner
Ro: Bowdresus, Clerk.

Tivined oer, Second i

feb iwin’ Polbes 13

Breaux, Perna

UIs Worse
Sarilleaux,

isstonerse ty. Pa Greig eles
Fourth Ward, Marst ¢ Pres it
trevilie Pell: Lo So Aleman,
Bihepiae, ,, 7 Peltier, Com
ers: Arthur Dagens, Clerk.
Riftth Ward. First) Presin
corson Polli KF Marin

Drrele, —oo €,
@rssi od, 49

anime, Com
Lassaus, Clerk,

Sivth Ward. First Precine
yoemEity Poll: Warry Chase
Adm oonis Desobry, Cam
ers: (LPO Lyneh, Clerk,

Sivth Ward. Second Preci:
ct io! Alhevet ANreotn,
Bevery Jae Dntele Comniis
Teds Proseers Clerk,

Seventh Vard, First 4
Mellen Belle ALE. Gaks,
Fortier, Geornwe Tandre, — ¢
atietenwas «Thorne ecliallteny f teek

. _~ Sylvester

DR one ati

» «

waaaite Pn "tanta i hth he sO

eit

is ears

Garrett. executed jn Aoulsiarig on 3-Z/-/ TAY

(ais)

___ THE TIMES-PICAYUNE, TUESDAY, MARCH 38, 1924 >

EXPANSION.
IUIRES MONEY,
‘ON POINTS OUT

| Warns
ering Rates at Ex-.
ense of Service.

people hurt the rallroads.

be hurting themselves, and
they ought to be very care-
it urging the reduction of
3,

s the contention of George
Jixon, vice-president of the
ania railroad who was here
ivate car yesterday, and who
2 across the continent and
ling why.”

uly does the contention hold

undeveloped parts of the
like some sections of the
Ir, Dixon explained. Exten-

the roads Into sections that
'eloping is the biggest need
mes, the rail official thinks,
s for this purpose that the
nt to make money.
transportation, st trans-
, reliable transportation is
1 people need,” he said, “not
on of rates.”

nnsylvania system cannot go
sell $50,000,000 in bonds for
ich needed extensions that
sult In a general benefit to
try, the officials explained,
the banking people say the
not earning enough on its

at,
he roads fared well in 1923
ere them to do evén better
hat they need fs to be let
6 ‘paid.
Seiciomees.. <canamnemmain

KIE KING CONVICTED.

Anselmo, known in the sport-
J as Frankie King, was con-
sterday by a jury In Judge
‘y’s section of the criminal
‘ourt of stealing an overcoat
sentenced to serve three
In the parish prison. King
2ral of his companions are
tave gone to a private dance
use In Carrollton avenue in

Against |

Ends Years of Labor
in City of Nativity

The Rev. L. J. Zerr.

FUNERAL SERVICES
FOR PRIEST TODAY

Last Honors to Be Paid in
Church He Helped to
Build Up.

Funeral services for the Rev. Law-
rence Joseph Zerr, who died Sunday,
will be conducted in his church, Our
Lady Star of the Sea, at 20 o'clock
this morning. Father Zerr died after
an {lIness of several years,

Father Zerr was born in New Or-

leans April 17, 1872, and as a boy
afipndad tha Taentt Rea_

anilara an

(GOVERNOR ORDERS
SLAYER’S DEATH
DESPITE APPEALS

Refuses Request of Trial
Judge and Jury for
Clemency.

Baton Rouge, La., March 17.—-After
twice reprieving Sylvester Garrett of
St. Mary parish, sentenced. to be
hanged for murder Friday, Governor
Parker tonight refused the request of
the trial jury, the trial judge as well
as many other requests for clemency
for the negro, and will let the law
take its course.

In explanation of his stand in this
chse the governor issued the follow-
ing statement:

“Sylvester Garrett was indicted by
grand jury, prosecuted by Honorable
Rene H, Himel for murder, the su-
preme penalty asked, and the petit
jury so unanimously decided in thelr
verdict which met the unqualified
approval of Judge James Simon, the
presiding judge, who sentenced Gar-

Tett to be hanged and the date of of’ the court.”

execution was fixed for December
14, 1923, by the governor,

“Powerful and influential petitions
for delay and the assurance that the
Man twas very ill caused respite to
issue.

“The evidence showed thrése women
were fishing on the Bayou, when
Garrett, armed with a shot gun. ap-
peared, ordered two to stand on one
side or they would get hurt, and then
deliberately blew out the brains of
his victim.

“After careful reading of every
word of the transcript, it appeared to
me as a deliberate, wilful, cold-
blooded murder, with no justification
of any character for commutation of
sentence to life imprisonment.

“Life imprisonment in this state by
law means fifteen years in the peni-
tentiary; good conduct reduces this
to ten years and six months, and in
addition, pardons are often obtained,
No man had the right to notify Gar.
rett or any other man sentenced to
be Hanged that the verdict of our
courts would not be executed, and I

would be derelict in my oath as gov-!

ernor and my duty as @& tnan and
citizen to permit personal appeals,
however powerful, or sentimental ap-
peals, however strong, to swerve me.

“Capital punishment always weighs
heavy on the shoulders of an execu-
tive whose duty to enforce laws and
protect society Is plain. Feeling as I
do in this case, a copy of this letter
goes to the sheriff of St. Mary par-
ish, directing him to carry out the
verdict of the jury and the mandate
ih, evs

ey :

a ae

Dictat

S far as you're concerned
you might as well have

cant «o unralace mecca when

RUM AND J
MIX, MUR

The oity hall is
viviai celebrations.
for the “hang ¢
after,

That by edict of
phy, who has a
heads of the -city
the department o
pay the dally sala)
report either drunk
Ish stomach due to
of Bacchus,

The order was °
& month ago. It

in
aged
an

Pr Cay une 3 -LA

19824 (3

-fcilants,
tel Keepers,

and Others!

f
°

< Starts at 10 A.M:

- Etc., at ‘St. Jos-
ne. Loubat Fire

< Suit All.

D GES, ALL SIZES; COFFEE URNS, DECORATED

. JLASSWARE, CUTLERY, SILVERWARE AND
IOLD EFFECTS, SYRUPS, JUICES, EXTRACTS,
el? 4 DESCRIPTION, WAX PAPER, BAGS, MOPS,
‘(RATORS, COFFER MILLS, SCALES, ROPE,
‘ORS’ SUPPLIES; ORNAMENTS, JARDINIERES,
PPER AND OTHER WARES OF EVERY CHAR-
ELECTRIC FANS, LAMPS, LANTERNS,
‘TURES AND MANY THOUSANDS OF OTHER

(RS. GOODS MUST BE REMOVED IN f DAYS.
K AND HUGH 8, TILL, AUCTIONEERS,
.L 8T,, PHONES MAIN 5462 AND 4828 AND 1856;

TRICK & CO, |

for Convenience of Sale, at

| Royal Street, at 11 A. M.

ita, “tabies, HARRY WwW, FITZPATRICK,

es, ranges, |. . Auctioneer,
crockery, Office 224 Royal St.

a, etc, . Phones Main 5462 and 4828

quired, March 22, 28, 24.

ICTION ROOMS

e, Rugs, Bric-a-Brac, Etc.,
235 Royal St. Today,
Vi. Son

8 and iron

J chen equipment, ptctures,
rior. library

lamps, ped-
agtala

Sinvar eawlne manhtinas Wane

rare, Cutlery, Sil

| Sharman will

“ “Above your party ts the duty you
owe to vour mother, the state. Don't
let her be a by-word and a reproach,
Don’t let it be said of ber that her
people hnd no stamina, no pride of
race. Shall it be said that’ we have
no ambition for our own eltizens and
that we cowkj not even represent
oursel ver “

“1 cannot belfeve that you of New
Orleans who are slow to anger but
have never tolerated tyranny, will
forget to remember on March 25 to
send the best fitted man to Congress,
and that man is Zach Spaaring.”

name s=-

Louisiana _
News

Breaux Bridge.—Bishop Jeanmard
sonducted tmposing ceremonies at a
Yeligidus reception and profession,

Miss Dora Refdmeter and Miss Anne |.

Garland being the two young women
being received, in the chapel of the
convent of the Sisters of the Most
Holy Sacrament,

Franklin.—Sylvester Garret, negro,
convicted of the murder of a negro
woman,.was hanged, efforts to have
his sentence commuted to Iife im-
prisonment falling.

Baton Rouge.—Members of the Ki-
wanis Club arranged to promote a re-
habiiitation of the cotton Industry
and will assist club boys who will
plant cotton according to the direc-
tlons of experts.

Cheneyville—Grand Master Carter
o¢ the Masonic Grand Lodge con-
ducted the ceremonies at the Javing
of the cornerstone of Cheneyville's
new school,

Monroe.—Rev. W. FE. Neill, pastor
of the West Monroe Baptist church,
obtained of? rights on several thou-
sand acres near Monroe and will drill
two wells in an effort to uncove*
the poo! he belleves may be tapped.

Lake Charies.—The Union Sulphur
Company filed for assessment pur-
ses a rendition of its nroperties
showing a total of $19,167,484,

Shreveport.—A. Antony sought to
obtain a patent on » device to pre-
vent seasickness, saying tests had
proven fts efficacy.

Baton Roure—Q. O. Hodgeson. 45
years old, city dog catcher, killed
himself by firing a nlstol bullet tnto
his head as he was leavine the home
of a woman whn had refused to go
for a ride with him. :

Crowley.—Mrs. Fugene Lebouef, 9?
years old. dled at her home near here,
heing survived by 227 descendants, tn-
cluding seven children, fiftv-four
erandchildren, 165 reat erandchi}-
dren and eleven great-great grand-
ehildren.

<a toe

PICTURE SERMONS POPULAR.

Lakeview Presbyterian Pastor Con-

tinues Series on Request.
The stereonticon - lectures at the
Lakeview Presbytertan church are
proving popular. On Sunday nieht.

‘at the request of the mambers of the

church the nastor. the Rev. J. T

present more pictures
and deliver an address on *Srener
‘and Incidents in the Wlfe of Jeena
the Christ.” The nietures are by
Hoffman a German artict. The serv-
feces begin at 7 p. m., following the
Christian Fndeavor mecting at 6
o’alork. Other gervices are Sunday
achool at 1 a. m., and mornine wor-
ehin at 11:15 a.m. At 10 a. Mm. Mr.

Sharman will conduct services at
Gentilly.

eiemeroniiicascaneommnae
Hold Four for Detroit Police.

Two men and two women were ar-
rested Friday night upon complaint
of Detroit authorities who sav they

are wanted there for grand larceny

in connection with the theft of $.300,

They were found at 806 Julla street

and gave these names: Joseph Rer-
4 vA.

nar We Tneanh Timon me

‘owing to failing health. The store is

‘charged with breaking and entering

ing, Adhere to the Protocol of
Court of International Justice.”
The. Newcomb team consisted of
Misses Charlotte Voss and Ula Mil-
ner, with Miss Ethel Bauer as alter-
nate. The Agnes Scott debaters were
Misses Olive Hall and Frances Amis,
with Miss Virginia Burt as altornate.
The judges were Philip Gidlere, Mrs.
J. C. Remick and R. K. Smith,
According to conditions of the itri-
angular contests, each of the contos-
tants enter two teams. At Randolph-
Macon college, Lynchburg, Va., Now-
comb was represented by Misses Ja-
nice Loeb and Virginia Hall. Miss
Bessie Monroe was alternate,

iinet. xaaainemata

236 Descendants

Survive Woman
of Acadia Parish

Crowley. La., March 21.—Mrs,
Eugene boeuf, aged resident of the
Parish of Acadia, died at the home
of her daughter, Mra. Valin Miller,
near Frey, in the northern part of
the parish. Mrs. Leboeuf was 92
years old and leaves a long line of
descendants. She had nine children,
seven of whom survive her, together
with fifty-four grandchildren, 168
great-grandchildren and eleven gBreat-
great-grandchildren,.

The total number of descendants
ving number 236, forty-nine having
preceded her to the grave. A, devout
Catholic, she attended church regular-
ly until recently, and was burled
from the church of her faith at Frey,
Rev. Father Van Eycke officiating.

ee eee

DELICATESSEN SOLD.

St. Charles Avenue Establishment

Purchased by Grocer.

The Blitz Delicatessen, St. Charles
avenue, near Cllo street, formerly
owned by A_ Blitz, has been sold to
B. B. Lehman, 1939 Peters avenue,
who also owns a grocery at Peters
avenue and Franklin street. The deal
was closed Thursday.

Mr. Lehman said that Mr. Blitz had
given up the management of the store

thoroughly modern, he sald, and will
be run by ‘a competent staff. Mr,
Lehman said there will bee forma!
opening one day next week. In the
meanwhile they are doing business.

iliilaneininnianainanel
Charged With Stealing Clothes.

A woman and her brother-in-law
Were arrested Wriday in connection
with the robbery of the home of Mrs,
Claude Englehardt, 6321 Milne street,
from which clothing valued at $171
was stolen last Saturday.

The clothing was found in the home
of Mrs. Ethel Helhach, 21 years old,
of 2843 Chippewa street, according to
the police, She was charged with he-
Ing in possession of stolen property.
Her brother-in-law, Edward Helbach,
19 years old, of 542 First street. who
the police say stole the articles was

and grand larceny.

one iemssese:
Killed by Falling Barrels.

William Patterson, 39 years old. ne-
sro longshoreman, living at Saratoga
and Melpomene streets, was killed
Instantly at Loulsa street and the
river when two barrels of rosin fell
from a holst and struck him on the
head, breaking his neck. a

ee
Deficiency Bill Passes Senate. -

Washington, March 21.—The first
deficten bill of the session, carry-
Ing $156,871,000, passed the Senate, Its
ftems In cluding $105,000,000 for ra-
funds of taxes {legally collected:

ecieheiie Sicidaenneee
Trade Board Janitor Dies.

Martin McEvoy, a famillar figure

VUSNEnNIUL
the),

Same va
session pre!
Citizena

*g Ed Sanc

By
Alvin 8.
Judgment $
Morris K
ment, orda:
certain pro
fault of wh
David Re
$17

American
L, Wilson,
e John D.
possession
Livingsto
Kelley, et a
fagnint.
same vs
judement f
fees, again
Manning
Judgment §

By
Woodville
man, judg
Bernstein
White, suit

judgment.

Misa P.

cottage, $

JI. BEF
$8000.

Cc. Tale
tago, 8200{
Gree

J, Trun
tage.

Charles
ble cottage
Lar
3300

tage,

around the board of trade, where he]

O MORNING ADVOCATE, Baton Rouge, La., 0 Tues. Oct. 6, 1987 0 5A

> La. murder cases

ida 20, 1978.

10id bought a pistol and shells and spent:
ible —_ several hours drinki
and

ill again.

es tried several times to find Felde a ivi ee ecrnptent goede prope 4 in

= taxicab ride home and who did not find. ra ring pee —— t _

se. | the pistol Felde had concealed inhis (Sisted on a mena competency

am ; hearing for Felde at the sentencing
trousers’ leg. ea

SS | stage of his trial.

ng Felde shot the officer en route tothe | Felde-also unsuccessfully challenged
the method by which Louisiana “double
ct. At trial, Felde entered, and later’ counts” an element of the basic crime
(in this case, the murder of an on-duty
policeman) at both the .guilt-or-
innocence stage and the sentencing

in, } police station.

2 BR cases

stage of the trial.
system” for making daily job referrals.

ul _ Boudreaux charged that the policies, —

withdrew, a dual plea of guilty and
cial A Maryland prison escapee, Felde \ guilty by reason of insanity. He also

had been working on a Shreveport \ asked the jury to order his execution if
‘rry construction site when he learned that \they found him guilty, saying his
one the police were looking for him. He psychiatric disorder might cause him to

Felde’s trial lawyer has since died.

was arrested on street for simple ae rate en ni oe rpae et =
drunkenness by a policeman, who had the trial counsel tailed in his duties °0

CORRECTION

In the Sunday, October
4th advertisement for
Eckerd Drugs’ the
i Busch suitcase was in-
correctly priced at $67°.
The correct price
f should have been $7°°

e regret any incon-
venience this may
ave caused our cus-
omers. .

Board recommends clemenc

By MARSHA SHULER
Capitol news bureau

The state Pardon Board in a rare

move Friday recommended a. life
sentence for Herbert Welcome — a
Death Row inmate whose attorneys
«laim his mental retardation and family
violence led him to murder his aunt and
her lover.

After prosecutors in the Welcome
case did not object to the move, the
board voted 4-1 for clemency — sending
the case to Gov. Edwin Edwards for
action in the waning days of his

+ administration.

Later in the day, the board

unanimously rejected a request for a:
life sentence for Wayne Felde, a
Vietnam War veteran who used a
delayed-stress-syndrome defense in his
trial for the 1978 murder of a
Shreveport policeman.

Felde, who has tried to commit
suicide as well as escape while in jail,
faces a March 15 execution, only hours
after Gov.-elect Buddy Roemer takes
office. Felde’s attorneys have said court
appeals are at an end.

The Welcome case marked a
departure from the board's prior
hardline stance against granting
clemency in death penalty cases.

Welcome was convicted in the 1981

%- 5-S&

Iberia Parish shooting deaths of
Dorothy Guillory and Wallace Maturin
after an argument over ownership of a
pocket knife. He received the death
penalty for the Guillory murder.

The clemency recommendation
came after Welcome’s defense
attorneys painted a picture of aman
with an 1Q of an 8-year-old raised ina
stressful, violence-prone family setting
who was taken advantage of by both
Guillory and Maturin.

“That relationship between those
three people was just a time bomb
waiting to go off,” said Lawrence Hand,
acting pardon board chairman.

In addition, the assistant district

Vy for Welcome

attorney who prosecuted the case said
he would have no objection to a life
sentence with no parole or time off for
good behavior.

Prosecutor Dracos Burke said the
jury that imposed the death sentence
did a good job, “but you people now have
the benefit of an awful lot of background
they did not have. I gnn’t see how in good
conscience I could voject.”

“J am opposed to any clemency
beyond a reduction to life. . .I don't
think that fella should ever get out of
prison,” he said.

Burke said Welcome’s attorney never

SEE BOARD, 7A

Herbert Welcome

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Frances Tompkins, the widow of a slain Shreveport police officer,
“ testifies at the State Pardon Board hearing Friday on an appeal for
“clemency by the officer’s killer, Wayne Felde

Board

“ CONTINUED FROM 1A

‘tried to enter into a plea-bargain
agreement in the case.

None of Welcome’s relatives opposed
the move, attorney Judith Menadue told
‘the board.

: Acourt appeal i is pending in the case
‘based on attorney claims that their
‘client does not have the mental capacity
: tounderstand that he is sentenced to die.
Menadue said Welcome thinks he is
going home any day.
,. Hand. refused to reveal how
‘individual pardon board members
+ voted in the Welcome case. ‘Other
,-members of the board are Faye Brown,
Johnny Jackson Sr., Oris Williams and
Sydalese Jackson.
In contrast to the Welcome case, a

roomful of relatives and friends of,

spolice officer Thomas Glen Tompkins
*‘appeared to oppose to Felde’s reprieve
freq uest.

“He didn’t deserve to die. . .Ilosta
precious son in cold blood, all uncalled
r <:for,” said Mrs. T.G. Tompkins, the slain
. ‘officer's mother.
ei “T don’t feel he gave Glen a chance to

é-live. This man has lived 10 years longer
ethan Glen got to,” said Tompkins’
e-widow, Mary Frances. “He never got to
* have a family, nor finish the house we
+ were trying toredo. . . . His life was
eccut short.”
1 Felde’s attorneys said their client
+ Suffers from a type of mental illness —
jtriggered by stress stemming from
+,violence he saw and participated in
¢,while serving in Vietnam.
* In addition, they argued Felde should
snot have been allowed to ask his trial

wtnhawd dave ’ iW mn awntes

Psychologist John P. Wilson of
Cleveland Heights, Ohio, told the board
that a part of Felde is “self-destructive
and suicidal” because of those war
experiences. |

“He is unusually vulnerable to
stresses,” said Wilson, who testified
during Felde’s trial. “It is my opinion
that he did not intend to kill a police
officer.”

“Oh, come on!” Felde’s opponents |
said.

“Without Vietnam, Wayne Felde ©
might. very well have been a
veterinarian,” Wilson said. “I think he
was trying to kill himself.”

Caddo assistant district attorney
Marty Stroud countered that Felde has:
twice been convicted of killing people
and has tried to escape.

“For the life of me I cannot find one
place where Wayne Felde showed any
remorse for his criminal past,” he said.

Stroud said when Felde’s. trial
attorney, Graves Thomas, took the case
it was with the understanding absent a
not guilty by reason of insanity verdict,
the death penalty would be sought.’

“It was a conscientious, deliberate
decision made many months before this
case ever went to trial,” Stroud said, not
the result of a bad decision by a worn-
down defense attorney after a lengthy

trial.

Learn to read or
improve your reading

Voy WY we OF

By JOHN LaPLANTE
Capitol news bureau

Barring a-legal obstacle or new
evidence, a Vietnam veteran convicted
of killing a Shreveport policeman will
die in Louisiana's electric chair several
hours after Gov.-elect Buddy Roemer
assumes the power to give him a
reprieve.

But, Roemer told college students at
a forum Wednesday, the impending
death of Wayne Felde is not “anything
to applaud.”

In response to a question from a
student, Roemer said he doesn’t plan to
block the execution of Wayne Felde,
scheduled for just after midnight
Tuesday morning, about 12 hours after
Roemer takes the oath of office as
governor. :

“The law of this state says that if you
shoot a police officer in the line of the’

O MORNING ADVOCATE, Baton Rouge, La., O Thurs. March 10, 1988 D 9A

Roemer planning to allow execution _

police officer’s duty, and if found guilty,
the punishment is execution — death,”
Roemer said. ,

“I have reviewed the case, and I am
prepared to proceed,” he said.

Many students applauded and

cheered Roemer’s remarks, but he put
up his hands to silence them.
_ “I don’t think it’s anything to applaud.
. . .It’s the worst part of my job,” he
said, addressing a weekly forum called
Free Speech Alley in front of the LSU
Union.

“But I made sure that my legal staff
got me all the facts on the case. I have
read it from the Supreme Court decision
right on down,” he said. A jury voted 12-
0 for the death penalty, and eight court
decisions upheld the verdict, Roemer
said. eee

. &Felde was convicted for the 1978
* shooting death of police officer Thomas
‘Glen Tompkins. Felde claimed as his

defense that he was a victim of a type of
mental illness caused by a delayed
stress reaction to the violence he
witnessed while serving in the Vietnam
War. -

-. Roemer told the students, “Felde shot

a policeman in the back in Shreveport

twice and killed him.”
“I will make sure this human being
has every right under the law,” Roemer

said.

“But right now, unless there’s a
motion by legal counsel, some
advantage he has not taken, the
execution. will. go forward. as
scheduled,” he said. “Unless there’s a

legal ramification or new evidence, it.

will proceed.”
The governor Louisiana is
empowered to call off executions of
condemned criminals.
Since the death penalty was
reinstated in Louisiaan several years

ago, former Gov. David Treen and
outgoing Gov. Edwin Edwards have
expressed emotions similar to
Roemer’s about the burden of having
such power over life and death.

ite ee

THE DOTHAN EAGLE, Wednesday, March 16, 1988

5—A

Convict Darden’s time runs out

STARKE, Fla. (AP) — Convicted
murderer Willie Jasper Darden
went to his death Tuesday pro-
claiming his innocence and thank-
ing people around the world, from
Andrei Sakharov to Jesse Jackson,
who aided his 14-year battle to
escape the electric chair.

For the widow of the man he shot
between the eyes, Darden’s execu-
tion on an unprecedented seventh
death warrant offered hope, finally,
for peace of mind. ;

“T think it’s long overdue,”
Helen Turman Baum said minutes
after the.execution about 7 a.m. at
the Florida State Prison. “He did it
to himself. I’m just thinking right
now I want some peace of mind ...
it’s been a long time and I’m glad
it’s finally over.”

Mrs. Panel had remarried since
her husband,| James C. Turman,
was killed Sept. 8, 1973, after Tur-
-man walked ‘into their Lakeland
furniture store and found his wife
being robbed of $15.

Gov. Bob Martinez also was un-
moved about the international at-
tention Darden attracted, from
death penalty opponents and peo-
ple who believed his conviction was
racially tainted. Darden was black;
Turman was white.

Among 1,600 telephone calls
Monday, the majority protesting,
was one from Jackson, a candidate
for the Democratic presidential
nomination. Nobel Peace Prize win-
ner Sakharov, actress Margot Kid-
der, rock star Peter Gabriel,
Amnesty International and other
human rights and religious groups
also all called for a halt to Darden’s
execution. ;

“T think justice was served to-

day,’ Martinez said later. ‘This
was not someone out of a choir. He
was a career criminal. This was a
man who had a career of violent
crimes.”’ "

It was the 18th execution in
Florida and 96th in the nation since
the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in,
1976 that states could again invoke ’
capital punishment.

Earlier Tuesday, Wayne Robert°
Felde was executed in Louisiana’s -
electric chair for the 1978 murder
of a police officer. It was the first
time two inmates were executed ,
the same day in the United States
since Aug. 28, when executions
were carried -out in Florida, .

_ Alabama and Utah.

GAYFERS

WIREGRASS COMMONS
poe

OCTOBER

Louisiana

While transporting a Suspect, who had been arrested on
a charge of drunkeness, a Shreveport, Louisiana, police officer
was slain. Allegedly, the arrestee was riding in the back seat
of the victim officer's patrol car when he produced a -357-
magnum handgun and fired several shots through the back of the
front seat. At least two of the projectiles hit the officer

causing him to lose control of the police unit and crash into

a guardrail. When it Stopped, the victim exited the vehicle and
ran, but he Collapsed a few yards away. His assailant escaped.
Later, the 29-year-old male Suspect was captured by responding
Officers. Subsequent investigation revealed the Suspect, whom

Following a conversation with his accused assailant,
a 20-year-old patrolman with the Taylorsville, Mississippi,
Police Department was Slain. According to witnesses, the officer
and the suspect were conversing while sitting in their vehicles
which were parked in the lot of a local Supermarket. As the
victim officer Started to leave the scene, the suspect allegedly
Produced a -30-30-caliber rifle and fired a shot through the
Patrol vehicle's Open window, Striking the patrolman in the chest.
When the officer accelerated his vehicle, a second shot was fired
at him, resulting in a wound to the head. The patrolman, who
had 2 years of law enforcement experience, was dead at the
scene. The suspect, a 24-year-old male, was apprehended at his
residence by the Smith County Sheriff the following day. Prior
to the slaying of the Patrolman, the suspect had reportedly
threatened his wife ana child. Subsequently, the wife called
the Smith County Sheriff's Office and asked that the suspect be
arrested. Although advised that no action could be taken until
She obtained a warrant, the wife apparently told her husband the
Sheriff was coming to arrest him; whereupon, the suspect allegedly
threatened to kill the sheriff when he arrived. When the sheriff
failed to appear within 30 minutes, the suspect reportedly left
his residence with a rifle, Stating he would find the sheriff and
kill him.

sent by Van Raalte - No source,

- 47 -

— ae

PS ANGOLA, La. (AP) — Wayne Felde, who said The 38-year-old killer was th
that post-Vietnam War stress drove him to murder guardsa few steps from the microp

tence message to those who watched him die. tered over one minute.
“—-~ Seyou can kill the messenger put you can’t kill Felde died for killin,

the‘message,” he

Sy giving three reporters separated from him by a Shreveport. Felde had been p
Ss glass window time to write down each. word. enness charge and apparently

yy
ps e Louisiana’s electric oak electric chair. Four alternating jolts of 2,400
Ss chair yesterday after delivering a cryptic two-sen- volts and 500 volts of electric

g Officer Glen Tompkins
said slowly and matter of factly, in 1978, as Felde was being driven to jail in

icked up on a drunk-
had not been

\S ‘Sooner or later, you have to acknowledge it for thoroughly searched. He pulled a gun from his

= what it means, not for what you want it to mean.” clothes and shot three times.

nt before death in electric chair

Three Shreveport officers joined the few pro-
death penalty demonstrators who come to the re-
mote prison each time the state schedules an exe-

cution.

“Justice is being done tonight,” Sgt. Glenn
Ramsey said. “I hate it. It took 10 years.”

Cpl. Joe Feconda, who drove Tompkins’
widow home from the hospital after the shooting,
said he is still haunted by the memory. A third
officer declined to be identified.

1
{
i

yn |

JiR (ZT PNA Leh, ay, ve.

— SS

{UC Soy AZZ.

asiaiitalll

Louisiana killer executed
» ANGOLA, La. — Wayne Robert
- Felde, who had pleaded with a jury to
impose the death penalty to keep him
- from killing again, was executed in
the electric sat woes tocay for the
1978 slaying of a rookie policeman.
Felde 38 went to his death at 12:14
a.m. after the U.S. Supreme Court on
Monday refused in a 7-2 vote. to stay

the execution. :
‘Meanwhile, the U.S. Supreme Court

~fatly today refusecMinta tie t-
execution of convicted killer Willie j

Jasper Darden, who survived.an =.
unprecedented six death warrants and ©
became an international cause —

celebre.” es ?
Darden, who has maintained his
innocence in the 1973 slaying of a
Lakeland businessman during a
robbery, was scheduled to die in the
electric chair at 4 a.m. PST.
Story, page 6A.

VE keno Gaeazefe -

- ‘again, was exe-

3-/5-¥P

j 3 = a i Se

i
i

'
:

ANGOLA, La. .-|°
‘(AP) — Wayne |
‘Robert Felde,..
‘who had pleaded :
iwith a jury to
‘impose the death §
‘penalty to keep: |
;him from killing . ff

‘cuted in the lee ——
‘tric chair early Felde a eee
‘today for the 1978 slaying of a
rookie policeman... >:

‘” Felde, 38, went to his death at.

(12:14. a.m..after the U.S. Supreme

‘Court late Monday refused in a 7-2

‘vote to stay the execution.
' Felde was convicted of shooting

‘a policeman in the back in Shreve-

iport while being taken to jail in
‘handcuffs for drunkenness. An
‘Army veteran of Vietnam, Felde
‘had claimed at trial that his war-
‘time experience had made him

; en osynae peatia
“® Also early today, the U.S.

‘Sup ed to halt the ,
‘execution at dawn of convicted
ikiller Willie Jasper Darden, who’

‘Supreme Court refus

‘survived an unprecedented six
‘death warrants and became an
\international cause celebre.

' Darden, who has maintained his

‘innocence in the 1973 slaying of a _

;Lakeland businessman during a. na S.

+. Darden was railroaded because he |
is black, and that he is innocent=**

‘robbery, was scheduled to die in
ithe electric chair at 7 a.m. at Flor-

lida State Prison near this North

‘Florida town.

Louisiana prisoner.executed; —
‘Stay refused for Florida inmate «

‘The high court, in.a 6-3 vote,
denied a’ stay, as did a federal

to holler loud, and I’m not going to

3 -. if they put me in the chair,” Dar-
_ den said in an interview taped

- ABC’s “Nightline.”

Res =
’

appeals court in Atlanta, a federal
judge in Tampa and Florida’s
Supreme Court earlier in the day.
_ “I’m going to holler, I’m going

stop hollering, and I’ll be holler-
ing, ‘Innocent,‘innocent, innocent’

earlier Monday and shown on

Darden’s attorneys raised sev-
eral claims on appeal, including ‘
reports of new evidence and argu- —
ments that the 54-year-old Darden’ -
had ineffective legal counsel. .

Darden’s appeals already had
gone to the U.S. Supreme Court:
four times. The last was rejected
March 7 and Gov. Bob Martinez
signed Darden’s seventh death

warrant the next day..._._. - _
ie*Martinez;on M

“Suggestions he was’rushing the

fonday dismisséd ..
execution.

-Darden was condemned for the
shooting of. James Turman, who
interrupted a man robbing his
wife, Helen; of $15. Mrs. Turman
later identified Darden as the
assailant. aa

Death penalty opponents claim

of murder and has an ae

prove it. PI- 6

Tuesday, March 15,1988
Reno Gazette-Journal

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‘%
WILLIE FRANCIS (Louisiana) Pa
"A year aso, the stato of Louisiena tried to kill Willie ,

Fr: ncis. Phe stuttering, rotnd-headed Nersro boy had killed a man
in 2 $4.00 holdupe but something went wrong with the state's portahle
electric chair. The current 'only tickled! willie. ie got up, the
only man ever to walk away from Louisiana's electric chair after the
Switch nad veen throwne

"jiilie Freaneis never guite uncerstood the hubbub that y
foliowed - the appeals to the Louisiana courts, the pleas to the state .
Pardon board, the sob stories in the press, ‘When tte hoard that: the
Supreme Court had ruled against him, he was just surprised that tone®

Negro boy could get all those biz men! to ttlk ebout hime: é
"Uis world was the narrow Cell in the Net Theria jail, where
he waited-for the Calk to @fids. -finallysit didsy. KLilie had to go en
back to the chair, This lawyer came to tell him that he thought he “a Ff
couig still:.get another, stay, but Wiliie said: (ho, leave it aAlone@e-
Thank you, bul Llbave it alone. I'm ready.! /
Minliile had his plan. ‘i'm wearing my Sunday pants ¢end iy
Sunday Heart. to.the ehaires ain't .coing to wear no beeteup pents te 's

Sco the Lord. jjcen busy talking wy way into heeven this past yeare
Them folks expecting moa to come in style.!

"Hpefore dawn one morning last week, Willie was ready, aressed
in bis newly pressed Sunday pants. He ate a last meal of catfish -%
ana potatocs.s it noon the cell coor opened. . Seid father Charles
Bennevan: tVetve been practising walking the way he wants te walk
the last milo. Wiliile suys he's going to walk Lt steady!

"Willis did. Ina crovded little room stood tine same portable
electfre chuir. Willie smiled. We wiped bis palms on his pants an@ ”
sxt downe We had nothing to say. He mieht havo remembered the last.
timee (Last times ‘everything begun to lock daveye.eIt was like the® 4
white folks watching was ina bigs swing, end they!d swing avay and
back and tien right up cloSee!) In the silence the sheriff pulled fhe,
switche. Tiis time Villie was carried away from the protable electric
chair,"

TIME MAGAZINE, May 19% 1947 Page 25.

BETTY JANE KROEGEP. (Missouri ) j

"Cne day last week petty Jane Kroeger, 17, killed her mothsTe
She confessed later: 'Mother refused to let me ge to Ste Lovis, so I.
shot here! Next morning, she drove to her father's store in kmtnence,
Moe, Where he had been spending nights because of a series of :
robberies, and shot him while he slepte Then sbe drove to Ste. Louis .
and just 'shapped around.!"

P =

TIME MAGAZINE, March 15, 1948 Pere 30.6

|
)

pagemeit of bo
roe has” at

ernment a
: rion debtedvess,
has Aisainated

arty Hnes some-
mens
1894.

by the unprecedented
4, which brought : lar
rot ‘tion: Demiucrats - ant
rue Republican « rank

“will find ample: roony

io 0 ie Republican platform.

h for. ‘every. peers fa

areat pablte: ‘ques ons sae the dat
Mata may.

ie "ke it ite weary ed
art “and with. the

— ‘men. ‘lie a"
policies. poe ‘as nfrations of’
fean party are. ‘beat ae the vee

of, national mis-

1 tite!
Ho are wot. is ‘upon accom:

1 the other

death?” ‘pontinued the reporter.

impress: ‘Puller with. the. serlousness: of th
fa ~ aati awaited him.
pees DT reckon. 805
“ny, aee: Of” ‘Gane A oman
: e. dead,
cae an 80

nO. elgnR

erapiration rolled. :

WAS: constantly

nandkerchief.

And BO VOU

ie to take« plac
“question. j
A ani abxio

Os tor. the sooner:
eKRay’ sai

able, and
- -ebilds ‘Fuller’ iss rather ‘aborye. oth
y. in: intelligence and sees pp
- conscious of the fate ‘{n.. etore.

rough he was: not at: ‘all ine timed.
fous Apanner. “OS.

eit in such a 8
Auld suppore. :
when. ilo: you

eeu ve® sot? tme,"*
"laughing. hes can't: tell

‘panying, your friend

re on his trip. to
end, Are | de

im: in jail.

1 Greasy ‘Tin pee Fuller: are. 80 scione | 3
towet er. ‘that, they often. talk their situa. |.
. : Pa the sie Ves, BO” a

ght at the’ p at Greas
wi a ire y be sentenced
rH uller, Greasy Jim’e cai
pow before, the swnres bit.

fandformed ©
% grouped
‘ Jeuder,. :

: ‘an much :

ind: as well
0 treats THF |

+ intelligent
' y ber

| oN

4+ful

tion. Nothing can. be

“steady: ensemble and.
There was thet @ populi
As AN encore
| nade,

tanytbtag |“ “Dinorah,”*

tasked the re: |

tion: ‘and fame

t the Grand. eo

corpe

about the”

aud (from. “the

apusie’ to the list:

audtence apres

rruptre ensure:

haptper, pguaienc oo ae

rogramme oe

“iad” three . times. - T
bier was: the

ragner’ s. . , Tannhauser."’

reat master’s composition wa

didly, rendered, and the pure, ©

OD”

cored” ar

most gratifyin isteners, Conductor

eee
overture |
The

vigor and Mita ack. precision. was |

Herbert's. read ae ‘was: firm and ‘ani-.}

iated.> ‘The: slow. movements were ban-

Pipes, 3 “ dled: with delicate breadth, and the. tone
hat Frank had.

the ‘prison- -keepers a particie |
wak always (as: ON |

of the: band; particularly

the peeda,
showel remarkable -flexibili

urged against. the
hand ‘on the seore of pure. tone, ‘att ‘k,
Varied. : wuance,

selection given

hy. ‘Langly,

was’
nmbe

tr, and the baad presented

all ite native charm of color.

| Mme; Loulae Natali, w
¢ | ee: fee? ho has been bea:

sang . ae. ‘aria. from. “La

“Durthg: the veral
Angel, Sleep

an
‘ballad. Mme, Naval
-nene of ite”

her ‘great, skit

“Sleep, the shadow

tas an artist still
favor With nex: hearers. Messre. .He
Ju. and. Ernest. A. Clarke played a
no for cornet. and trombone’ ima Ver
effective: manner. . The: band. here: xa
interpretation. AO
rieg’s. “Peer. Gynt.”
‘Antroduced .a |

mon

pathy, kept

Weare when ' ‘
ty in grada- |

placed: that |

10. suppert -
habits, ; Ege
‘not:

ir | staffers, fina t
Lolita,” *. gers Bere.

na init and:

such

a ballot wor
has cre
here;

Traviata.” She made a great hit with |

te audience, and was. recalled se a
’ times. concert © she Bang | :

charming Italian | De
soprano: has. dost: 1 yo:
wer and aweetness, and | %*

+4 a Prey
aes through | his
‘watch. The

the |.
orl Jnstrument, ‘combining ¥

effecte . mee! a =

and (Ne

vane ins st
Finttes :

boing signed f tlie exec a |
patantasnn ons, J Je Un er ype the mate
| 2B, oie Matter 285, ], nthe 3 site.
ci pend :

D. to Topaop yh his

little tus i

| dye-gianses and in’ his bind
lov to the lady fanees Ph bid i

| etrong: as.
1 fine as the. seminary ke
Robineon | -eharinin

heat. recelved rhe we
brought ‘to. this floor and)
Of those. cells. For. ie

tee tion 9
geet eee ‘ from the Be ami | Philip Harper.
avis + of the con= pb: ters. “Follow ‘aptain MeKay through & trude Ains
got Nation 1p Bere arred and. barr ieaded : doors, | °K
2 pb wh Re with Other great, aa mates
o- | new ia brass | keys, the Picayune thetr cabs
1 man soon found ‘himself. ‘wit a re -pavithout. D
narrow ail Pi with Aarred: Cells on Kirby up. K

sy tr ght) te : ode ‘fually telia
ing them from the top. “Al of the. cells | dima ‘tive storm, and .
“along this: alleyway aré® reserved: for | of: hy fe. who. ran
m., murderers, us the cages there are supposed | years taking bis: anu
tit its ‘business is] to be more. protected.” In the widdle of th ihe seture. with bim..
to take three | the row of cells¢two were found occu- | Nee ‘there jaca
P pled, the others. being: empty. The) first: |
Ful Wats Me tha ation VG seins Jira,” tam. Al
te niler wie ithe other, se
4 cera | ‘The Picayune man had’ heard: of the see iar net
college Re- intelligence belig conveyed to Fuller that nere like
“the United he must die, and owas-expecting. to find |,
American |: that. individtal’ altegether. omiseruble, [4
vention at | But. thie wee ‘She case, Frank sat oab:,

AA SpapDY Ae Bad ‘ould | re

“1 bottom ee “our tal aye oe dito e out? a

ts ie mohedy in: nappy. not. even h pndlen

spirale “pape: > Lewhleh= hae”

“nite. F0. nat?” bie reporter toe: we aoe

‘o Noe T have: ‘not. aeen? them, tnt I have.

| heard. from. them, jwat the same.’ |
He oho feel over the. pros: :

Falter replied, | EAOw. of ‘ilsle. are certainly indebted ‘2
Paihy Sead off (b: Manage® Henry. Greenwall, of che |
ni Lorand Opera Houre, for bin: enforprisé.
ea am: vey. Liew, Fin ‘oelialin the famous. Giimore: Pand to po”
- yneet| the this: clog: ‘The: rant peels th Mntpod ae: be
ft nA ies tion te the peaple: “at New| ane ch
ee have Heard | Deine whee Aine Pe.

‘of the two ewne
. Nopeathe invariably comes

it will be o
miles, and
considerabl

distance of fifteen
will attract

MERE ALBIN’S SIMULTANEOUS PLAY.
Herr Adolf Albin. theVienva chess maestto,

a five display of peripatetic chess at the
ef the New. Orieans Chess, Checkers
Whist Club on Saturday evening.
‘Ble had sevesteen antagonists simultaneously
as many peards, the players
Board 1, EB. P- Fourater;
3. Girault Farrar, A.
t; * Blanecbard; ©. ©
3 ot: 7. N ‘ ee" EP ‘aaa PP
pm. A. ge Leow Lb.
1, Chas. E. Lonis. T.-
James A. i. H.
Wm. Headerson: Fass;
actor. :
at these, ten were victims
ater’s shill. while. four
inare. €. EP. Fournier. 8
Fourehs and Judge kb. Labatt, aod three
leew thei gates pamely. Jas. G Bianchard
Wm. Henderson and M3. Fass.
Herr Aibin. iY should le udded

tty heavy eomirac? on iin bands in
Popatt's game, for be

agreed to defend
Birons gambit. iP the artuck of whieh
jnuce js 6n arcksowlodged savant. So
Albin says be is wot. worrted over the
in that particulier game

‘This afternoon! and evenlus the
pert will equtest af-hand. sane’
comers, and on Tuetlas ¢8

most interesting sean’
simultateons!y ronteRt og
ageina ( players in

Labatt:
Dugazon,
Hunn: 1.

Gresbaw; 14
17, G: M

16, M..J

of. the visiting
won, namely,
Trist, Paul L.

took #®
Jiunige
the
the
{lerr
result

Vienna @¢%
against at
ping he will €
ot? ol mifolad Pp
two bh. pane

Consus’

“tn
groups ial joa al
each of the bhoarcs

ee nce

- er

THE RING.

g LIVELY (Gut.

a1 .-Five hundred. ,
’ a Kall

ern ™ '

Marea

Kanens OO
} 4!

aports omg e calor
forty miles frond rere,

tivele te round fig herween
the “(bane Kid ae pockes
a Kansas (ify figeter me
The conte ’

la the Gree ft
lively rate
Foepponent o
gong sound 3
fond round Le La }
A matters. ty wins
aera jew ape rug he
opening tor ihe Bid. THE ath
at it aod iguded a hearty
Leagnerty * > er’ totlowing
rife jeft acing on [te ig
down jae: O88 De Lovgser ty’.
‘ed y v

{s av

atinget ;

and Asawioe ,

wig perty wae ou
peevy *¥

aAvaotaa
it

sae gi o Dt Ant ”
> = 4
+

»@aper a5s14%

But the Oupola Will Salen
‘Velie’
For the Fall Into Efeenity Destined
for Frank Faller.

The Wife Murderer Has Heard of the
Death ‘Warrant,

And Does Not Think the Next World

Can Be Any Worse »
Than This.

ell nnn

The probabilities are that Frank Fuller,
murdered shat

the negro who hin Avite,

‘ hia sistet in-law and. tried to Kili. hliuself,.

inigh¢
zet
the

will have the distinet ion, if euch It
of being first
shen within, the walle of

be. ealied, he mun to
his neck
new parish. prison

This hanging, Is to take place. on
10th of the month, 4he
sicued the death

Frank Fuller, ww wilt he
the antdite of . March a
ahot Ais This. rook '
ulier. lived,

ce iv4 adja ‘Lille,

the
geyernor having

warrant: to that etfeet

resmembered,
about year Ay
wite. pines me
His
which,
the
CUHSlUAg

rauk

other

in ¢

sisier

ay
po ifen where

iw aleo re haw

Wan hot so rerribte

do his

oti

ie one

eumpere wife 4
the
“ar of arrest
hoot
issn murderer

f Nareb War locked
prison, Where he thus

sine

bight

qt BOLLE

tempted to himself, wis

ra The iad
th

SlhaCe

on
iy

been

di atined
nave

lier seen
Wii

thé
new
of the
attice of
hi
aveh

oan. whe
pers ii, !
vi AterTany eitietl.at

ir
entarive
this

piste

repres

{ing
Chay rhe weir
14 il v ited the
land ' 1 - i
furyo eehp of thar
yi auged mut bunch
at g ‘ anil motthoned thie
Pella
ee hd
lending from the
fiyat | i } ft
; ‘ f crooked
a tahereny

| ' the

the

“Joseph”

Felix Flut¢erby
Major Horance
Thomas Chadwell... -
Joseph Flutterby.- +++

Hou. Dick Glossop

Ree Fete Te

Juris

Constance Flutterby
Ainelia Chadwell....- r¥
Nirs. liorace Bellingnam-.

brgan

The

Malcolm

tliat tiekled New York for a
was pregented at. the Academy
last
nhs

nan,

French facet, in four
Faudiliat,

night.
Joseph
overworked
work.
ermpilorer,
Flutterby, 18°94

seminary

{

ist

nol a

marry
are secs

shia
isk
make
d iy

inet ds
hae |
mitend

HAs

where

vidlewvtly.
whe

‘ gie

weorvant

Joseph,

thre

it
oes
hive
lyavl we

' i. al

Rive

list te
he wing

tuke

her
t
Pr d“Qanuiter
Pudewilie
i
h

yYoOuRE
nections oA a wild apd wicked Mian
af

stupid

Joseph
an,
thie

batweltl

thinks

risy 1 bey

a Away

awd promises te deo What

TTT

at the Academy of Music.

Royden Erlynoe
..Mr. Wi. Marks |
Thomas s. Wise
Ernest A; Biton |

Mtr. George Rolling
4 ee Garrison’ Ball
_. Miss Blanche Robinwon
Gertrude Whitty
“Miss Flora Ke tdin
Wenona Brooks
nets, Ty Leo
English by
the’ sain
long run-
of Musil
is delightfully fun
the young man, {zs a poor,
clerk, knowing nothing but
is Innocent a8 & nub, but bps
and. ‘distaut relative, Kellx
man of the world--a fat
who has a danghter at|a
notified that he
His: bachelor home
her, and he must
thinks of ) Josenh
aonds bins {0 see Mis

the dangbter, z. wi

Bellingham. .
ei AOA
ae

. Miss

into
Londou

made

and.
Watson,

; “Joseph

jn juat

and
her away.
fit piave for
off tle
jim up and
Clanmstanet
young gir
yeivis

and, ike all
she wants to hi sh
like Joseph
thinks | he
resolves) te
for a
Paddington,
Here el lia
of the Arith Matrimopial.
seen Him and makes love ti) lm
He conferees hi« }
with. bet Even Bu
tT ny the unt Hari
he
tan’ when bye

man
and
ive
his answer
al

on fa god
heard of Jaseph,
mralbweodd it
walt {@
and he tarrys

wominary 18

{a }
itt

amraw

hye nt rah oo

woins rod, mine ; eee ein
ph telie Mi Mintterhy

«1 " the mL iile |
lass o ty get |

A) Tvpeus

pears

Will Oj
Banking |

Wea

| are consis

_place of p

really art
preciated.
merous: th
band agai
house. Tt
from the
Anantas,””
led by Ding
ing meas
brought .o
The conce
ean Fant
which the
“Phe Sta
Inmbia
were pro
more bar
tsrania chy
ed

i prestrami

the mary
Th
thre. **He
new )
MP Mirteiie
‘“Hiunga
oneise RB
LAisat.: ®
COMPTIR GT
Tiutchma
“Whirhwi
P14 near
“irea me
rbenxrte
stk
Vi

seo, Cal;
nt was very

te ee NRO Bre ol ren nor

WIS GUILT.

ta the Chata of Evi-
Against Dera: at,

April
cheerful ihis morn:

Theo-

“at ]

RESHOLD
k SCAFFOLD

Freck’ Poller Gives Up Hope of Any
Reprieve,

nian inne —

And Prepares to Meet His Fate on
the Gallows,
ieee

Admitting That Tis Doom is Just,

and Depending
5 ei - oe ~- oi

Pee ; : 7 4 a
Epon Religious Resignation to Give

vy. ted @veryene. with whom be
Peatact with a emile end ple
Gs... The probatlie change in eon
the agoased: wah is ¢ Ls saaciel be
et that “the-} yother bave expouts
mine of ‘ue Steen no ug iti
hing of the © fureh pris tie
arther evidence has ix hy
He rested weil. has! Rel
hearty breakins: this nit
Surgeen Somers virtted tt
be to study his ecrinns,
A pea oft. Insaniiv . waet "
Gin

ut shew s ne bE

gat: at. th

weer on ‘wny ostbject

» Go. 0° Mr. Fu ;

poet that be dtd

the: Arip te thet

her wit nese hides ¢ a
+

fe saw Prorat *
pupie vers mitet en
Reet PPI arehek

ged them. be hes
andi the yerns

i wet aotys
Pavek. wit ¥
pare ts rr

an |

“—
z

fret.) wry

ent to trial. Jt. .* nit

Him Courage in the

‘Hour of 1 rial.

“tions. hurr

eclgavette.

at Fuller, and in ind afer

tion and. a. handshake, they

to be followed by. others.

After 11 0’ ‘lock Fuller was taken up fo.
the chapel in the third ate 4D fo

dere Doge an, Who is one o
wateli”’
ronosinet man #ince the day that: the

story Buller: paid a visit to Bheriff! Klock,.
who Wis-at supper. The pritoner. was
colux and composed and was smoking a
He. declined an invitation to
tuke a enp of coffee, and’ sald that he
wis tired and wanted to rest awhile
after hin dong “reception” fm the yard.
The reporter asked Fuller how he felt:
under the apprehension of the fate in
store for him on. the next day.
Iutler showed) his teeth: fa ‘a
erin; seh as no white man could haye
bal the COUTURE fo evoke after. such ‘UD
inenniy question, and replied;
“Ch, £ feel tolerable. » There
fi ty, on Us joat aswell ta take i
qQrletiye What is the use of prtting on
auy dhee? L's fatey and fo mifst bear it.”
“ts tt net bard to die at

ae ple die nt
esghele, philosopher,

e,”* replied tli
die

anY Ag

er me

death Warrant wag read -to him, and.
there» Baller passed ® few moments in
prayer,

On hits way to his cell in the fifih

is no help

‘thre gr hy

When they aire mere .bubics
Others. later We wil. bave out tha t%
, oe % :
this if la cently a matter ef an few yeurs
punevne es liens l have. Dbrongit this. upon
' v ‘
wll, and there is 10 use eryiug: overt
i t wil diy ike mw pnang” -
I Oy) lied that) he “head made: his
peabee Wildy Gods having joroed the. ¢ ath
Hire h He said that the goad privst
¢ mf ‘ eph’s: chareh. father Moor baad
BLVeT a alee ti aid dem t
t Hn: weeny 7 ties f ty
. the are. li f ‘ 1!
oo ed man sild that.) ‘
} ThiverW Tal tes 4) Cee ‘
i alge aa os | \4 » tet
we bie» ae | bre ’
' ‘ levit | anew | ti st
1! efi 4 Wer . ier
’ h WN a i i
; ? ’ \
et ,
‘1 tay
: ’ } ,
\ MN
{ | H
, hy 4 ; ; ee
|
} ! iy h ty
“4 j , .
| fe ’ f
} rite ti @.3
} { {
| ?
\
\ 7
i Mii x
} ? t
i i
’
A
| t

by Keeper |
the ‘death |.
nat was placed in charge of the és

plearant

your ane, OMY ©)

s fanmend

tia

q he

oe a7
Fae
ods eignstpte* to the

Fn ES used a pen}
i plucked from the

, hi eine
Begcs’ restuurant

Ciumeus in rR

= TH 1 SENTE |

PHLICEMA oul

2 N @agle. Whe pen
te the Oklahoma ay nen ;
= text of me procta- | acy f : :
the United States :
* AMATION. ed Se ae eer tee) »O Ss) W-VI-O7 Bs
= : Fey ote i Hpoee vee Sv :
Bor: of the Tnited! e Ba oe fon
a approved on Oe ee Case in oe {Chicago Officers Search for Ex- h
aes me, one thousanc
Sif. provide that the jana eee rae as Travesty _ a Convict Who Had Threat- :
E itory of Okiahomaj —- f ae : wgbi
&: ) @rrirory, might, un-] > on Justice. 2 Se 5 ‘ened Revenge. te%
at Dien ditions pr=scritbed BS Ss ame ES ‘
> constitulion snd ; ‘ :
se klahoma; and ~— pe ON ANS es :
ate oF id act provision : om, : 3f
GENRES Tine elector one oi: Participants Get Life | Kidnaper Pat Crowe Suspected. Ss
= Ee @otion te form a
© © Yee fe government tor it see and Minor. Ones Surrenders and Easily Proves
>) ete Ate; and arshl y foe me 7 ;
= =< ts trom the infor- i y Dealt With, § 4 - “an Alibi. $
pe = BUCH convention ip cae aa ie : iat
ae such constitution; > mye fae 3 jane ,
eae were 7 pnereby TBy Associated Press to State Journal.) {By Atsoriated Press to State Journa! e
3 rr “act, the. said | HAHNVILLE, La. Nov 16. caro | ie EMICAGO, Nov. 1¢ — Policeman’ Rab. i
- . urther -authsr-j&rdo Gebble und bis Sister, Nicoling, emt J. Mackaneny, 55 yours of age, Whee
cre 10 -prvr i were today declared guilty of murder : foy bh Ear) oy!
ae = F gor. submit: ng: in a Bury t ound shet to deat! AFhy todgy , at
; ile n the Jimst degree for the ceuth o Bixty-thuird wtreet and ‘Wen UR i
eS to ahe people of; 7 , BERT;
a dion <or rejection, | Welter Lamana, a New Orleans child,javenue, on! ‘y hal? 2 block from the |»,
) eter tification or re: { whe Was kid naped and Strangled hots | Eng} ew ood ‘police dread guarterst te ? 4
ms thereof to be} last summer: 2

se Potala debe

ery of Oklahoma
ee tlor in service of
of appeals for

_@ majority of
2 election duly
Ss <= rnce, - “AS required
—eom'en Cast. for the
== itution; and ..-.
Se the sald consti-|
As. erie

2h alate sea with the
ordinances

proven, - “have
! tences,

Moreover, life sentences ie Poulter
mean but 25 years imprisonment,
Cause at the end of the 13 years goud! hous.
behavior «causes the release
sed 20 me as re.{ prisuners. The life sente
Were pussed by a
@nd caused such

4ndigna* lun

thar

Cf such:
mee Verdicts ® 44,
jury last BuUliuer

pavenue
were rogarded as acinor participants: wer: heard, in

in the -kidnheping. while four others. (Pathe .
whose more direct connection has been’ * owes. ind
_Tecelved - ~only ts Seu

tdyren

oes.

: Bas nea Brenan Canin
a. 1846, ©
be - | Ma. ha

Tig sie re}

+ for i weyplesl ay Ma Nears

" : revyelver. “Was In fits hip pocket, bert p-
Today's verdict ‘created a “altuatlon{ barentiy Be dud not been

i which is @ travesty on justice, sinee 11!
«condemns to death 1WO pergons’ who.

given aith
ance wm defend hininelf a maz Bho ar
@S £C€D runing nurth-in ‘Wernrtaurth’!.
afew minttes after the-- shotsi«
believed tu be the mur- jt
64d policeman was) a ack
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ped Pohice for &: i yeaa {74
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me aforesaid. . .;Sulnmer session was a woman. It was! Gude by fla Shee AE AAV. Seat in acta ih,
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: te €; Except for an appeal. the only hope for Hurder “pate din the ay “he “walked
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“ Wa the bon. ] 2% Ufe amprisonment and deat! Bea- j,i Wier he Ba, teen ali Of yesters] =
“eee fy fences in this case for partitipation dat and tas. nieht. Oficers were seat] 4
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412 La.

per cent. interest on the balance of $28.72
from the respective dates of payment of
these taxes, until paid, as provided in sec-
tion 11, article 10, Constitution of 1921;
and in all other respects the judgment is
affirmed; plaintiffs to pay all costs of
court.
On Rehearing.

PER CURIAM.

Application for rehearing refused. De-
cree amended so as to assess the costs of
appeal against the plaintiffs; defendants
to pay all costs of the lower court.

° bier NUMBER SYSTEM

186 La. 339
STATE v. GILL.

No. 34140.

Supreme Court. of Louisiana.
Jan. 4, 1937.

Rehearing Denied Feb. 1, 1937.

{. Constitutional law €=221

Action of state through Legislature,
courts, or executive or administrative offi-
cers, in excluding all persons of the African
race solely because of race or color from serv-
ing as grand or petit jurors in criminal prose-
ecution of a person of the African race, is a
denial of equal protection of the laws (Const.
U.S. Amend. 14; Const.La.1921, art. 1, § 2).

2. Constitutional law €=221

Rule that persons of the African race are
not to be excluded solely because of their
race or color from serving as grand or petit
jurors in the criminal prosecution of a per-
son of the African race does not entitle a per-
son to be tried by a jury composed only of
white, or only of black, or mixed persons
(Const.U.S. Amend. 14; Const.La. art. 1, § 2).

3. Constitutional law €=22!

Jury commission should select only per-
sons whom they know to be competent, re-
gardless of whether they are black or white,
as regards question of whether persons of
African descent are denied equal protection
of the laws by being excluded from serving
as grand or petit jurors in the criminal pros-
ecution of a member of their race (Const.U.S.
Amend. 14; Const.La.1921, art. 1, $ 2).

172 SOUTHERN REPORTER

4. Constitutional law €=221

If all but a few names placed in the gen-
eral venire happen to be names of white per-
sons, it will be presumed, in absence of evi-
dence to contrary, that the list was so select-
ed by jury commission in a fair effort to se-
lect best qualified persons, and not with any
view of discrimination on account of race
or color (Const.U.S. Amend. 14; Const.La.
1921, art. 1, § 2).

5. Constitutional law G22!

As regards denial of equal protection to
negro charged with murder by the systematic
exclusion of negroes from grand and petit
juries in the parish, evidence held to show
that negroes had been constantly included in
every jury list during the past 30 or 40 years
and had served on petit and grand juries
(Const.U.S. Amend. 14; Const.La.1921, art.
1, § 2).

6. Constitutional law €=221

As regards denial of equal protection to
negro charged with murder by systematic
exclusion of negroes from grand and petit
juries in the parish, evidence held not to show
that one or two negroes on the jury list was
not a fair and just proportion of negroes in
comparison with white persons qualified to
serve as jurors in that parish.

7. Constitutional law €=221

Negro convicted of murder held not de-
nied equal protection in the drawing of the
jury list from which the grand jurors and
petit jurors were drawn by alleged systema-
tic exclusion of negroes from grand and petit
juries in the parish, where evidence showed
that negroes were included in every jury list
and had served on petit and grand juries, and
negro was tried fairly in same manner as
others tried within state (Const.U.S. Amend.
14; Const.La.1921, art. 1, § 2).

8. Constitutional law €=250

Equal protection is afforded in a crim-
inal trial where the trial is conducted fairly
and impartially in the same manner and un-
der the same procedure as all other people
are tried within the state (Const.U.S. Amend.
14; Const.La.1921, art. 1, § 2).

9. Criminal law @126(2) -

Denial of change of venue to negro charg-
ed with murder of his stepdaughter and his
two children held not error, where it was not
established by the evidence that negro could
not receive a fair and impartial trial in par-
ish in which prosecution was brought.

vem

STATE v. GILL
172 So. aa AS

10. Criminal law €=920

Denial of new trial after conviction of
murder on ground that defendant had no one
to look after his interest until five days be-
fore trial, because attorney who was origi-
nally appointed to represent defendant alleg-
edly did not advise with him or make any
effort to protect his rights, held not error,
where counsel was appointed for defendant
before the arraignment, defendaht was rep-

resented throughout the trial by counsel who .

had practiced more than five years, and coun-
sel withdrew his motion for more time when

court offered to continue the case.
s

11. Criminal law e=968(1)/

Denial of motion in arrest of judgment
leveled at the entire’ proceedings, and par-
ticularly the rulings of the court which were
the basis of the other bills of exception, held
not error, where motion in arrest of judg-
ment was not leveled at a substantial defect
patent on the face of the record (Code Cr.
Proce. art. 517).

———

Appeal from Eighth Judicial District
Court, Parish of Caldwell; F. E. Jones,
Judge.

William Gill was convicted of murder,
and he appeals.

Affirmed.

W. H. Mecom, of Columbia, and D. Ross
Banister and J. H. Dormon, both of Mon-
roe (Henry D. Montgomery, of Monroe,
on the brief), for appellant.

Gaston L. Porterie, Atty. Gen., James
O’Connor, Asst. Atty. Gen., Harry Fuller,
Dist. Atty., of Winnfield, and Vinson M.

Mouser, Asst. Dist. Atty., of Columbia, for
Nthe State. :

FOURNET, Justice.

The defendant was tried, convicted, and
sentenced on an indictment on three counts
for the murder of H-Rell Hamilton, Laura
Gill, and Roseann Gill, and. from the con-
viction and sentence to hang, he has ap-
pealed.

The defendant, William Gill, who is of
the Negro Race, drowned his thirteen year
old stepdaughter, H-Rell Hamilton, issue
of his wife’s first marriage, in order to
keep her from telling that he was respon-
sible for her pregnant condition as a result
of his relations with her. His two small
daughters, Laura Gill, two years old, and
Roseann Gill, three years old, were

standing on the bank of the slough in
which he drowned his stepdaughter, and in
order to make what he thought would be
the concealment of his crime complete, he
drowned them too because they had seen
what had happened. This took place on
August 6, 1936, and on the same day, while
he was being questioned by the sheriff of
Caldwell parish, wherein the crime was
committed, the defendant admitted that he

-had drowned the three children and made

a confession, giving in detail the commis-
sion of the crimes and his reasons therefor,
which was written by the court reporter
and signed by the defendant in the pres-
ence of the assistant district attorney, the
sheriff, a deputy sheriff, and eight persons,
three of whom were of the Negro Race.
The written confession comprises eight
typewritten pages, double spaced, of ques-
tions by the assistant district attorney and
the answers of the defendant from which
we quote, in part, the following:

“Q. William what made you do that?

“A. The Devil got in me I reckon — I
was mad. :

“Q. What was the trouble, what caused
you to do that?

“A. Well, when I found out there was
something wrong with her and I had
dealings with her.

“Q. Which one was that?

“A. That biggest one, Hrell.

“Q. Have you ever had any sexual re-
lations with her? ;

“A. Yes, sir, once. * * *

“Q. Had your wife asked Hrell about
what shape she was in and who did it?

“A. Yes, sir she asked her. * * *

“Q. What made you decide to kill Hrell?

“A. On account of the way she was.

“Q. On account of her condition — be-
cause she was in the family way and you
was afraid she would say you did it. Was
that it? :

SA. Yes: sit. **:'>

“Q. Just go ahead and tell us how the
girls happened to go down to the slough,

and how you went down there and about
how they were killed.

“A. Well, Hrell wanted to go down
there and get some water, she had already
spoke about washing, and I told her I
would go down there with her and get it,
and when we got down there she walked
out on the log and got two bucketsful in

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_ NO. Times- Preasune 7-3|- (47 BAT D« (2:7.

ene

other’s eyes with a smile en-
’ youthful, entirely happy.

ter, they went on more scenic
rays and were persuaded into
ius of the more bolsterous antics
1@ park. Between events, as it
» When there was time for a
with each other, they managed
sl! one another quite a bit of
selves. In this way Bob learned
Betty was fatherless and the
t of three unmarried sisters, that
iad one sister older than herself
married, that she had a eernens|

in return she learned of his |
er= an invalid, who lived with
and kept house for him, in,

r imagined, rather sketchy fash- ,

& party came preséntly to a se-
of what looked like revolving
als. Betty refused firmly to
herself to such a tumbling and
ck device, and before Bod could.
refuse, he was seized by Rose
'ra and Olga and dragged off
them in a gale of insistence and
ater. :

that fashion Betty found her-
alone. She waited at the en-
:¢, looking about with bright,
‘ed eyes. The crowds still milled
round her. High, high up a wire-
er was teetering on a_ wire
ched from the tall tower, Elec-
lights played on the slim dis-
form, a colored umbrella potsed
ithe sleek head. Retty watched,
uing her breath a little. Her mind
divided. Half of it was intent,
her eyes, on the perilous situa-
of the wire-walker, the other
busy with Bob Stevenson.

6 had kndwn him—how long?
e hours? A year? All ber life.
idn’t matter. She felt ag if they’
always been friends.

riends?"

e felt the color rising to her
ka as she thought of the tone in
voice when he spoke to her, the
in his eyes. The half shy, half
way he had of speaking her
a.

urely he waan’t a flirt?”
ga had thought it quite a feat
he> “boy friend” had been .able |
versuade Bob to join them, for/

finished, and Olga had not. They had
very little in common save the early
associations, but somehow they had
kept up: thelr friendship. Olga ad-
mired her friend Immensely, and was
always trying to get Betty to go out
on parties with her and her other
friends. Betty, for the most part re-
fused. She had-gone this time because
she had been tired and felt that the
change and the careless laughter and
amusement would do her good. She
worrled too much—about herself—
about the family—about everything.
She hadn't been sleeping well lately

"| —she felt as {f her brain were a squlr-

rel in a cage, going round and round,
getting nowhere,

She was still watching the wire
walker who had reached his destina-
tion and started back again, She
wondered if the others would soon
join her. A voice spoke at her el-
bow:

“All alone, little girl?”

Bhe turned sharply, startled, and
looked into the audacious dark eyes
of a siim young man whose spotty
face was wreathed in an ingratiating
smile. At ‘least the smile was meant
to ingratlate, but only succeeded in
intimidating and disgusting Betty.
She turned her shoulder to him wit
out a word.-She felt shaky, even to
her knees, She argued fiercely with
herself—don't be a fool! He can’t
hurt you! It isn’t the first time some-
one has spoken to you.

A hand touched her arm, seeme
to burn through ita thin silk cov
ing, a hot, tainted breath fanned
averted cheek: ‘ /

“Don’t be such a frost, kid./ Do
you know I thought you was GAoria
Swanson when I first seen you. Come
on over and shake a leg with /me—I
bet you dance gqod—you've Kot the
build.” ’

“Leave me alone,” sald Bey: “Go
away at once.”
She tried to speak firmly, sharply,

but her voice shook. She hat
self for her cowardice,

drunken mén and of méen who tried C)
pick girls u

“Ah. cut out the ritsz stuff—” hee
tormentor began, when his voice died
in his throat. Betty looked up to see
Bob standing there, a hand lightly on
the stranger’s shoulder. A Bob she

didn’t know, se cool, 86 hard, so dan-

gerous did he look.

“On your way, son,” suggested Bob,
carelessly, but with meaning.

The atranger shrugged out from un-
der the hand, turned green, tried to
brazen {t out. .

“Who the hell are you?”

“Queen Marie,” answered Bob,
without amiling. “Back away from
royalty, will you? Ah—you would,
would you.”

The hand shot out and arrested the
slim white hand of the other man as
{t crept toward a hip pocket. The
man cried out. By now Chris and
John Meyers had hurried up. The pas-
ty-faced youth with the eyes of a kill-
er and the hands of a drug-taker
turned and slunk away nursing a
wrist that ached like fury.

The girls surrounded Betty, chat-
tering excitedly:

“What did he say?”

“Who was hé?" , '

“How—” ®

Bob took Betty's ‘hand and drew it
into the crook of his comforting mus-

"‘lsend her to the gallows,

soiling te Bteeplechase and then get
some saupper. Chris says we can end
up at the Shelburne for the last
‘ show.”

Betty shook her head.

“I’m awfully tired,” she eonfessed,

“I'll take Betty home,” volunteered
Bob, firmly, “you others run along
and play ground some more. We're
going.”

There was a chorous df protests and
then of farewells, Soon Betty and Bob
were in a Sea Beach express speeding
towards Bay Ridge.

“If you hadn't been there—” fal-
tered Betty, ashamed of her little
scene bt somehow—happy.

“I'll afways be there—” sald Bob.

(To be continued tomorrow)

ADA LEBOEUF IS

Continued from Page One

vieted of having helped her lover
murder her husband? Here in St.
Mary parish they are asking it en
every corner, For St, Mary parish Vs
not used to hangings. St. Mary is
One of the most law abiding parishes
in the state. It is not unusual for
the parish jail to be empty, and it

Mary lawyer wants to restrict him-

starve or Hve on his relations,”

The last person to be hanged in
St. Mary parish was a negro, Sylves-
ter Garrett, who waa convicted of the
murder of a negro girl, nearly three
years ago. So strong was tha senti-
ment here against the infliction of
‘the death penalty that a petition
signed by many of the leading
women of the parish was presented
to Governor Parker, urging that the
sentence be commuted to imprison-
ment. Governor Parker, however,
refused to grant the plea, and-the
negro was executed. It was the first
hanging in St. Mary for some fif-
teén years,

Ada LeBoeuf herself, if owe can
judge by her appearance, doesn’t ex-
pect the gallows. Her calmness in
the courtroom, unruffled by the bat-
tery of. questions about the death
penalty, and the insistence of the vast
majority of the veniremen that they
could render a verdict that would
has been
the marvel of onlookers, It {s simply
inconceivable that one who actually
feared being hanged for murder
could alt there ao utterly unperturbed.
smiling that famous inscrutable smile
over the miracle whiteness of her
teeth,

No, Ada doesn't seem to be con-
cerned about the gallows, but every-
body else is. The excitement spreads
in ripples from the St, Mary court-
house. What ‘a Loulslana going to
do about it? Will Ada LeBoeuf, Ada
of the bayous and the legends, be
number seven in the American roll
of women executed for murderf

CIVIL SERVICE EXAMS

ARE SCHEDULED HERE
Examinations will be held August 16
; and September 8 by the Tenth United
| States Civil Bervice District, it was
|}announcéed Friday.

UNAFRAID OF NOOSE.

{a m common expression that if a St.

a ,

on Head of Pin

Sixty-three Words Engraved
on Tiny Surface of

Gold — -

A famous curiosity, a pinhead with
the Lord's Prayer engraved upon ft,
{es on exhibit at the Louisiana State
Museum. It {s a gold pin, with a head
less than an eighth of an inch tna
Giameter, yet there are twelve lines
and sixty-three words beautifully en-
graved upon the tiny surface, It is the
work of Charles Howard Baker, whe
worked for the bureau of engraving

at Washington, D. C., about twenty-
five years ago, and it took him three
years and eleven days to finish the
job. He lost his sight and later be-
came Insane.

The pin was placed on exhibit by
Arthur J. Purcell, who purchased it
from a hawker who had been charg-
ing “a dime a look.” The whole story

self to criminal cases, “he will either of the pin is not known, and probably

wHl rwever be, but it has traveled all
er the country and has been shown
a(\many fairs,

A\ powerful microscope, without
which {t is impossible to see the tiny
letters, enables visitors to the museum
to read the prayer. The pin will be
on exhibit unti) August 14.

any of the positions may be obtained
at the/local civil service department
fn the customhoure.

MOTHER!

Clean Ghild’s Bowels With
“California Fig Syrup”
and Elixir of Senna

When babys constipated, has wind
colic, feverish breath, coated tongue,
or d{iarrhea, a half-teaspoonful of
genuine “California” Syrup of Figs
and Elixir of Senna promptly moves
the poisons, gases, bile, souring food
rand waste right out. Never cramps

Bane 84m Ballantine

| Lord’s Prayer:

Exhibited Here.

Ca a PM agp gh feu Ng Cas,

abil We:

CE SRB Re a

Star set. eared

tea Oh

414 La.

the tub and when she went to get another
one I pushed her on off and when she got up
again I pushed her off again and I got hold
the sides of her head and soused her under.

“Q.. How did you hold her — did you
have to bruise her to hold her under the
water?

“A. No, sir. I didn’t have to bruise her.
You don’t have to bruise anybody, just
hold them under the water.

“OQ. How did you hold her — with your
open hands on each side of her face and
shove her right under?

“A. Yes, sir.

“Q. How many times did you do that?

“A. I pushed her back twice.

“Q. Where were the two little girls
while you were drowning her?

“A, They was standing there.

“Q. Did they know you were drowning
her?

“A. No, sir. They didn’t know — they
was small and they thought I was playing.

“Q. How come you to drown the two
little ones?

“A. Well, they was there and seen it.

“Q. You were afraid they would tell?

“A Yes, sin: 2 *

“Q. After you drowned those children
what did you do then?

“A. T went up on the hill and called the
other children.

“OQ. Where were the other children?

“A. There was two around back of the
house and the other one was asleep.

“Q. What did you tell the other chil-
dren?

“A. I told them to come down there and
to help me look for them.

“Q. Did you look around the place for
them?

“A. Yes, sir.

“QO. About how long did you look around
the place for them before you went back
down to the slough?

“A. I reckon it was about ten minutes
maybe. * * *

“Q. After you brought the babies out
what did you do?

“A, I went out to Mr. Liveley’s and sent
word to Mr. Cobb.

“Q. What you have just told us is the
way those three children met their death?

“A. Yes, sir.”

172 SOUTHERN REPORTER

On the 17th day of September, 1936, the
grand jury met and indicted the defendant
for the murder of the three children in
three counts in one indictment. On the
following day the trial judge, after having
been informed by the defendant in open
court that he could not employ counsel,
appointed, as leading counsel to represent
him in the trial of the case, C. P. Thorn-

hill, an attorney of Columbia, Caldwell .

parish, who has had about thirty years of
experience as a practitioner at the Bar and
who had, for a number of years, served as
prosecuting attorney. The court also ap-
pointed J. H. Dorman and D. Ross Ban-
nister, attorneys of the Monroe Bar, to
assist Mr. Thornhill. The defendant, with
the assistance and in the presence of his
counsel, was arraigned in open court and
entered a plea of not guilty on the 25th of
September. The court then fixed the date
for the trial of the case on October 13th.
On the 8th day of October, five days be-
fore the day set for the trial, after con-
ferring with the defendant, Mr. Thornhill
resigned as leading counsel and W. H.
Mecom, also an attorney of the Caldwell
Parish Bar, who has been practicing law
for more than five years, was appointed by
the court in his stead as leading counsel
to represent the defendant.

On the morning of the day set for the
trial, counsel for defendant sought to file
two motions, one to quash the indictment
and the other to quash the grand jury
panel, the general venire list, and the petit
jury panel. The allegations in each motion
are to the effect that the general venire
boxes of Caldwell parish contained the
name of only one negro at the time the
panel for the grand jury was drawn, which
later indicted him, and also the petit jury
which was drawn to try him; that negroes
have been systematically excluded from
grand jury and petit jury service in the
parish of Caldwell; that the exclusion of
negroes from juries is done solely because
of their race and color which constitutes
a denial of due process of law and the
equal protection of the laws guaranteed to
him by the Federal and State Constitutions
(Const.U.S. Amend. 14; Const.La.1921, art.
1, § 2).

Defendant was not allowed to file the
first motion on the ground that it came too
late, under the provisions of article 284 of
the Code of Criminal Procedure and the
established jurisprudence of this state.
State v. White, 156 La. 770, 101 So. 136.

STATE vy. GILL La.
172 So. 415

We deem it unnecessary to further dis-
cuss the motion to quash the indictment be-
cause, after a hearing on the motion to quash
the general venire list, the grand jury, and
the petit jury panel, the court allowed the
motion in so far as it sought to quash the
general venire list and the petit jury panel,
and all the matters pertaining to these mo-
tions are based upon one and the same
ground, that is, the systematic exclusion of
negroes from grand and petit juries in Cald-
well Parish.

[1-4] It is obvious that counsel has at-
tempted to build his case to fit the decision
of the Supreme Court of the United States
in the matter of Norris v. State of Alabama,
294 U.S. 587, 55 S.Ct. 579, 580, 79 L.Ed.
1074. In that case the court reannounced
the following principle of law.

“Whenever by any action of a state,
whether through its Legislature, through
its courts, or through its executive or ad-
ministrative officers, all persons of the A fri-
can race are excluded, solely because of
their race or color, from serving as grand
jurors in the criminal prosecution of a per-
son of the African race, the equal protec-
tion of the laws is denied to him, contrary
to the Fourteenth Amendment of the Con-
stitution of the United States. * * * The
principle is equally applicable to a similar
exclusion of negroes from service on petit
juries,”

The Supreme Court of the United States
then proceeded to apply “this established
principle to the facts disclosed by the rec-
ord” and found as a fact “that no negro had
served on any grand or petit jury in‘that
county [Jackson] within the memory of wit-
nesses who had lived there all their lives.
Testimony to that effect was given by men
whose ages ran from fifty to seventy-six
years. Their testimony was uncontradict-
ed.” The court held that “that testimony in
itself made out a prima facie case of the
denial of the equal protection which the
Constitution guarantees,” and stated further
that: “The case thus made was supplement-
ed by direct testimony that specified ne-
groes, thirty or more in number, were qual-
ified for jury service. * * * It also appeared
that negroes from that county had been
called for jury service in the federal court.
Several of those who were thus described
as qualified were witnesses.” (Italics ours.)
The court’s final conclusion on the subject
is as follows:

“We think that the evidence that for a gen-
eration or longer no negro had been called

for service on any jury in Jackson county,
that there were negroes qualified for jury
service, that according to the practice of
the jury commission their names would nor-
mally appear on the preliminary list of male
citizens of the requisite age but that no
names of negroes were placed on the jury
roll, and the testimony with respect to the
lack of appropriate consideration of the
qualifications of negroes, established the dis-
crimination which the Constitution forbids.
The motion to quash the indictment upon
that ground should have been granted.”

The rule of law announced by the Su-
preme Court of the United States in the
case of Norris v. State of Alabama, supra,
had long before been established in the
jurisprudence of this state. But that rule
does not entitle a person to be tried by a
jury composed only of white, or only of
black, or mixed persons, and while it is true
that there must be no distinction in selecting
the jury based on race or color, the jury
commission .should select persons whom
they know to be competent, regardless of
whether they are white or black, and if all
but a few of the persons placed in the gen-
eral venire list happen to be white, it
will be presumed, in the absence of evidence
to the contrary, that the list was so selected
by the jury commission in a fair effort to
select the best qualified persons and not with
any view of discrimination on account of
race or color. See State v. Turner et al.,
133 La. 555, 63 So. 169.

This court has never hesitated to set aside
convictions and sentences of persons wheth-
er of the black or of the white race, when-
ever it appeared that any discrimination or
unfair or unjust tactics had been employed
in the prosecution and conviction, and it is
with this principle in mind that we shall re-
view the evidence in this case.

[5-8] The evidence in support of the
motions consisted of the testimony of H.
W. Seal, clerk of court and ex officio mem-
ber of the jury commission for Caldwell
parish; M. L. Mecom, an old resident of
Caldwell parish, who served as clerk of
court for that parish from 1892 to 1932,
with the exception of eight years; and W.
H. Waggoner, also an old resident of Cald-
well parish, who is a member of the jury
commission for that parish and who has
served on the commission from time to
time since he has been a resident of Cald-
well parish.

A review of the evidence on this motion
shows that the population of Caldwell par-

CRORES we

SAE ay ER Ie SRNR pie deyintar ech memnariay >

342 La

but making no effort to stop them since
he had no interest in the matter.

[13,14] The questions were highly im-
proper and should not have been allowed
for it is the settled jurisprudence of this
court “that questions which have for their
evident purpose to have jurors indicate
in advance what their decision will be un-
der a certain state of facts are not per-
tinent.” State v. Morris, 222 La. 480, 62
So.2d 649, 650. See, also State y. Henry,
197 La. 999, 3 So.2d 104, and State v.
Smith, 216 La. 1041, 45 So.2d 617. In any
event, it is clear from the note of evidence
attached to this bill that although the
prospective juror was obviously confused
by the manner in which the questions were
phrased, when his examination as a whole

13. The portion objected to is as follows:
“* * * and we will also show you
that Mr. Hano and Milton Faciane got
into a scuffle and that about that time
when the scuffle was going on in there
Alfred Thomas Faciane walked to where
the deceased was and grabbed him by the
arm and put a gun on him and pulled
him out; that during this scuflle Mr.
Hano and Milton Faciane’ wrestled
around into the little store room on the
side and that during this time Anthony
Mansfield was in the back of the living
quarters. Having heard the commotion
he came up and as he walked into the
store proper Alfred Thomas Faciane had
the gun pointed at the deceased. We
will show you that the deceased threw ,
up his hands and said ‘Don’t shoot.’ We
will also show you that Alfred Thomas
Faciane did shoot * * *,”

14. The portion of Hano’s testimony ob-

‘jected to is an elaboration on the events '
as they transpired in the store on the |!
day of the shooting. While rambling and
somewhat hard to follow, the pertinent
portion seems to be: “* * * in hopes
that * * * JT might be able to resist
in someway to try to tag him before
he—which would cause him to forget
about my child momentarily and follow in
after me, and hoping that I could in some
way get Milton aloose from me and try
to stop the man with the gun. But as
I turned to my left backing up trying to
get out of the door facing of that grocery
stock entrance * * * seeing he still
had his left arm around my child’s neck

99 SOUTHERN REPORTER, 2d SERIES

is considered that he was fully qualified to
serve, as the judge concluded. His dis-
cretionary ruling in this respect will not,
therefore, be disturbed. See, State y,
Collier, 161 La. 856, 109 So, 516.

Faciane’s Bill of Exceptions No. 8 was
reserved when the trial judge refused to
instruct the jury to disregard a portion of
the opening statement made by the district
attorney,!3 and his Bill of Exceptions No,
9 was reserved when he overruled coun-

. sel’s objection to a certain portion of the

testimony given by the witness Hano,
father of the deceased.44 It is counsel’s
contention that inasmuch as the state, in
answer to his motion, elected to try the
accused under the second subsection of
R.S. 14:3016 any statement that the mur-

with the muzzle of the large automatic
weapon in his face, the muzzle of it—
I couldn’t see whether it was pressing
against it * * * Milton hollered to
Alfred a second by saying ‘Hurry up
come shoot him quick’ and that made me
feel that certainly waiting any longer
or anything wasn’t going to do any good
so I used my judgment and trusted in
God to help me to use my head and
with physical strength so that I may
get that gun aloose from Milton and
* * * So I desperately struggled with
Milton and as I desperately struggled
and as that gun was in the motion that
I intended to put it before shooting Mil-
ton hollored again and said ‘He is going
to shoot me’ * * .* all I can remem-
ber from that point * * * ig that
I know I had definitely shot that 82
Smith and Wesson special * * *,”

15. The jurisprudence is that the state
cannot be required to elect under which
portion of a statute it will proceed in
the trial of a criminal case. See, State
v. Prince, 216 La. 989, 45 So. 866; State
v. Jackson, 227 La. 642, 80 So.2d 105;
State v. Rowan, 238 La. 284, 96 So.2d
569.

16. The pertinent portion reads: “Murder
is the killing of a human being, (1) When
the offender has a specifie intent to kill
or to inflict great bodily harm; or (2)
When the offender is engaged in the
perpetration or attempted perpetration
of * * * armed robbery. * * * even
though he has no intent to kill.”

STATE v. FACIANE

la. 343

Cite as 99 So.2d 333

der! of the young Hano boy by Faciane
was premeditated was inadmissible.

In disposing of this contention the trial

judge in his per curiam to these bills says
he considered the opening statement proper
and the testimony of Mr. Hano competent

within the purview of the second subsec-—

tion of R.S. 14:30 defining the crime of
murder, and also as a part of the res gestae,
pointing out that the district attorney did
not read sttbsection one to the jury in com-
pliance with counsel’s request, and that
nowhere either in the opening statement,
or in the evidence for that matter, did the
district attorney ever contend Faciane en-
tered the store with the specific intent of
shooting the young Hano boy, but, instead,
that Faciane, together with his accom-
plices, went there to commit the crime of
robbery and that Faciane, “being armed
was obviously prepared to shoot anyone
who stood in his way.” He advises further
that the portion of Hano’s testimony ob-
jected to concerned facts that were but
the chain of events leading up to the shoot-
ing of the deceased, which happened after
the accused Faciane had drawn his pistol
on Rudolph Hano and said: “This is a
stickup.”

(15,16] Clearly there is no merit to
either of these bills. The matters com-
plained of were but facts that detailed the
murder of young Hano while Faciane and
his accomplices were engaged in the per-
petration of a robbery of the store. They
were not intended to, nor did they in fact,
evidence any intention on the part of the
district attorney to establish that the mur-
der of the Hano boy was premeditated.

Faciane’s Bill of Exceptions No. 10 was
reserved to the ruling of the trial judge
admitting in evidence, over counsel’s ob-

17. The portion objected to is as follows:
“On Monday morning around noon tinie’
I was at the Blue Goose on Gentilly
Ilighway in New Orleans and started out
to my truck when someone called to me
and said someone wanted to see me.
Alfred Faciane was in a telephone booth

jection, the written statement of his co-
defendants, Cyprian and McMiller, given
after the termination of the conspiracy
and out of his presence. McMiller’s third
bill is also levelled at the admission in
evidence of the Cyprian statement. It is
argued these statements were self-serving
declarations only, intended, as to the one
making them, to be exculpatory but in-
culpatory to the other defendants, and
could have been admitted in evidence. for
no other reason than to prejudice the
jury against them.

[17] The judge did not commit error
in this ruling. A mere reference to these
statements will show that while some por-
tions are exculpatory in nature, they also
contain inculpatory facts that trend to es-
tablish the guilt of their respective authors,
and, under our law, were therefore prop-
erly admissible as to them, the judge hav-
ing promptly and properly instructed the
jury to disregard them as to any of the
other co-defendants. Under such instruc-
tions they were admissible as additional
evidence tending to establish the guilt or
innocence of their respective authors, the
weight to be given them being a matter
for the jury alone to determine. See,
State v. Johnson, 47 La.Ann. 1225, 17 So.
789; State v. Sims, 106 La. 453, 31 So. 71;
State v. Livsey, 190 La. 474, 182 So. 576;
and State v. Roshto, 222 La. 185, 62 So.2d
263.

Bill of Exceptions No. 11 reserved on
behalf of Faciane is levelled at the trial
judge’s refusal to order a mistrial by rea-
son of the inclusion in the McMiller state-
ment of a portion !7 objected to by counsel
on the ground it tended to place Faciane’s
reputation at issue although he did not at
the time, or later, take the stand.

and came out behind my truck and we
were talking when he saw a police car
come and he went through the alley
telling me that he was hot. About one-
hour later I went to his house and told
them I was going * * ¥*,”

eget paler

nap ee

344 La.

[18] In the first place, only the im-.

agination of counsel could read into this
portion of McMiller’s statement an attack
upon the character of the accused. Sec-
ondly, as pointed out in our discussion of
the two previous bills, the statement was
admissible in evidence; consequently, once
admissible, it could not be taken in parts

but had to be introduced as a whole. RS:

15:450. Further, the judge, as above
pointed out, properly admonished the jury
not to consider anything therein contained
as being admissible against anyone other
than McMiller, its author.

Faciane’s thirteenth bill and McMiller’s
fourth were reserved to the trial judge’s
ruling denying their motions for a new
trial and present nothing for our considera-
tion inasmuch as these motions were
predicated upon the errors just disposed of.

This leaves as the only matter not dis-
posed of McMiller’s motion for a severance,
which forms a part of his first bill of ex-
ceptions and was not treated in connection
therewith above. The trial judge did not
give us the benefit of his views on this
motion, but we find counsel’s argument
under this bill is very short in brief, being
as follows: “The motion for severance
was based upon antagonistic defenses and
the fact that, without severance, appellant
could not call one of his co-defendants as
a witness on his behalf. * * * The
defenses were’ antagonistic in that the
statement of Faciane incriminated McMil-
ler and it was known the state intended to
use Faciane’s statement as evidence. * *”

[19,20] According to the law of this
state and the overwhelming jurisprudence
thereunder, an accused is not entitled to a
severance as a matter of right and the
granting or refusal of his motion therefor
is one that rests entirely within the dis-
cretion of the trial judge, his ruling re-
maining undisturbed unless it is established
to be arbitrary by the accused. Article 316
of the Code of Criminal Procedure (RS

99 SOUTHERN REPORTER, 2d SERIES

15:316); State v. Gournet, 43 La.Ann. 197,
9 So. 436; State v. Gresham, 132 La. 594,
61 So. 681; State v. Hill, 160 La. 579, 107
So. 433; State v. Livsey, 190 La. 474, 182
So. 576; State v. Labat, 226 La. 201, 75
So.2d 333, affirmed 350 U.S. 91, 76 S.Ct.
158, 100 L.Ed. 83, and the authorities there-
in cited,

[21-23] It is obvious from the argu-
ment in brief above quoted that the only
reason advanced as the basis for the con-
tention that the defenses were antagonistic
is that the statement made by Faciane in-
criminated McMiller and it was known the
state would introduce this statement in
advance. In support of this contention
counsel cite State v. Taylor, 45 La.Ann.
605, 12 So. 927, and State v. Desroche,
47 La.Ann. 651, 17 So. 209. However,
this cannot serve as the basis of reversible
prejudicial error for the record discloses
this statement was never in fact introduced
in evidence. The other ground urged for
the granting of this motion is that the
accused desired to call his co-defendants
as witnesses in his behalf, reliance being
placed on the cases of State v. Angel, 52
La.Ann. 485, 27 So. 214, and State v. Sims,
106 La. 453, 31 So. 71. Yet it has been
squarely held by this court that an accused
is not entitled to a severance on this ground
alone (State v. Phenix, 134 La. 329, 64
So. 129; State v. La Rocca, 168 La. 204,
121 So. 744; State v. Graziani, 168 La.
297, 121 So. 872), the authorities relied on
by counsel being explained and distinguish-
ed in the La Rocca case. In any event,
the record discloses McMiller did not call
either Cyprian or Faciane to the stand.
Counsel has thus clearly failed to carry
the burden of establishing the judge
abused his discretion in this respect, and,
further, that this abuse resulted in revers-
ible error. See, Article 557 of the Code
of Criminal Procedure, RS 15:557.

For the reasons assigned the convictions
and sentences appealed from are affirmed.

+ Setaes wie _ CH Area BES ies

etek SeaaeREMMROR

CLAIBORNE SALES COMPANY v. COLLECTOR OF REVENUE
Cite as 99 So.2d 345

233 La. 1061 ;
CLAIBORNE SALES COMPANY, Inc.

Vv.
COLLECTOR OF REVENUE.

Rufus W. FONTENOT, Collector of Reve-
nue, State of Loulsiana,

Vv.
CLAIBORNE SALES COMPANY, Inc.
No. 42981.

Supreme Court of Louisiana. e
Nov. 12, 1957...

Rehearing Denied Jan. 9, 1958,

Consolidated suits involving an assess-
ment made by the collector of revenue for
sales tax. From a judgment of the First
Judicial District Court, Caddo Parish,
James U. Galloway, J., reversing a ruling
of the board of tax appeals and finding
in favor of the collector of revenue for
the amount of the assessment, penalties
and interests, the taxpayer appealed. The
Supreme Court held that sales of ceramic
tile and tile accessories to tile contractors
exclusively constituted “sales at retail”
within the sales tax act, that alleged
representations of agents of the collector
of revenue did not estop the collector
from thereafter seeking to collect the tax
and that the penalties for nonpayment
were properly assessed.

Judgment affirmed.

Hamiter, J., dissented. -

I. Licenses C>15.1(8)

Company selling ceramic tile and tile
accessories to tile contractors exclusively
was engaged in “sales at retail” within
sales tax act defining such sales as those
to any person for any purpose other than
a resale. LSA-R.S. 47:301(10), 47 :302.

See publication Words and Phrases,

for other judicial constructions and defi-
nitions of “Sale at Retail”.

99 So.2d—22%

2. Estoppel €=62(2)

Alleged statements by z
lector of revenue that comp
subject to sales tax did not ¢

from thereafter seeking to cd
LSA-R.S. 47 :301 et seq.

On Application for Reh

3. Licenses €>30

Sales tax assessment aga
which had failed to pay tax fc
was proper and tax could be
gardless of whether it was ¢
a tax or a penalty. LSA-R.S

4. Penalties >] ;
Penalties must be strictly’

5. Licenses €>4]

Company which failed ¢
turn and remit sales taxes it
collected became liable ‘fo
penalties and interest appli
LSA-R.S. 47:2, 47:306, 47:1

——>_—.

Hollingsworth B. Barret,
for petitioner-appellant.

George C. Gibson, New Orl
L. Roland, Levi A. Himes,
Sanford, Baton Rouge, for

PONDER, Justice.

In these consolidated suit
borne Sales Company, Inco
contesting an assessment made
lector of Revenue for sales
the period beginning Janua
through August 31, 1953, in th
$9,469.03, penalties, and inter

The only question in dispute
or not the tax is due and wh
penalties should be assessed
facts in this case.

The Claiborne Sales Comp
porated, is engaged in the busi
ing ceramic tile and tile acces

PELDL, Wayne, white, elec. La. SP (Caddo Parish) March Ds 2900.

B-8 _ WEDNESDAY, MARCH 16, 1988

METRO NEWS -

Asiller of

“By BILL GRADY
Staff writer

“In the cinderblock death house

of Angola state penitentiary,

Wayne Felde had finished his last

pizza by 9 o’clock Monday night

-and was receiving his last visit
from the Atlanta attorney who
had pleaded his case many times.

Meanwhile; 50 miles to the

south, another of Felde’s attgr-_[-

Quigley said he got right to the

‘point. He beseeched Roemer to

spare Felde’s life until a new par-
don board could be appointed.
“But the governor said he did
not see any reason to delay the
execution,” Quigley said Tuesday

‘afternoon. ‘‘And he said that
‘even though he did not yet have a

pardon board, he said he was the
pardon board.

“And then he said something
— let me get the words right —
he said, ‘gee, there’s so many
things about being governor I
never thought about.’ I was

. frankly chilled by the few
‘minutes we had together,” said

Quigley, a longtime opponent of
the death penalty.

_Rebuffed, Quigley drove to
Angola, were he informed Felde
that their long march together
was at a conclusion.

About 10 o’clock, Warden Hil-
ton Butler came into the lobby of
the administration building. He

neys, Bill Quigley of New
;Orleans, waited under a street
‘lamp outside the Governor’s
-Mansion for an audience with
Gov:.Roemer. ©

r.... dhe new governor was Felde’s
jlast hope, Just after midnight,
the Wisconsin native and Viet-
nam combat veteran was sched-
-uled to be electrocuted for the
‘1978 murder of a Shreveport
‘ policeman, who arrested him for
being drunk in a bar. The police-
man, Glen Tompkins, had failed
| to detect the handgun in Felde’s
‘pants during a routine search.
| .. Ten years had passed since
‘that night. Felde’s plea for life
now rested with Quigley, who cut
@ lonely figure under the street
lamp outside the mansion. Quig-
dey recalled that, standing there,
I he was cold and mildly irritated
|’ ‘at being kept waiting on such an
! important matter. He said it was
an hour or so before he was sum-
moned inside and escorted into
,the far reaches of the mansion to
‘a tiny study where the governor
‘sat.

sat down near a table display of |.
fake flowers and ceramic bunnies
and a photograph showing the
warden more than 30 years ago as
a lean, shotgun-toting guard lead-
ing the prison dog team through
the Tunica hills in pursuit of an
Angola escapee.

“I spoke with Felde about an
hour ago,” the warden said. “His
statement to me was, he didn’t
want a stay. He wasn’t looking
for a stay. He was ready to go.”
__And, ready or not, he went.
They shaved his shaggy head
near 11 p.m., about the time the
10 witnesses to his execution
were being briefed in the admin-
istration building. Just outside
the main gate, three Shreveport
policemen — friends of the slain
officer — kept vigil with a hand-
ful of inveterate proponents of
the death penalty who have had |
relatives killed and who always
show up at Angola executions.

The police were quiet, dignified
sentinels. The others loudly
shouted slogans and sported T-
shirts and signs such as “some-
one I loved was murdered,” and

Wikberg of the staff of the ANGOLITE, Magazine of the
Louisiana State Penitentiary.

THE TIMES-PICAYUNE _*..

‘a¥

fers a cryptic message as death closes in

When the first jolt hit him at.

“an easy death compared to the
Victims.” :

“Glen was a good officer, a fine
fellow,” said one of the Ppolice-
man. Arrayed behind him, bathed
in the platinum light of television
cameras, the inveterates repeated
the details of their loved ones
deaths:

“Yes, she was murdered . re
woman began.

“They killéd her and hung her |

naked in a tree,” intoned'a man
with big, chafed farm hands
whose stepdaughter had been
murdered.

The murderer of the moment,
Felde, wore a T-shirt, blue jeans
and backless slippers when he
walked into the death chamber at
12:04 a.m. Tuesday. He began by
reciting a cryptic statement:

“You can kill the messenger,
but you can’t kill the message,”
he said. Reporters speculated
Felde might have been referring
to his contention that he, like
many other Vietnam veterans,
was suffering from combat stress
disorder, which he had blamed
for his violent impulses.

.| His statement finished, Felde

fixed each witness with an even,

lingering glare. He seemed to lin-
ger a moment on his feet to give
reporters time to copy his mes-
sage.

But at last he sat. He was
strapped in. A canvas mask was
Placed over his face. A leather
strap containing an electrode was
affixed to his bald head. Another
conductor was attached to his
shin. | ;

12:07 a.m., witnesses said, Felde’s
body squeezed inward and his
feet jerked spasmodically out of
his sandals.

The fourth and last burst of
current was delivered at 12:08.
The man who had warned his
jury that he would kill again if he

was not electrocuted, was pro- |

nounced dead at 12:14 a.m.

FPLUKER, Henry, black, 22, hansed Convent, Louisiana, April 7, 1893.

On March 15, 1893, Governor Murphy J. Foster of Louisiana signed a death
Warrant to Sheriff A. L. Bourgeois of St. James Parish, directing him to
execute Henry Fluker, sentenced on February 2), 1893, on April 7, 1893.
AWAK Desth Warrants, State of Louisane, State Ardhives, Baton Rouge,

"A DOUBLE EXECUTION; JOHN LAWSON AND HENRY FLUKER HANGED AT CONVENT, LA.3
THEY HAD COMMITTED MURDERS OF EXCEPTIONAL ATROCITY: THE EXECUTION WELL
PLANNED AND SUCCESSFULLY CARRIED OUT; HISTORY OF THE CRIMES - SCENES AND
INCIDENTS, Convent, La., Avril 7. - (Svecisl)- ...Henry Fluker, sa young
negro of about 22 years of age, born in Alabama, came to Louisians with
Mr. Sullivan's cang to build the Minnie Levee, right bank in this parish,
where he was engaged driving e team. At his trial facts were brought out
proving conclusively that he had committed an atrocious murder. On the
morning of Nov. 8 last, while at work, Fluker asked from one Henry Rees
another laborer belonging to the same gang, for his pistol, which he had
loaned him a few days previous. Rees replied that he had not then the
pistol, but would return it to him later on. He was again asked for it,
and, before weiting for an answer, Fluker pulled out his 38-caliber
Smith & Wesson, took deliberate aim and fired. Rees fell to the ground,
and while there, was again shot and killed. Fluker immediately left
camp with a Winchester rifle, made his way through the fields to St.
James station, where he was captured as he was about to take a train,

He was placed in jail, a true bill returned by the grand jury, and tried
for his life, with a verdict of guilty. He was a submissive and obedi-
ent prisoner, never had much to say and seemed resigned to his fate, He
was also religiously attended to by Father Fay, embraced the Catholic
religion, was baptized yesterdsy in company with Lawson, and they both
at the same altar, improvisely built in their cell, took holy communion
this morning. The scaffold is built immediate and touches to the jail,
where, in a few minutes, they will expiate their crimes,

"At 12:15 the sheriff, accdmpanied by fifteen witnesses, amongst whom
were four physicians, and the executioner, vroceeded to the cell of the
condemned where they were pinioned end taken to the scaffold, They were
self-possessed, and marched with a steady step to the scaffold, The
sheriff read the death warrant. They were asked if they had anything

to say and their answers were thet they were coingto meet their God,

They were placed on the trap, their legs tied, and sat 12:0 they were
launched into eternity. Lawson's neck was broken, and Fluker's,per-
hpeps on account of his light weight, was not, At 1:15 they were pro-
nounced dead and cut down, placed in coffins end buried in the grave-
yard in the rear of St. Michael's Church," PICAYUNE, New Orleans,

Le., April 8, 1893,

- whith Surrounded him, Towards the last:he manisfested considerable solicitude as to
his spiritual condition, and was attentive to the teachings of the priests and Sisters
‘of Mercy who visited him, He made confession of'his Built,"

M&% NEW ORLEANS PICAYUNE, ‘June 16, 1877

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$35) Pa TOR Bh { POOR a trogression of, WO i prerias | SC eoneeenagise tS
' asi See BETES, ela Sex “(paris Cor. New :*0% Jorld. pHs piaere le? bavinrhia
itistys oe as Se qs ea woman ig never older than S ol Boston, Oct. 7.—The busines
Pe hos - feels,” which ig to 5ay, “Older than | Democratic state convention to
¥ she thinks she is.”: Colonel A, de} ‘rere today was that of placing in nom-
py {imation 4 complete state tic

id COFFEE too...
ILE he gives to sau
1¢ has won. ee fee

ers every one,
ID elds: as aie

IW APRIL 1

80 i EF FO
‘ape to SAVE ‘HIM FROM .

aMOBLE |
HAW

zive automobile tickets 1a
7 r ticket
sh load coal and wood sa

(EEN COAL €-
re) No./113 N. ‘Commerce § Bee
Commerce, : Heautesand: ie

/-;\ Water Streets. Se ‘ ; :

RD PHONES—BELL, 1392] — 3

—

~ ard Flynn.

- Convicted of Wilful
Murder of Rich- |

Me ee ex * ’
EE ged ¥

RIL 1902

Hig INNOCENCE
TO THE LAST—STRENUOUS

RTS WERE MADE :

‘aa

b ASS

BG fe i Ee

ps NOW Orleans,
“was hanged here

¥ nn

|
'.| Brooklyn, has

.|not be issued 4
se: : “log supervisors of
Ge ETHE GALLOWS. eT By e
- — rae 3 ; : President Whip
“Oct: 7.—-Charles Foley
eo today at noon for the
““ynurder of Richard Flynd. 9) say)

Veni sia ed
eit ees

feauth:

New York, Oct.

show -cause why an

Association of America

car races upon

.{ county.
ple,

commanding him to appear.
injunction

The motion

“2 Foley was hanged for th
Richard Flynn. They were atone tim
pals in petty crimes. Flynn was
from time to time with
form. Yoley and his
believe that Flynn was “peaching

of the way 4
sard, in April, 1902, had

discovered how

“in reality 8)

@ murder of

seized

“the police, and decided to put him out

r that new

to make © \

she has liver, 10, 4
those which hav:

ilvered her hair and stole ss

€\lters, who 'b

ing at the
last Tuesday
posed -of all opposition. o

Nassau county

ON THE ROADS OF NAS-

DOUGLAS |

dential electors,

‘| platform. _ No
| platform was expected.

9¢ | presi

if!
_o {tion were:

OF HOLDING MOTOR CAR RACES

We CAESAU’. COUNTY. (43 So

‘ A SET SL. WEL 3 7 F ea s
: A . & ek a My eats
4 i ,

7—Judge Wilmot M.
Smith, of the supreme court, sitting in| Fourpaw & Sells big ¢

granted an order
injunction should

gainst the Automobile

Nassau county an-| j

nulling the privileges to hold motor
the roads ‘of Nassau

A’ subpoena was served upon
of the association,
Should an
be issued it will interfere

with the planned 300-mile race for @
K. Vanderbilt, “Jr,

the order was some-

what unexpected to the race promo-
elieved that after the hear-

they had effectually dis-

-on information given to the: police. |) 44a keting cate Mange eae dor

Foley and Flynn met on April 7 and) 2 tetas 4

down. He was convicted’ and » 8€M*|-: 23 Ota a Bate ch

tenced to be hanged Two weeks: 2&0 er oa a ree ee ae ee gea
aU ? yah ec ul

ATE FOR GOV-
E TICKET: |

Of the A
be held
ket . and
controversy over the
The names agreed upon for no . :

Wiliam L, Douglas, of Brockton, tor
id Tyee Crosby, of: Pi i

‘4. | peen friendly an

mina-

a tye et

“ STANDING

y
Pos

vee

’ SD oiane Pes te ; <a ome eek oe Fee
, ‘The many friends in Mobile of Mr.
J. M. J, Kane,. advertising man of
ircus, and for-
merly identified with Al G..,.Fields’
minstrels, will learn with ‘regret tha’
he was seriously ‘stabbed in. an alter
Cuddy Service, ‘advertis
Robinson’s shows, at New
The following accoun!
from the Newberne. dail
paper will be read’ with interest:! >
“The first tragic occurrence, 0+ circu

paugh and
the breast by
ing man for
Kane is not seriously {njured, /
wound however, ’
knife blade striking 2
a little more than. an
| heart and deflecting in an

‘\ rection following

inch from ¢
opposite
‘

long and a
man will probably suffer nothing ot}

than the nervousness and pain wh
naturally follows such attacks. °
_ “The _ cause of
pack two yearsa«

met frequently in
tion of their duties they, have had
few. encounters.: C
that the rivalry
enters but. little into’ the
quarrel being of .& “purely pers

ing to leave
vicg had gone up there to get 2°
age when they got together. |
was little said: by either men !
the: deed was
used—a small pocket knife, was
before a lick was ‘struck. “The
Knowledge.of: any of, the Jbyst: -

that Kane had been’ cut was wh
Boa 88s) slip: es ee ret ha «wt

tts-

mwaan

Sin Stine ace t

per

s
‘

Ia.)

th
Peta)
Me 74

[ore

Iams and Lathan, are, no doubt, facts to be
considered, but they are to be considered in
fhe light of the surrounding circumstances,
and, 80 considered, are explained, and do not
prove or tend to prove bad faith on the
part of the vendees, for, conceding that the
vendees were thereby put on inquiry, wae
must assume that the Inquiry, if then made,
would have resulted, as did that made by
Harmanson in 1874, in the obtention of the
assurance from the plaintift that he had long
before turned the property over to Kirk in
satisfaction of a debt Inrgely exceeding Ita
value, and that he had no claim upon ft.
The learned judge of the district court reach-
ed the conclusion that all the possessors,
from Mrs, Harmanson to the present de-
fendant, were in good faith, and we are of
the raine opinion.

The law applicable to the subject ts that
he who acquires the ownership of an im-
movable from one whom he believes to be
the owner, by a title which would be su(f-
clent to transfer the ownership ff derived
from the owner, and who holds continuous,
uninterrupted, peacenble, public, and unequly-
ocal possession thereof, ns owner, “prescribes
for it in ten yenrs"; that good faith ts al-
ways presumed in matters of prescription,
and that he who alleges bad faith In the
possessor must prove It; and that it Is guill-
clent 1f the possession has commenced itn
good faith, the fnet that it ia afterwards held
in bad falth, whether by the original possess-
or or his successor in title, not affecting the
prescription. Clv. Cods, arts. 8478, 3479,
8481, 3482, 31484, 3485, 3496: Barrow vy, WIl-
son, 38 La. Ann. 200; Pattison v. Maloney,
Td. 885; Wells’ Ex'r v. Wells, 80 La. Ann,
935; Melbaum vy, Brennan, 49 La. Ann, 680,
21 South, 853; Devall v. Choppin et al, 15
La. 566; Templet v. Baker, 12 La. Ann. 658,

For these rensons, the Judgment appealed
from is aflirmed at the cost of the appel-
lant.

(113 Lad
No. 15,220.
STATE v. FOLEY.*® -
(Supreme Court of Loulsinna. June 6, 1904.)

CRIMINAL LAW -~ IOMICIDE — RVIDENCE—RES
GESTA.—DECLASATIONS OF DECEASED.

1. The question of vos geste rests in great
Measure upon the circumstances of each ense.

2. The witness, a police officer, saw the light
of the firing, ran to the apot where the shoot-
Ing occurred, found the deceased in the mutter
near the curb, mortally wounded, and nsked
him, “Who shot you?” to which the wounded
man replied, “Foley shot me without cause or
Provocation.” °

ore any one else hnd spoken to him,

3.The reply was made after the two police
officers ran about 400 feet: that is, from where
they stood to the place of the shooting.
While the declaration was not immedintely
concurrent with the act, it was made within a
very short space of time—the time it takes to

es ee

“ie tRehearing donted June 20, 1904.
4 1

STATE vy, FOLEY,

§85

run 400 feet—and It excludes all idea or ap-
pearance of design,

Declaration of a person rince deceased tm ad-
missible, provided it is made so soon after the
act as to preclude the conclusion that it was
mnde to fix the act on the defendant or to arsiat
in his arrest,

The statement has every appearance of one
made rpontaneously, and prompted by the con-
dition in which the deceased was found.

The added words, “shot me without eauae or
Provocation,” are words thnt one may utter
without settled intention to fix the act or to
cause arrest.

“Tf, after
death, the defendant or the wounded man
ninkes a rntatement while the heat of ft In on,
though after a Inpse of a period not definable in
minutes, yet before there has been time to re-
flect and pion, tt Is ndmissible.” Bishop's New
Crim, Procedure, § 1086.

The adjudications of Inte years have not been
{n the direction of restricting statements made
under the circumstances of this case,

(Syllabus by the Court.)

Appeal from Criminal District Court, Par-
ish of Orleans; Frank D, Chrétien, Judge,

Charles Foley was convicted of murder,
and appeals. Affirmed,

Joseph Edward Generclly and Warren
Doyle, for appellant. Walter Guion, Atty.
Gen., Chandler Clement Luzenberg, Dist.
Atty., and Samuel A. Montgomery, Asst. Dist.
Atty., for the State. .

BREAUX, ©. J. The defendant was char-
ged with murder by taking the Hfe of Rich-
ard Flynn on the 7th day of April, 1902.

He was tried, and found guilty as charged,
on the 16th day of December, 1903.

From the verdict of the jury finding him
gullty as charged, and from the sentence
of the court condemning him to suffer the
penalty of death, he appeals to this court.

The learned counse) for defendant having
made the question res geste vel ,non the
ground of defense, and, in consequence, the
ground to be specially reviewed on appeal,
we tnke up that issue,

Roth the prosecuting oMcer and the coun-
sel for defendant agree In the etntement, sus-
tained by the jurisprudence of this court,
that the question of res geste must be
determined according to the circumstances of
ench case,

We gather from the transeript that on the
night of the shooting which resulted in the
death of Flynn the two police oficers who
were near the locality of the shooting beard
shots and saw them fired, and after the first
two shots which were flred—one iJmmedlt-
ately following the other—they ran to the
place where the shooting occurred, and to
the place where the wounded man lay. To
quote from the narrative of the bill of ex-
eeptions:

“The witness anw the entire affray from the
moment that the first flash was acen, and up to

the time that he renched the wounded man no
one had reached the scene.”

They were 400 feet away when they saw

the light of the shots. The testimony is that

the encounter which will end tn’

se Sess a SS

a
Se a

ee =
SS eS Se

tinued from page 58) and warm them-
's with hot coffee. After this rest period,
returned to their seats and the trip was

inued,

the bus left the city limits of Ironton,

wo youths who had almost missed the

began drinking -openly from a bottle
iskey and arguing in loud voices. Their
age became both obscene and profane.

op that kind of talk,” ordered ‘ the -

r. “Can’t you see there are. women
shed : ? 4

en the pair ignored. his request, Still-
added, “Stop that talk' and put that
away or get off!” .., 4 i
that, the older and bigger of the two

a revolver from his pocket. and shot
gh the floor. :Rising from his ‘Seat, he
several bullets through the lower por-
f the driver’s seat and announced in a
voice, “I’m takin” charge here. I’m

give the orders from ‘now ‘on... I’m
in’ this bus):see.°: ‘An’ my brother,
, will keep the rest of! you in line!”

younger man now rose and stood in
aisle where he could watch all of the
igers. His» hand was’ in: his coat
t and no one could tell whether or not
1 a gun. Aas aie iMate ;
elder brother. smashed the bottom
in empty whiskey bottle and held'the
edge against the ‘bus driver’s neck
ordered; more speed:-or--less speed.
imes, he thrust his own foot against
celerator, and frequently he empha-
is remarks ‘by banging the butt of
tol down on Stillwell’s head.
erately, the . experienced _ driver
with the careening ‘vehicle: The
laughing and shouting tormentor
to have a gift for increasing speed at
st dangerous points, getting a thrill
empting Death. Above:them towered
le hillsides and ‘in’ the darkness be-
ured the broad cold waters of the
ver. Pb Re Bee
vell gravely ‘doubted: whether: any-
uld escape from -the Plunging bus
it should leave the road.
vheels skidded repeatedly on patches
r moisture, and each time he swung
; back onto the pavement, but the
d blows on his head were increas-
difficulties. He found himself fight-
dizziness, .double vision, and un-
isness as he struggled heroically to
lives of his Passengers.
voman with the child had shielded
' boy with her own body when the
; Started. Now Stillwell could hear
ying. And he fervently hoped God
ening,
> coming to some bad curves. Please
low down,” Stillwell pleaded as the
>ded along toward Hanging Rock.
ars were more than justified. The
e cliff rises 400 feet at this scenic
erhanging the road. The highway
ukes a number of abrupt turns in
hrough the old iron furnace yards,
cliff, and under the Norfolk &
Railroad tracks, It suddenly juts
e stream for what is on clear days
icent view of the waterway once
La Belle Riviére (the beautiful
early French explorers. Then the
inges down into the valley. Nor-
penty miles an hour is top sveed

The Wayward Bus

felt the blood coursing down his neck. The
drink-crazed madman had pressed the sharp
glass fragments against his neck, causing a
Sweat poured into Stillwell’s
eyes, and his teeth clenched as he ap-
proached the tricky S-curve underpass at

series of cuts.

the railroad,

The wildly swinging arc of the headlights
picked out fences, neat homes, roadside oil
lines, darkened service Stations, gas wells,
three-room shacks, and once the white and
Startled' face of a pedestrian as the heavy
automobile swung from side to. side while

the tires hissed and sang on the bricks.

The driver was certain they would plunge
into the river, but he kept on battling for
After a nightmare series of skids
and a senseless, jumbled view of kaleido-
scopic lights, abutments, tracks and whirl-
ing roadway, the big bus, as though by a
The highway ahead

control,

miracle, swung clear.
was now comparatively easy to follow.

God must have been listening, Stillwell
decided, as he once again became conscious

CHILLY
Not long ago, Dorothy Snow, Omaha,
Nebraska, filed suit against Fred Snow.
Her attorney, Frank L. Frost, pre-
sented the cold facts. —c, w, Golden

‘The armed man began to lose interest in

the straight route ahead. He again fired

bullets through the floor and at random in
the direction of his fellow Passengers. Then
he announced, “I’m goin’ to shoot every war
vet on here. Then I’m gonna drive the bus
and the rest of you into this damned river!”

“You're first!” He shouted and waved his
gun at the driver. “Only, I don’t wanna

shoot you sittin’ down. You gotta stand up!” °

In order to stand, Stillwell was forced to
stop the bus—a procedure that seemed to
go unnoticed by the berserk would-be exe-
cutioner, But this, happening in a matter of
Seconds, turned the trick, for the moment
the vehicle rolled to:a stop, the passengers
rushed the drink-maddened pair and after a
brief but violent Struggle, both bandits
were disarmed and flung off onto the road.

The driver then continued on about one-
half mile to an all-night garage at Wheelers-
burg, a suburb of Portsmouth and some
thirty miles from Huntington.

The crazy pair, who had shanghaied the
motor transport, together with its operator
and passengers, made no effort to escape.
They staggered along the same road traveled
a few minutes earlier by the bus and walked
into the garage where they were immedi-
ately seized. rar one

Deputy Sheriff Burl Justice of Scioto
County took them into custody. His investi-
gation revealed that they: had fired fourteen
shots into the bus.

When the horrified, residents of Wheel-
ersburg heard the Passengers’ harrow-
ing stories of the trip that had brought them
so close to death, they gave the Griffith
brothers a well-merited beating. Officers
from the sheriff’s department then spirited
the no-longer Swaggering, but thoroughly
frightened pair, away to jail.

Stillwell, the driver, was hospitalized. He
sustained multiple head injuries, neck
8ashes, and severe loss of blood. A pas-
senger, Lawrence Steele of Cincinnati, was
treated ‘for a broken nose. Stillwell’s con-
dition was described as. “very weak.”

For a critical time, it seemed that night
of horror might result in the driver’s death
and the vandals would then have been
charged with manslaughter or murder.

((FEICERS learned the two bus hijackers,

Hobart Griffith, twenty-six, and Ralph
Griffith, twenty-one, had roomed at Hunt-
.ington,. West Virginia, where they were
employed. Wheelwright, . Kentucky, was
their home city. The elder brother had
been released from a veterans’ hospital only
a month before. ”

The sturdy, thirty-six-year-old driver
ultimately recovered. Hobart Griffith then
was: permitted to plead ‘guilty to. assault
with a deadly weapon and received a three-
to thirty-year term in the Mansfield re-
formatory. After pleading guilty to assault
with intent to kill, Ralph. was sentenced to
from one to fifteen years in the same penal
institution. .

At the hospital. Stillwell commented, “I
don’t know how we got through the sharp
S-curve underpass at Hanging Rock. Boy,
I thought that was the end.”

A male traveler added, “I still dream
about those skids and the river down below.
We were lucky to have an expert and plucky
driver.”

Only the two-year-old Passenger re-
mained completely unconcerned about his

.midnight ride with Death that night, along

the fast-flowing Ohio.

asst. *

The Last Two Miles

(Continued from page 19) on the conten-

tion that a second trip to the chair would :

October soon came and the United States
Supreme Court in 2 five ctn tren 8.

and set the date for his execution as May
9th, exactly one year from the day of his
scheduled second trip to the chair.

Thus it was that on May 9th, 1947, at about
one o’clock in the afternoon, Willie Francis,
now eighteen, walked the second of his last
two miles—only this time he did not come
back. a

Willie’s strange reprieve and subsequent
death established a precedent in the annals
of American criminal ‘jurisprudence. For
never before had any man sat in the elec-
tric chair with the current passing thranch

(Continued
had escaped
From a freig
1920’s for wh
term, he had t
armed robbe:
and internatic
cept for an ei:
he drew in C
mine charge, !

‘talents in fur

istence.

The womar
revealed, had
ter who, unt
path, had bee
affidavit whic
Agents, she bi
pose of a we
the girl into
addiction and
she became a
was wrecked

The Agents
finished, the
together. with
gathered, were
partment,
ton, D. C
Commissioue:
were begun of
end to Linvi
punishment.

From the sun
Arizona, to th:
British Columb
ing on the theo:
might prove to
a leathery-face
lean frame was
ing and coughi
city early in
through the te:
Talbott, he rem:
ing his associat
recital which v
as stories of hi
French Foreign
on fact.

All the while
man kept manei
with the one n
knew could be c
Henry Warren,
the Southwest
Canada, and wh.
start in the ne
over to him his

T WAS for th
been chosen
international c
eventually the f
bott’s way. Bef<

was on such
the latter “i
long chats inc.
racket. From th
convince Warre:
Talbott, would
start wholesale
At length, W
him to Linville,
operator in the |
“But you’d bet
“They play roug!

If at First

THE CELL IN THE JAILHOUSE at New Iberia, Louisiana, was
square, drab, and depressing. There was a putrid smell about
it, the legacy of a few addicts and countless alcoholics. A pipe
leading to the seatless toilet leaked, and the water angled off
to find shelter where the bars fitted into the cement floor.

The boy in the cell looked older than seventeen, but seven-
teen was all he was. He appeared lanky, bony, and angular,
with his hundred and fifty pounds stretched out over a five
foot ten inch frame. His feet and hands were big, out of
proportion to the rest of him. He wore his thick black hair
cropped close, and a large, well-formed lower lip, set off by
ears which stood out from his head, made the smile sardonic,
not necessarily expressive of his nature but merely twisted
into shape by the natural curve of the shy and awkward
mouth.

His name was Willie Francis. He may even have been
christened that. But in any case, everyone knew him as Willie.

The newspapers said he was an illiterate Negro. As a matter
of fact, he could read and write, and he thought clearly, if
not entirely in an organized manner. But he suffered from one
defect which caused him untold agony. He stuttered.

It was May 2, 1946. A Thursday night. Outside, the town-'

folks were thinking ahead to the weekend and listening to the
radio news of Mr. Justice Jackson’s cross-examination of the
Nazi war criminals in Nuremberg. Willie was thinking ahead
to the weekend too, but he wasn’t interested in news from
abroad. His was a tight little world—no longer, no broader,
no higher than his cell. This will be a mighty short weekend,
he thought.

Gilbert Ozeene padded up to the cell and looked through,
but Willie, standing at the barred window, hardly noticed.
Ozeene was sheriff of Iberia Parish, an oddly shaped Louisi-

IF AT FIRST 77

ana “county” fronting on Vermillion Bay, just off the Gulf of
Mexico.

“Would you like anything to eat or drink, Willie?”

Willie looked away from the window and nodded. He
said he wanted something good to eat.

The sheriff went out and bought the best steak he could
find and some ice cream and cake. Willie took the food grate-
fully and sat on the cot with the tin plate balanced on his
knees. He solemnly ate every bit of the food, staring at it
and thinking about it to keep his mind away from the week-
end that wouldn’t happen. He found he could cut his thoughts
off from the following day—since he was not clear as to
exactly what would take place—easier than he could from
the indelible events of the last year and a half.

He remembered what a stir had been created in St. Martin-
ville back in November, 1944, when Andrew Thomas had
been found murdered. Willie was only fifteen at the time. St.
Martinville, with its population of about four thousand, was
eight miles due north of New Iberia and over the line in
St. Martin Parish. Andrew Thomas was a popular St. Martin-
ville druggist who lived on the main highway. He had come
home from work one night and put his car away. As he
stepped away from the garage, he was shot five times by
someone standing in the shadows. One bullet crashed through
his right eye, two more entered under his right armpit, and
the last two struck the center of his back as he spun around.

' When the police found him stretched out in the driveway,

a watch and a wallet containing four dollars were missing
from his clothes.

Harold Resweber, sheriff of St. Martin Parish, working
closely with the state police, searched fruitlessly for months,
following up every hunch, every tip, every possible thread
that might lead to the killer. A neighbor of Thomas’s said
the shots had wakened her, and she had seen a car parked
in front of Thomas’s house with its lights on, but no trace of
the car could be found. Resweber’s one break came
when a city employee, clearing away the tall grass a short
distance from Thomas’s house, found a pistol which had been
stolen from the car of one of Resweber’s deputies a few
months before.

In the meantime, an unrelated search had been going on
in Port Arthur, Texas, two hundred miles southwest of St.
Martinville. The chief of police of Port Arthur and several
of his men were waiting at a railroad station to meet a man
they suspected of carrying illegal narcotics. When the man

Barrett Prettyman, Jr.

RE gta e+

AVON BOOK DIVISION
The Hearst Corporation
572 Madison Avenue
New York 22, N.Y.

S47

77
a

Lei

SUT

TeTTTA

Cen
Ls

FRANCIS,

Willie,

SHOCKING STORY OF ONLY MAN
WHO SURVIVED ELECTRIC CHAIR

elec. Las(3t.

it tickied —

but then nag dl pus

brain was

° ° oa
rf iy ad att
& @ Gi mm?” - : 7h ‘ ;
, a. i A
»

Sreathe: ft

i know what
it’s like to die in the
electric chair? It’s the

worst thing in the world. .}
:

It’s the end of every-

thing and it’s the begin: [ «

ning of hell.”

Willie Francis was
just 17 years old when
he whispered those
words to Capt. E. Foster
of the St. Martin Parish
Penitentiary in St. Mar-
tinville, La.

A few seconds before,

a jarring current had |

jolted through Willie’s
body as he sat in a

portable electric chair in |},

the jail’s death room
that bright spring morn-
ing of May 3, 1946.

In last. week’s NBC

Sunday Night Movie, >i
Witness To The Execu- ~
tion, viewers saw acon- .
demned man die inthe f

f ‘wiligFrancisYaced| *
chalrig'second tne
“it over. T'wanted’ them’ ‘to

get it over with. I want-
-ed to die.

chair.

But that was fantasy, .

designed to boost net-
work ratings. It bears
little relation to the real-
ity of death in the chair
as Willieknewit. <>.
He was supposed to
have received around
1,900 volts, enough to
burn him like bacon and
his terrified eyes
right out of their sockets
and onto his cheeks.

54 ut a broken wire .

short-circuited the chair,
and Willie Francis only
got a fraction of that
amount. Later, he’d say:

“It tickled. It tickled
some. But then I felt
like my brain was on

fire and I couldn’t

breathe.
“I screamed at them to
let me breathe. I wanted

* WIEK'S,*©

a
<

——

NB MOM:

- “The chair does’ things
to a man. It’ stops time.

‘Every second ;in“the
chair feels like | ‘an ‘hour,
‘every minute is a day.

‘And ‘at the end ‘of’ ‘it

there is only:the’pain:
vand:your fingers hang- ~

ing: onto ‘the edge of
nothing.” behets

Willie Fraiicis"’ ‘was:
taken from the death
room-and helped back to

‘his: cell, where a priest:
came in-and'talked to
chim “about “Jife’and°

death.

“Ubeat it, ‘didn’t, Fa-
‘ther? T beat t the electric

# The priest. nodded. Be

» “TIeain’t never ae

Martinsville) May 9, 1947

: Meat
SS usaAen” 40% hue”

back,” Willie said.
‘Willie was 15 when he
was found guilty of the
murder of druggist An-
drew Thomas. Willie
shot him five times with
a stolen gun, then took a
watch and $4 from the
man’s body. He later
ees the watch for
“He was captured i in
Port Arthur, Texas, and
sentenced to death, Af-
ter‘two years on death
row, he was led to his
first execution.
“I-couldn’t eat - nothing
that morning,” Willie
said: “But the night be-
fore, Sheriff Ozeene
brung me a’steak and
icecream. I never hada
. steak:like that before, or
the ice cream, and I ate
‘allof it.~ bat
“After I’d eaten, ‘I
‘thought: ‘Well; 17 is
kinda: young: to die.’
‘Then’I said to Sheriff
Ozeene: ‘IT guess. ‘Tm
sa ced
da stub of pencil
and I wrote on the wall:

“glas KILL: ANDREW

THOMAS AND TODAY
. HE'IS LYING IN THE
GRAVE I WONDER
: WHERE I AM:GOING

National pyaminer Feb 22, 1994

TO BE LYING AND IN
WHAT ‘KIND OF
GRAVE I. DON’T
KNOW.’”

Willie Francis was
prepared for death. But
not for the ordeal that
lay ahead.

After the first attempt
to kill him, the authori-
ties bickered for a while,
then decided to kill him
a second time.

0. May 8, 1947,
Willie Francis’ was

strapped into the same

chair, and this time he
was hit by the full 2,000
volts.

Willie’s eyes sought
out people he knew in
the witness room as the
current hit him. -He
arched his body against
the restraining straps
and a smell of smoking
flesh filled the room.

The current cut off.
Then slammed through
the chair again.

But the second jolt
wasn't needed.

Willie Francis’ eyes
were already staring

-into eternity.

This time there would
be no going back.

wales ch
‘is cratt

bow was
and. 4 wong

re 7

te footera, penthe
stomally the old racing,
Oo owhert and a

invariably comes

hour. A few days &
was made by Mr. -
up the \
-The N

mission, ,
it will he over the:
cé of fifteen miler. and
nsidcradl

tank

loa OHSS. oO
HeERk ALBIN'S SIMULTANEOUS PLAY.
Heer Adolf Albio, theVienva chess maestto,

ve @ Bao display of peripatetic chess at the
Cheas, Checkers

neously
players

Pp. Fournier?
<A, dames
Fred G,

Fie had ecreatern
acing bit ai us
being. as follows:

. £. a. Mitchells
ret; 8. das. @ ‘
ecet: T, No B, Tatar: 5. I. &. Fourchy: %

Wr. A. Taebaty; 14. gudge Jeon L. Labatt,

1, Chas. E, Patthan: 12. tfients TPT, Dungeon,

Ks. Jan:es A. wi 24. Al. H, Hono, WM,

Wm. Lenderact: MJP Fase, Lt Wala.

actos.

Of these,- ten were vietiny of. the visiting |
hnnaters shill, | while four wher mates

iat, Vaul
aod tires
Blanchard.

Measure. BE. P. Fournier, A)
Fourchy and Judge ob. ob. Labatt,
rew thele gawes. gainely, daa. G
Wr. Regdersop and Mood. aaa.
Herr Albin, ft should le added, | took 0
pretty lieavy eomirac: on lis bands ine dala
Lahate’a’ panies: for he nereed ts defend the
Kirana samtat, in the athech ef which the
judge Is an acknawiedged savant, Mey Phere:
Aibin sags he is be! wotricd over the result
that partiealar game. j ;
MP his afierioon and eventig the Viena i
ert will eouteat aff hand. whence againel # :
comers, and on Testa evetdne he wth give,
a moat Interesting scun' © of vtimdtold play
aimultafeousiy vente lig fe ancl ee
agsinal groups of plugera Jo eonsull 0a
each of the boatis. :
THK MING,

A LIVELY IGT.

Kansas aity. Maren Stoo Fire padred os at
aparta congresatet af S1PAU yer CeHOM Ratha
forty iniled frony tere, poatay @ad witnessed a

fively tae-tourd fig: perween Coit Veardna,
tne “inape BIA” arude( ioc key De tourkertt:
a Kansas (ify figater, Sie Kod wae awarded
A fWa comlees ; : ee
Jy the fred tenad thes vad
a@ iieely rate Cactaag ou’ :
opponent oo atinder oe thy. nate jet oe Ey
gong sounded, sod trare]n tered fo The nee,
ond tesmd De Louenerty & 1a Top tined ta een,
matter. fu akivd 4 realy ewig MF Gant
pers jaw ard wie OF hel letie cm exeation!
opening for ihe tid, The Jatios tye ateaotege:
rot it acd iiudet a MaarT Atom tader yy
Loagherty # batt: fattowtrg It up with & fer
rife lett ating au Tue da, atch wart ‘olan
down atet ol. De Longer ty wae tor nae lere

pevel rogttera at
ste bea HL ay hie

throwith

kiioywn
wmypar treet

ENpeged. anrube

fret
fs paki typ

Sbupobty

cone fee B49 a mice

‘2

Frevably be

For the Fall Into Eteenity, Destined
: for Frauk\Fullers oe

The Wife Murderer Has H
yes “Deoth Warrant,

But the Cupola Will

dof the

‘eccwesaveccsenepnntemenismmnanan, i

And Noes Not Think the Next World
| Can Be Any Worse:
“Than This.
i a eit

The probabilities are that Frank Fuller,
the negro whe mosderedd tis avtte. shot

“tia sistevan- law wud tried ta kit dbtiuself,.

will have the distinettion, tf euch it mele
he eafied, Of being the: Ayst: man fo ‘get.
lils neck broken hin the walle of the
dew parlkh prison. se. ee
This hanging, ds to taky place on. the
1th of the month, aie feversor hang
waned the death: warrant fo that effects.
Prauk Padier at will be reaembered,
about the nite of Mbrvely a year aay,
dhot dis wife. “This. teak opitiee: in Care
sfitan, Where Pabier jived, PES osthte te.
in daw alee becebved a Datleg, wbhict, tow:
aver, Was put rerrbhde: aie Che lee
witiell enrerede hiss wife's body, endushigs
fystant death. One the Kine Dit, rank,
fear of arrest of some. ether
baie, Attempted fa shoot hinselt, Wits
devoted ws the iieeline murderer and on
fe Vth of Mateh wax locked up dn the
piriety prison, where heobas sluice been:
eamhned, :
Aw Poulter seem deatioud tu be the
fret oan Whe WHE hinge im the new
(oh SES shai TL A bi Ne of the
or @ wm yeseteradagv ether ' :
Sie Mb do da nid Rees nee ane
goy ap ficve Jord seit feu Pha Wit fin aie h
footimgencien, faptila Mchay, fine wel
Jal keeper Gurdbatty invited the
coitha othe predicts cif tha
pieked aot a tty busch
heys nd oe dioped the
fritieee: Phen ae tet H
theaveb phe pattey dending Geom thy
euro Np od Vygis af oeparhead
Nessa tlie Pepopretr Wa ishiered
cote way. dpe te oot the
pitfon 1) Sa. Bae t bee pate. if te Mie ae
! es price la. perhipae Ty: teat

ill

tf fitgo Pesos
fentiog fe
Ue fee |

bape. P Tv

| “Joseph” nt the Academy.

Felix Flutgerhy. E foe
Major Horance

Thomas Chadwell. ...c.-
Joseph, Flutterby. cress
How, Dick Glossop, sees
arela. ear
Constance Flatterby

The French faek. In four acts diy Leon,
Fauditiat, and. made Into English by
Malcoiin Watson, of London the same
tlint tlekled Netw York for a long tutes
wae precented at the Academy of Music

nv, Josepl, the younk

tinployer, and: distant rehitive, Fells
Fiutterby, soa
laa, fn a wayeowho tas
seminary, aid be Just

qotist take her away, dite: bachetor home

marry hee of. fhe thinks: of Joseph;
dresses bin up and sends hint to see his
thingiiter. Ces tanner, the danghter, fs a
romantic voung gith ati he all ro
lhotdie wot wil
hor affertions on a wild ak ws feked man,
fisiead oof oom a '

is wa ostupid uraltveeddias, Bho. cesxolven Lo
make doseple Walt for hha ankwer for a
dayoar ao,

and be fares at Padding ton,
where tiie seminary

Chadwelt, ote
leokgie, seg DIM ‘and nhhes you toch ym
visteotive We evyuifosmen bela ty Tove,
whe thinks with bers Kver ‘Rosana: the
arivant, deawws aipen the goed nature of
deo what He cat

whoa she

arbi ttertiy ta her :

chewiow tom aod gawk ey

rks |

taxt night... oseph’? {8 delightfully fin
man, is a poor
iverwoarked) elork, “knowing yeching bart:
‘eork. He fx Innocent 08 &@ fanb, bat bbs:

man of the world-a fast [|
a dangbter at al
notified that hep ot
ig not a nt plabe for her, and, he must |
ream. OF

she wints to favish:
jou une ke Joseph.” Re a
Me las cheatd #f Josephs aiid thinks he}

dee Mere Amelia:
tlie Anti Matrimonial,

wack’,

petit
MVETOUR:
band gal

hovee, tt
from” the
Anois,”

led bs tin

in meas
Drought 0
he cane:

prograntn
mart

Mirtetie.
‘Hitmgay
ayetwe.
Liseto 8

SOLAS
hatechma

SWhirhy

Pb Hanesr

eVirenm«

VE a oe

Tebauilt . Dt Wee
a OB Otlipbent, M. D.;
D. ry

245

a ¥ my . M. 3) a Cooram, y
ie ew - cm oe . og ; : , "A Richa ’ M. D. 4 M. at :
; teets & Lh oe * sAtiay. H. BH. Menage, M. D.; 4.

Paller’s Celine,

Frank Fuller suffered thé death penalty
for the murder of Henrietta G ardinb:. ¥
= ; ‘tps ; a | wa Ths crime was comrultted at Onrretits
we y ae oe eat } B SO “ae as! March 5, 1804, fu a frout room of id
oy a, : ite 1 oF MY ; ; Gabrici’s dwelling, at the
wif! firs nif * \ 3 ‘ll a, <a: Yourth and Burdette streets. The MAH | gs

ea Bs ae as Be Ke a excuse for the deed waa that he had 7
proof# of Heurictta’s infidelity. bat the
evidence of witnesses for the state
tended to show that jealousy, following
froyuent quarrels and two attempts! =
Filles. to tarenten te eit te Oe hed
“nller. to threaten to , a

ly betore. the

a ee ae a > ae: a ee ee,
. > ae es Ra
é ® . sa

th on Se OCea = Peters

. ng, 8 er, causiog her to leave }

THE CHAPEL. F nme and take up her abode @jth 3s

i wi simsbineeneetineetenemameii ae ne mR ft a

ri ind to Fuller looked pleased when 9 committee At nightfall on March 5, ¥ ae

byef who eS an te Bere of colored men vealed and informed him | at the door of Ida Gebehet's Reeah .

Cents by a reporter, The | that his friends In Carrollton, in con- | when she Gnewered the & oad

‘poibleng o¢ th. hays woke the condemned | junction with many others in various | that Puller wan excited and tong
ea parts of the city. hed made up a collec- ake tried to omer him away,

t maz Captain McKay.” Ful-| tion for the purpose of giving him 4 | into the front where |

nuatie. decent burial. This committeo wan com> | Gardiner was seated, con

Pose you fooling this lovely | posed of Undertaker W. D, Bhodes, | two colored visitors, and wit

Bow eres age onsen apley, Bobi of warning he opened Gre at
everenks” Ceptsin MeKey ask yak Fale Dickson and |a revolver, Bbe atiompted
: be a} Seveph, Jim Bukor, B. M. Dicksoo Salew cnet b 7 to

t fine.
. pit?’ | jee

uel to out und walk & at felt length across the att ot f
neta iiekes. 7 i ame OM r The visitors hasteved away,

ti attend if & wetr of jeans tend
yas nadie white abirt nud red by = agg a.
oe Ware &. per oan be emed the

oe & the bandage alent

wat : an his request cleared of ail

a ¥ ie toldow Bag 3 3 gg = reason to be

. Pare ’ ’ b ked to Fuller,

git ' : y Avaggeod 6 near a wi ‘
» “ a ‘4 ie , 4 ;

: ne Skreened vikiih a? | , Seals

are Be oe Be

jae ag fhe 7 Uh ghia
wh In the: eec~. i a} oe
te itined ta tesh nme Alvida. pte
a heavy owing at Garit- tgoobr
do Bley le iy Pape doend bo eae fatiow, hit ORE nae a
, ar adiesoteqe POSE theta the pa vee : : fen
“paary Liow winter : ie fret Bone ie a Neading freee the the -howse of
4 irs ey uk. Stats of crooked We tite
‘following It up With @ ter- Btulrwuys, and the REAR Chadwell.
L iwiog. oa the taw,-weleh sent dim |. inte thy 1 eo erkanie co uid STE ushered | 44 9 dilemma,
4 out. De Longberty wes tocnerions | rupli, | the hicks ede Ube top Of UNO ate te ble. COUL |
git wend for $500 @ vice | prison. This: Hacleat | part of\ the BENT prutterby makes ve te ner te
Garinoe Weighed 120 | Bytare, ie he pice Ia. perlape i> fect | ohewing gum nnd KAWKY,: euines next,
dew coded erougt the ses wittt aephalt.\eel UPD and Joseph te obliged to bide aiid expralh
DL way. which ly hashes bite a! an operuatebs 7 until, he: t# corneted, aud Chongdt b all
raceme Alc ark ve otto, 1a Oe a a te ae a of ees te
shore, Pa. ) ond i wo | height of, pertrym, 2 feet,” eaches to AT the hand of Constance, or of securing the.
pera: Pee ary tain, Mon | URE Uh gs Gr La one | atte wei mae at | aa
it tor & HY at atch welfitea before the | Yety tapmost part oft: the ety te ie ? cor, Inhecen grep + ; f ae TRI + 4
. Ulu, heels 1, | the forth side o EG MEERIBEES On Lpothing wrong, and Is a victint of elrcam-
Rotate Etans of ieeans an ay fo | RC wey cide, ecm ang Pog | Seamer IND cones ad, that |
; finish. Both are local mee with some ; ondenined coils, As | who belleved everyting, bad that has:
ation. Mea wh ees ry walgod (hata Mat in th hun [been sald nbout Joseph, aud delights io}
nn meal “A from the batie o ty a. hinge he is taken | his wildness, and ‘insists upon. marrying
THE ‘RIFLE. TD earriedto these “de piss vid eonstal Heore and | him; and Mr. Flutterby, suddenly cone
aa ome Tee: Rel Ge wratkmnut eacuicde hue am ee which | cludes that, he saute the Chadwell hl ne
souTe “B WINS i he Tanith adie Cairath self, nod the way is clear for Joke y fa a
A ROUTH MAN Che WIN’ 2 ceiaoed: diatribe won cpio cee Metiay, | be happy. AU the fun of Mhgoneph'" ix Pati nslaes
esterday at the Gobthera Hise Club's range | Poam not venta : tahe place here. | clean. lt ja suggeative, Frenehily: but heh seen
was a gheod hethvecs the) Sureka, Yolun- | no other piace eitety the re-seenis to be | always aparkling and bright, ‘and full af There Ag @
and Sovtbere Clules. ‘Phe ontest waa wou | this purpoge.!! Cau be utilized. for nughte tt yes, is ar lear ed shat shark
ae aitaa akioe : She array Gar Aiton, Ww a sep, 18 we ‘ous mora
be ipsa Pm | de “nh fe. Pelavo QN7 Henan So when he first heard of] to the part, and Sir. ‘Thos. S. Whe, FAT tation ahs
eae ay . My hat inson ‘AS: Jno. | tion of Fuller cing Kikned for the e#xeeu. | dolly. actor, is jn n genial part as Mina: will never '¢
ae 300 eggs ORE : Matter gue, | ter af ow! valle ti conmider the mat. | Chadwell's brother, who adda to the con-
. . . ‘ vous <The 5 ee ae wy’
. Miller 2M, Joo. Hullinger 213, (han. seemed be

goon ae the officlal annetncement tas re-

eater <ite. This courtway } plications Dy comer an to Leone on on pis iM ke 4
< f : ) Sbekinger | fgg sr tadopred for the purpose. own necown ia have” 8 Je. fun | in New: Yor
B. wae ie Gamare 900. Jus. Sebinge GPa glen AN AME bl ay Ad Of the jaind finds Amelia being nnesed off As] began a we
trehas--F. Biertost 201, H. Melt, 272. Wf whe tad bullding no speci provision somebody. else. Mr, Geo. olling makea |
hater 203, A. Ville 204. t. Crain 201. 8° Whowever na AE hengines, Sherif! Klick, guite. a hit ae the dude who has: joat his.
oran 27%, BM. Cetleln 27. Geo. Frencn 2) RY pear is pretty weit satisfied that thin. bye-gianses and in his blindacas , tunker
Latapie Bez, Ih Seheckler | 270, 0. Kragé ¢ thaoghs will Cirnish a suitable place, love to the lady. president of tht seminary:
wd. Biervat , total 3298. ae ane yet he has not. iade any ar: Instead of Constance.” 2 % alles of the
oluuteerzs4. M. Falk 405, G. Bauer 29), Shegmnts for the seccasion, aad will not caat are all good, Miss | hitty te: quite.
| Basrols 305, C. Gibson 2sh. mil he has ‘reteived attietal nated Hib strong. as Amelia, and Mins Redding ia
203, W. Plapebard 286, W, bite for the banging from the governor T fine as the sewinary keeper, Miss Blanche
p. Joo. Dupgac 248, so Bartz Sed, Jas, Brandt Having. seen the spot. where Fuller is ayaa eta id phar ans eRe dea a bare
iB, total 313%. Fd a destined to pay The pe word : store Constance, and Miss Brooks, does 4
LO heer pagrna, cng ee LV the reporter: waked ae OF as crime, | fine bit of character acting, sacrificing
— REPCBLAS T MBAGUERS | show him Muller. plain McKay to | ber personal hesuty by paring the un: | faxbion whl
thea ae tu ae ty i oo. gainly Srsea. © oseph’ should draw goo ON aes
fi | tak the ‘wear ones | aut lie eenbuneunie down stales again,’ sald | houses Muriag the, week If there ace ads oe so

eo rete

“As soon as the officia ; . eue 6 weg re RR e) with constde

Cleveland, Ohio. SU ated SEI lik rene realy Mare wi a aod: itnce an pears wae Pepi rtih

‘gy aed 12 ‘@ Fuller brought to this. fluor: and J: Previous to the, actlon nt ffosenh fee rg:
.—Pres racy | ¢ ; : :

Bich, Mazen te rcetie Repub: Pee acats nig of (thoae cells For the }4 little curtain raiser, catied “Pardners,””. Prine TRAE.
bp National League. toalay presented | where. he he ver. be retains bis old cell, | wae played for the frst thine. on cany night, The
e following call for the next -apuual | moved He law been ever since we re. [.steme, tt was given with thia- cast’ / 1tpse, ala ut
BAprention of the league: ahs Sates the old parish: prison.” Tian) Ciubingsy ss eeonke ea The A. Wike genuine ap

To, the Kepublican State Leagues. | Bara AA iisa bi MOL Barly pariah. | Kubs:cccescdeatinateocars cc Mrs With Marks play is” ren

ggue Clubs aad All Republicans: In | PF son are separate: from (he whtie quar Gree 3 Arhicts

Sp ae : Philip Harper, Vabecieee Me. Garrison Ball
Brypliance with @ prosisivh ‘of thy cou poters. | Following Captatn MeKay through | Gertrude Ainaworth.«.. Mise Gertrude Whitty Bre perbap

ftutiom of the Repulitcan National Beveral barred and barrheadedt odours, poop el a; % :
eague. & aApbuAL COnyen> whieh were opetied with ors. | Kirby and: Cushing are ‘piners, long- ‘former asau

‘ other great, : ee AY or ie iy | BOD, AW
dere meting Aa00h1 S00: | pene tokluge me hog ess bicaune | tle enh A tar of, the pias 36th | Ree to ‘ado
one ef the last nat ne} convention at p man soon found himself avithin oa “very veut liat t ath ja jolly and tries t vt re great spirit
benver, the eighth aadual couvéntbon of Sie cine duets athe barred calls’ aw lik “4 dil Ki ee 1 ‘i “saad a Se at sy very. takin ,
ts @ Htupubiicas Satin League, United pvither side, little” streams of Hight enter: agi Sauatly Tell hia nearer ne siney An “of Ma
i ns Th » Wren aed ah ‘ ae i ek. : q Pe

teen 4. dalled Je iaetagediine ne He ier ad the top. -All of the cells [| digmial as the storm, and shows a pietire

gOS, wt ‘selock| #. Ids, AN COW He Fernie eS are reserved for pot his. wife. who rau away. froin bim
ta aeaalonk V ibReA, 1h La eleane ee are are supposed | sears @key taking his Sn Gah elite
it ia proposed to-take three | ine row af protected.’ dn the iniddle of [| in the pietire with hin. Vhew the story |
eye for this enprention. #6 Unt there row of celia ctw were fount oceu- je told there isa” ety. for Ixtaper | seepe, mn M
nay he simple time fora full fin usnien pied, the others being empty. The frat | withnt und a wel young womew and a. fected ave
i matters of ‘apecial baterest ta tbe eH ae oeoupled iy. *Greasy dim.” Nut: fle enter ‘for shelter Aur the’ | ae
arty at this time. = ‘The oritio of repre Fitler wid tn the other. : ie ‘DP etorm, AUP are biay spree te a nal, sonny.
niation, four frou each: cengeresslinal. Phe PheaXtioe oii had) heard of the When the soung hidy picks up the plotyre eeasbnthy
ia abd one from each follege Me eel oro hig vubvesed te Fullee that pAod Gaye dt ma he era Shar tation meee pio
an... a ; Tnihte eoonuet dle, and owas. expe ; cone, Whe Vt, 16 hy Je here Ley. Ae cH
pate eh Looe es mented LE sai that, SAC peciaosr ey uamect nar Dan ty nebody, and the young mas, i Save,
Re tiican College Leagne. convention at { Hat this was not the case Prink sat oa Harper. who never Was anyhody to any BS owed tal
srand Rapids, Mieh:, Apri >, Tay the end of dite eat na happy he Gel paid one iD the play, except A peradt te Anine
The following are es-ofhoio orn he, and greeted the reporter with a pleas {in wet, recnatia aobady, and the whole,

J at sageelenie’ meee aati a ye! eye { ant eratbe. : aay ef cotta te ihe Out tne

os @ national oreaalgation from pach Pt yod: hes fee a fen eri er as iy point iv tas i
atate and territory ana the president Nd | have a rie Haar aie acs Aig debate fee fo remain and ree. * Joseph -
secretary. of each state: wed terrifong | Na, PE have hat seen them, burt have AOE I ae re ee
jeagne, ranging four exefticls deli gates \ fiend Peni Hein JuaE be akin tt oo

from each. Thin gives encly wtate raet he “WR haw do kun feel Seek
cally teo delegates at dates, fo addition cra » how Ho yon. Tee Over: thir prose
to the four from each congressional dhe LY bs sti oe ! Pe Ge Noe e t
trict. The total representation wil ex ae hie nf ce Vievea, /etlee: replied.
ered 2000 delegates, with an @yual muir: yawntnag Ta lee par wae, bonny thresh of
ber of alternates, Lae

(iltmore's Band at the Grand Opera
: ve Honae, 4 ia ie »
—Lorere of musle are cortatuly indebted
waging hete Yhere fa. nothing. ovat rf Manakeh Henry Aireenwall, of : the
The business of the moeetiig will in froble dy thteworld am Bom very lad Hired Opera House, for his: saterpriee

‘elude reporta from afficers of the ledgur, to get msoiy trot coh in ringing the faniaas (iltwere Vand te pec

the ‘election of effier em, qiew . presidente “Pie pot fee} oorepaned tao omeet the this vite The haul eels ve tty’

and Seemees: FET ee chaietlan. Of pee ANG, FCUALLAT Ay n vey ry in the peaple at New, Otteatea, wha
M : sahil tatroi ahs re : ‘ have Heard Ht befare when rote bins

gah yy
nia io pyr ce

ee het “ftp

talogrum ” bt
Randolph. hi
‘fron New 0
would: return
origin of the
however, on
bide
pe pores |

ore Sante,
the First Ba

placed: that
‘to. support -

hahits. and
pot. stich #
mtg ffern, and

99 SOUTHERN (2) 333.

FACIANE, Alfred Thomas, and McMILLER, Johnny George, blacks, elec, La,
SP (Tangipahoa) on April 11, 1958,

after deliberating for an hour and two minutes, Those verdicts sent
Elias Cyprian to Angola state penitentiary for a life term, But the
first degree verdicts returned against Alfred Thomas Faciane, 22, and
John McMi lier, hh, made the death sentence mandatory.: Faciane's
brother, Milton, was killed in a scuffle with young Hano's father,who
operates a grocery store at Uneedas," |

"Many Escape Death for Capital Crimes Committed in State," by Ed Clin-
ton, STATE TIMES, April 18, 1957.

PACTANNE and MoMILEA

99 SOUTHERN REPORTER, 2d SERIES

ie Soujhern Pacific Rail-
o the record this tract is
ces or subdivisions as
ial sites. As in the tracts
ne gipup of plaintiff’s
ulue to this tract of from
_ while the other group
a value of from $25,000
valuation given by the

218, 171 So. 855, and Housing Authority of
New Orleans v. Boudwine, 224 La. 988, ge:
So.2d 541.

We do not think that the cited cases can
be taken as establishing a precedent for a
method to be followed in all cases where
valuation is to be determined. The methods
of computation used in those cases were

lacks,

our mind, is somewhat
: think the true value is
ate of the lower group.

ve, sd the valua-
his

» said, there is no sub-
it among plaintiff’s wit-
ions placed on the other
ubstitute the valuations
ced on Tracts A, B, F,
ely varying values as-
ts by the witnesses, we
total valuations of the
inge only from $172,000
ives an average valua-
ind we accordingly find
d to be this amount on

urrived at the market
ty at the time of the
ig method: He listed
d on the property by
ind found the average

Hq then found the
lations placed on the
ts’ witnesses. Next he
fes together and divid-
le s§m of $165,763.34.
upport of this method
re v. Waters, 186 La.

clearly proper under their facts. Such
methods of computation would, however, be
improper under the facts of the instant
case, particularly in view of the fact that
we are not giving any weight whatever
to the values placed on the property by de-
fendants’ witnesses. Furthermore, before
averaging the valuations found by plaintiff’s
witnesses we analyzed their testimony and
reduced the values placed by them on Tracts
A, B, F, and G to what we think were
the true values of these particular tracts,
thus bringing the witnesses’ valuations of
the whole property into fairly close align-
ment. It was then, and only then, that we
arrived at an average valuation.

There is one other significant fact pointed —

out by the trial judge in his reasons for
judgment which, though by no means con-
clusive, substantiates us in our valuation
of the property. This fact is that a small
part of the 153-acre property was produc-
ing a yearly revenue of $11,057.20 from
leases in effect at the time of the sale or
within five months afterwards.

For the reasons assigned the judgment
appealed from is amended by requiring the
defendants to pay, in the event they elect
to supplement the price, the sum of $158,-
833.33 instead of $135,763.54. In all other
respects the judgment is affirmed. De-
fendants-appellants are to pay all costs.

STATE v. FACIANE

elec. La. SP (Tangipahoa) 1-11-1958

La. 333

Cite as 99 So.2d 333

233 La. 1028
STATE of Loulsiana

Alfred Thomas FACIANE and Johnny
McMiller.

No. 43541.

Supreme Court of Louisiana.
Nov. 12, 1957.

Rehearing Denied Jan. 9, 1958.

Three defendants were convicted of
murder under statute providing that mur-
der is the killing of a human being when
the offender is engaged in perpetration or
attempted perpetration of armed robbery,
even though he has no intent to kill. The
Twenty-first Judicial District Court of the
Parish of Tangipahoa, H. R. Reid, J., en-
tered judgment, and two of the defendants
appealed. The Supreme Court, Fournet, C.
J., held that trial judge did not abuse his
discretion in denying motion for change
of venue, on ground that defendants could
not secure a fair trial in the parish where
the indictment was laid.

Affirmed.

1. Criminal Law €=134(1)

On motion by defendant for change of
venue, on ground that it is impossible
for him to obtain a fair trial, burden of es-
tablishing by legal evidence that defendant
cannot secure a fair trial in parish. where
indictment is laid rests with defendant.

2. Criminal Law €=126(1)

Test, in determining whether defend-
ant is entitled to change of venue, on
ground that he cannot secure a fair trial
in parish where indictment is laid, is wheth-
er there can be secured with reasonable
certainty from body of citizens, with use
of safeguards of law, a jury whose mem-
bers will be able to try case on law and
evidence adduced on trial, uninfluenced
by what they may have heard of the mat-
ter, and who will give defendant full bene-

fit of any reasonable doubt which may
arise from either evidence or lack of it.

3. Criminal Law G>115

Power to grant change of venue is to
be exercised with caution.

4. Criminal Law @>121

Motion for change of venue always
rests in sound discretion of trial judge.

5. Criminal Law €=1150

Denial of motion for change of venue
is not reversible error and will not be dis-
turbed on appeal, unless it affirmatively
appears from evidence that denial was un-
fair and a clear abuse of judicial discretion.

6. Criminal Law €=134(4)

In murder prosecution, evidence was
insufficient to establish abuse of discre-
tion on part of trial judge in refusing to
grant motion for change of venue, on
ground that defendants could not secure a
fair trial in the parish.

7. Criminal Law €=134(4)

Newspaper articles are not in them-
selves sufficient evidence of the existence
of such prejudice as will justify a change
of venue, on ground that defendant can-
not obtain a fair trial, unless public hostili-
ty has been so aroused thereby that it is
improbable that a fair trial can be had.

The trial judge is the exclusive judge
of the sufficiency and credibility of evi-
dence introduced to establish mental ca-
pacity of defendant under a plea of pres-
ent insanity. LSA-R.S. 15 :269,

9. Criminal Law €=625

Where lunacy commission, which was
appointed by trial judge to inquire into
mental condition of defendant at present
time and also at time of homicide, made
investigation as to mental condition of de-
fendant, found him to be sane and made
written reports to trial judge within 30

areca ones

es ate?

FORD and MU

Bae el

tena-
nit would be
; A i the Ale
pany its

"es tarn* become
/ pever before ob-
lited fora hear-

emergency as now,”

& member of the com-
benofits of association

and Seward for some

is bil Would prevent the
@ablo charter J should ccftain-
inte passige, hut Ifo not
Shik it should te perfected
ommended bs Gur committer.”
Sete came boidiy tothe reher of
ere tiuy be two or thieve minor de-
a he said, ‘but the importance
MCS Must be abyparent to all who
recent events in New-York City.
bids Fesporisitile, aud justly so, if

bi it ig claimed by tuo frienda
eit wil) prevent the consumma-
Btmous job. We know that these
Prinebises pre. imimeusely valuable.
pyther. that. the metropolis bas not
“ppore benefits from the disposition
iarecgiscs. Ii this bijl 43 fonnd to be
oF n oe another bill later. Every
ré it of great yulue to certain per-
a re-run the risk of preventing 1 7.
ezeball we delay and ever after cry

‘

Mtbe Will would at. least cloud the
tue7 Cable company’s franchise,” said

tof hon op offered an amendment-similar
pty red by Mr. Conkling for a simi-

if the temper cf the! Senate was
Fmeddling with the bill, and it was
: ed to.a third readin is itisnow

, proper car
port the amount of
care of the public.

siharfetoe men fll

RPHY, whit

{i ‘were then Jifted from their
‘the Deptt

*Ditter

Ee 4
’

Ww.
“| Doses in

ae SNe
672 0
40 09
522 60
420 00
400 OF
BSD 00
~72 50
“80 60
$35 00
3035 00

bee
eto

ge ee ove s 8Y
: Sa “se

ROA. a ne,
Koyal Vienna pluques. (1036
Boitie vase, light amber, (v¢

TRYI3G TU CHEAT THE GALLOWS.

FORD AND MURPHY TAKE POISON, BUT
3 ARE HANGED NEVERTHELYS. —
Nerw-Orreans, March 12.—Vatrick TH.

_Ford and Johan Murpby. were hanged to-day in
the court yard of the parish. prison, and thus
ends one: of the most remurkable tragedies thig
city of surprises ever withessed/ Never was
such infiuence, political and shcial, brought to
bearto stave men from the gallows as was used
in the case of these men, but the majority of the
board upon whose approval the comurrtfation of
sentence rested he!d ficm for the carrying out of
the eentence,.and the Governor had no. aiterna-
tive but toorder the exccution to take place.

The men passed the last night of their lives in

the chapel of the prison, where a priest, Sisters

of Charity, and members of the Society of

8t. Vincent. De Paul relieved each other ta
ministering to their spiritual needs. . They ex-
hibited a cheerful demeanor, Ford particularly
poesiae of his physical prowess and his rgoord
in the Fire Department, where ho had at one
time been Acting Chief Enyineer. These wero
the subjects, more than religious ones, that filled
his mind, At 2:50 o'clock the two men retired
each to his cell anbgwent to bed. At the ordi-
nary hour for wak fig they could not be aroused,
and were Jeft alone until 7:30 o'clock, when the
alarm-wus given that the men had taken poison
and wero ing comatose condition. Medical aid.
(Was promptly summoned, and it wasdecided that
the condemned men had taken atropine, the ale
kaloid of belladonna. Remedies were at onco
mppiied, and before long Murphy partially re-
gained his senscs, but Ford remained uncon-
scious to the end. wo ;
Sberiff Butler telegraphed to Gov. McEnery at
Baton Rouge for advice under the circum-
stances. The Governor answered back at noon:
“Executo the warrant ag directéd.” The men
beds and dressed by
Sheriff. . Their limbs wero bound
ie thes sp te into chairs and stalwart
puties carriéd them down the corridor to the
gallows, 50 fect away. The men, t Pp to sit,
‘in chairs, were laid on tbe scaffol @ by slide,
their heads avainst the yp in the pelting rain.
“twe) rope: whs s) and adjusted about
heir necks by tho exccutioner, clad in a black
dom! and“he then withdrew.’. At 12:50 the
ver, the ropes cut from within, and

of the men were disiocated and their struggles
were few. The bodies later were delivered to
their relatives, :

The execution was witnessed by seven nows-

armel reporters, three doctors, and five officers
.

urt, the fifteen allowed bylaw. <«+ -

Jobn Murphy, Ford’s cousin, was a green Irish

; «brought over four years ago and immeii-
¥ appointed on the city’ police. Ou Ford's

bosy; when found insentible jn his cell, was a

note-in which he ueathes his curse to Jud
Baker

to recommend
Both men stu

n Blue ot
i 4. dividends. a
re) Dsures show |
ny Mur | Stock for. al

urpb J

papsouals and political pnemies... Jud

one ‘of the most influential polit

ew-Orleans, and his followers includ-

most daring and puosc fous roughs in
‘ , 1884, Capt. Mur-

the open street in the
persons. Several persons

; of 70-tr

“were €d in the shooting and a aozen fatal
: 8 were found on the dead man’s body.
c Pos and fiv: othonss of his court were

Placcd on 1 for the murder,
ck Ford, to save his brother, the Judge,
f that he and Murphy did the killing.
Judge Ford, however, was sentenced to 20 years
u the peniter:siery for instigating the deed. It
ook two trials to convict Patrick Ford and John
of mpusder, and they were sentenced to
eg e rein} fat geht? pee _ on zat

ur . pardon, an ter a

‘had failod Judo rd confessed that he
Nena bellovedebatsas at hed heed
i 4 n
te lato, Cant, Morelia
ie nt, Murphy's
ons retused $0 parion

‘shtc wn tha

} now before the General ‘Term for confirmation,

a distance of cight feet. The necks:

. ra,

Me eee telai= woes
reason: for Smiy approval, and: 1 sha
merely allude a: poses to serious legal objections.
both jurisdictional and on the merits, which properly
belong to the courts to decide. ;

Those objections may ’be brieflyand conveniently
stated in this connection. Ithus been urced before
me thatthe act of 1s75,to which { havo already al-
luded, contempiated only elevated or undergruupd
Tallroacs, and wns not intended to suthorize the butld-
ing of surface roads, such as those Isid out In the er.
Ucles of association of the New-York Cabio allway
Company; that tne proceedings had under this oct
“Were, therefore, without jurisdiction and were void;
and that consequentiy ihe action of the s{ayor's com-
Toission and of the court comiulssion, whose report >
wholly without guthority.. #0 azaia tis) urged
that section 10 of the Gengral taliroad et
of 1854: expressly repealed the act of 1875, ak
that no rights ary vested in your petitioner under At
act, (even ussaming that it appited to gurface cabie
railways,) whic the Legislature had nos the pores to
and did not abrogate. {tis also urged thut the action
of the Muyoer’s commission in tixing # time wit y)
which the raads upon the various routes designate:
shall be cons ted and fendy for Operation at %
certain peri after tbo e320 of the. property
owners had been obtained, or Ib liew thereof after the
decision of the commission appointed py the court in
accordunce with the act, Was so lucpinite and une
reasonable an exercise of the uuthority. vested,
in the Mayors commission as to; umount to 4
6pecitic failure to comply with fhe jaw, and
BO vitiate and render illegal all acts done. and
steps: taken under suid report. ‘She orsuments
ugainst tha proposed cable rallroids als have
much force. ‘ihe danger to the pubiia heaith and
couvenience from the extensive excavelions required,
the temporary interference with the use of the streets
by the Fire Department, the Street-Cleaning Depurt-
ment, the Department of Public Works, and the busl-
ness Community, whi.e the roads are in process of con-
struction, and the permanent interference with travel
in many of the streets upon which routes have becn lo-
cated. ure objections which cun oniy be met bv the
Cleurest and most convincing proefs that the pubiic
wilt uitimately be corresponding'y benetited. ‘hese
may exist, altbough they liave nut been made apjMrent
to me, for I fail, after careful consideration, tu see bow

tion, power vf your body under the
provisions elther of the act of 1875 or under those of
the General Ratiroad act of los4, assuming one if not
both of these Jaws to exist and to be in force, to formu.
Jate a plan for the gale of railroad franchises general-
Jy, similiar to the one under which ferry franchises are ;
now granted. The leading features of such o pinn au
the advantages which 16 would secure may be brietly
outlined as follows: Let the on 4 fastéad of being a
rantor become a lessor of street ratiway privileyes;
et the Commissioners of tho Sinking Fund lease

i ‘franchises at pubilasfidction for a. term of, not
es3 than 0 por 6 than 2u yéars; let them appuint
Jan auditorwho, thejoficers of the road, shali certi-

‘fy under ‘oatn the actual money value of the rom
and equipment at the time of construction, 4 ¢.. is
real cost. % the Controller prescribe the form in
which the books of the company are to be kept, and
jet the Sinking Fund Commissioners-have an unt-
ant continuously in the uffice of the company, but
shifting the accountants from weekt week, us they
are now shifted from day to day, inthe Money Order
Bureau of the Post Office, to provide a check agains:
Wronx-doing or coliusiup on their part. Lei the person
taking the franchise receive ai! profits on the opera-
tion ofthe read up to 10 per cent. on the actual invesi-
ment fur construction and equipment, ail sums earned
in excess of such 10 per cent. to be paid auurterly into
the City Treasury.’ At the expiration of the jease jet
the franclive be reJat, as is now done wi:h ferry fran-
chises, and-in cuso it be let to new parties let the city
pay the old lesseus the estimaie’ cost of replacing the
Piunt, charging a like sum to the new Jessees, who
shall be represented tn the appraisement. %

‘rhe result.of such a system would be; First, the +
city, and not monooolists, would reap the benefit ac-
erulng | from the increase of traMc jncident 4 the
growth of the city, ¢ ¢., the city ttsdif would, ’ns it
sbould, be the beneticiary o “*nneagned increment
of value;” second, there would be suliicient induce-
ment to lead to the proper investment of capital and
Jabor of superintendence; third, thé franchises af
ges city cou.d witimately be made to vay a much
arger part-of our ‘taxes than they now do, instend of
building up great and practically irresponsible monupo-
lies at the public cost.

‘Khe report of the Ratirond Commissioners: for 1834
shows that all of the capital stuck of the surface horse
railroads shop ip operation in this city. aggregated
315.707, 153; t ett roads had an aguregated bonded
indebtedness Of $13,260,165; that the ageregated divie
Geng upon jthe stock of such roads for that yexr were
$2,270,008: that the aggregate of interest. paid upewt™
the bonded indebtedness of all such rcads was $757,-

god that such corporations had ar egate sur~
$1,167 546; which surpiuy #08 divisible -for

. a 4 fet on -cépital a
I of these corporations was 14}4 per
cent.; the averago interest on. tha ponds
was 68 that the surplus was 7.4
: Seok. entire capital, or, that. if
RRS surplus were to be distributed, the total divide
and interestwo the bonds wouid suow a return of 1!
per cent. for thet year upon the aggregate of tho stock |
aod bonds, that ts, 26,073,518. Although ina number |!
of instances it is undoubtedly true. that the cost of |!
construction and equipment of the roads Is in excess of |
the bonded indebtedness of such roucs, ttis equally
sage that, tuBing all of these roads toxether, thonmvu..t
of their ontire nded indebtedness is very much
larger than the actual cost of constructton and equip-
ment.’ Itis. therefore. an kssumptton more than tuir
to these railroad corporations tu place the actual
cost of their construction and equipment ai
the agsresate of thelr bonded jnodebteduess.
pay $11,200,655, which would leave “the entire
amount of their aguregate capital stock, eay $15,707,153,
BS representing property for which they buveo prac-
tloally paid not a Vhe aggregate of their divideras
and interest for 1554 boing €3,047,604 would, assuming
the actual cost of the property to be represented by
the bonds, show a return of 27 per erent. upot the
actual investment. J} regard it as oftirely iuproper
that sO yrdat a moneyernrning capacity should ever
have been civen away by the city without any ade-
uate return. If propat precautions had been taken in
‘the past, and some euch plan as that whiek I Bave sug-
ested had been carried Out at Gn Sariier date she iy
reasury would now bein receipt of $1.270.019 anne-
ally, reed | the railroad companies would have been able
‘to pay averuge
0!

10 per cent. dividends, which ts phe
pee * ital echuslir \a-

that

20
hose

Jor the use of the cap:
4 oag ‘
ae 13 Outlined fs one which migty ti
4 ies Ings jature asa be ea bentoles :
; tor “ oe bit a, a) aber | re Wey wer

fes,- “Uhese-, Mirig

the tot

efance at our

of s0 many eduits owlng &

t is fangcrous; sev

ernmen' Mite to.talife
by which they

ernment; fit
tribunes fn

eisting jag a
rem
eshealig. to shina. white the
r would retain ‘
ematry. or these reasous
growing source of ! :
and itis necessary that th
immediately stopped, and €
those among U3;

be res)

to remove

Jicsoived, ‘Rhat we demand

tthe United States take ima

i hinese invasior
‘hat tO @ !
e accept the sa
rnia, which ss
loyed upon any)
pment of crime, J
hiesoived, Tivat the inte
State of California demaned
organic law of the state, th
should be discouraged In ev
overy instance preference
labor, and we earnestly app
their. utmost to supplant t
lsbor. Weare not in lavoro
but so firmly are we impresse
tance of discouraging the em
that we recommend that the
way, and we are in fayor
eurliest moment any perso
directly or indirectly, or who
Chinese labor. The date at
cormmmence in different local
left to the local lencsues
Kealted, Thata

solutely th
Besmved,
the Chinese
tion of Calif
ever be emp!
in the punish

rmanent
be tunted by Pie
| os the California AntLCbine

tion. ma Bes
Hesoired, That an Mxecuti
by the conveniion, to conat
fan Francisco and one fron
ties, who eball pe. fall ppc
State work, Hl ¥ ;
Conventiong
deem propet
cing the cause.
dtravivea
be elected b
ela sie
solucd, ™ -
requested tp sdilicit. subseris
work ofexciuding the Chine
from fack of funds, and we: fr
copies of alleabscriptiens rec
made by thecommittee be ®
in the Siate. ee
+» Resolved. ‘Thac these
that copies thereof be m
United tates, to the m
Caillfornia Gelezation iff Cong
the Fenate snd :Hepresenotull
ber stated and ‘I babar viverr

%
4:
fee

several es and
in California. Bites thy ra
Discussion over the ‘be
platform -was continued)
when amid tremer.doug
presented was adopted.
who bad stronzly opposed
immediately informed the
drawal from the conventig

EX-SHERIFF D4ViD

HE I8 CAPTORED IX H
IS NO REASON FOR
Consul-General Ram¢
Havana, caused tke arrest
der V. Davidson yesterday
Bayard yesterday afternoo
telegram to District Attor
**Consu! at Havana reports
said to be absconding Sheriff .q
extraditabls charge. applica
through the Governor to this
tradition. When advice of

lact of application, thagen
Getention till papcrs artive.”

In the nce of Mr}
trict Attorney Nicoll scnt
the following reply:

- “S NO complaints charging 1D)
crime in connection wits bi
Sh thas couse

re t3
meitWigalnst him Tit
extradited.’

Threv indictments were

l-vidson un March 21, 1884,
; tortion and wrand jarcepy

A week later a fourth

) waking the sume charge.

erseded ong of the other
Fricd on the fourth todict
ted on April li, 1844. The
were dismissed fn court.
THE POISONET
LEBANON, Penn., Ma
inmates of the County
potsoned two days ago oy
been put into the coffee
ing, but-ere considered o

tending any htop
drank very little of tbe pa
od in @

Me gd ‘ 2
3 Seti eee a aaa Ta
. . . -

a
=
=

cwmlertaed Bteckiee thing

. ~ ene a ee
ESTATR.
o MONARY PAR

uwa VALID TRXAS LAND

tg: ae R. Siete

RENT“ Five Cottages, attfer.
peations

AM MAAS, cor. N and 2196,
very low figure, several fine
igh ground , fronting on Mra
ana aw A 4

JAMe 8, WOxroumERY,

AND BOARD.

SHED SOUTH ROOM WITH
© for comple, Referenced
nue H, opposite the Park.
B, W. BOOM. td door, sult-
ntiemen, with board. A few
. N, BE. cor. 6th & Mechnic,
Furnished iy with
Ti, bet. Het and aad, °
Day boarders will be taken.

exposure
inet lqoation for one or two
ae Oand Twentieth.
k UNFURNISHED ROOMS
rivate family. Ave, H, third
bh et., north side.

=, 4 8 per wee ,
cokimn

PPOOL APP ALP

AND CITY ston
Panhandle N :
no. G. Jamen,

eet SC or
ant f » $1000 ofan, 008
moe. Pertod te sult. Favoe-.
eet rates current.
Wet ae
COUNTY. x. .
ap.5 * :

PLP LLL LLL LLL LLM

: & SON'S Colebrated

PPL LLL LLL LLLP PPL LLL

DONNETS AND HATS FOR
tte of Underwear, Bm
Lategs Novelities. of the

M. LALOR,
and fi] Postofiice street.

Fight to the Death in «
m-oar.
h 12.—The Inter Ocean's
lal says: Three well-
n, Edward Ivey and Bruce
Liberty, Ill., and Chas.
ni, ind., got on a weet-
tion train on the Decatur
ad, this niorning, at Mat-
pose of stealing a ride to
bok vefage in a box-car,
and locked after them by
hen within ten miles of
pame involved in a fight
tragedy. MeKim shot
’ back and abdomen, and
had a revolver, emptied
jet MeKim without hitting
ere fired tn the dark car
pon the floor weltering in
noise attracted the at-
tuctor, who, with a U nited
ai whe happened to be
. & the car, opened
im end Woodard in a
. over the body
flows, The young

ee i 4

to De.

%
ait .. Ses ya ™
MICH T e

es 7; ents
Scnentetaineneenmmentemmenant

oe % ;

Execution of Patrick H. Ford and John Murs

sational wurder ever committed in New
Orleans was explated to-day in a most
sational manner, when Patrick :

tDy for tne prison
At this time
MURPHY’ PF.

ex pres sion] Ford seemed to
ing intense agony, hie breath
anda r
noise was made between each
druggist who soon arrived
were suffering from poison,
agreed with him, Shortly
arrival the city physician
coroner appe
poison used was
the necessary antidotes were
Sto Jl o’cloek the doctors
tingly upou the unconscious men
out success, Murphy, from time
wee momentarily aroused, while
mained in a profound sleep. As
for execution approached sheriff
sent the following message to the
at Baton Rouge: .
To Governor 8, D. MeEnery, Baton roeas:
Ford and Murphy attempted suicide
taking poison, and are in a st
ecmatose condition. Doctors belleye the
aitempt will prove a failure, but don’t know
how long it will take torevive them.. Bhould
(hey not be restored to consciousness before
the hour fixed, advise me what to do. Shall
L execute the warrant, notwithstanding?
CHARLgs A. BUTLER,
Criminal Sheriff Parish of Orleans,
The enewer to the telegram was received
at 11.15 o’clock, and read as follows:
Bheriff, Parish Prieon, New Orleans:
Execute warrant as directed.

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a ry ey Pg 3 4
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" 7 %. %
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nd
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sweet
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Did Me;

Engar— Dertt ;
wime.4\e: te,

Prime to «tr tett)

centrifugals, pri
fair to goed fair.

ST. LOU!
Sr. Lous, Ma
chunged: ¥X x,

Corn—Very éu
Jemterday's a
MM Ke; March, at
a
Vate—Very qu
aie; March, Mie
Cormmeal—Un |
. 7 , ‘ Whinky--$1 pa
On Dn Dd * . " : W ovl-

lard— Rasy a6

) miet an
| ’ % wt . u s asbed, 4@v? |
: "To Visions fhe
a th ; iD ) 7 vernor
Dum md t . ‘ ttorney. Pork—Steady @

Rulk Meatse—&
long clear, 98 98;
%; boxed hoe
a rhort e

acon sega
3 80; short ;
liumo— Une

Atternoon Re
easier and \@ he

~
te

they must expect no
but must prepare for the

further reprieve,

“ aveae b ba 3

Pees

: if i Buried: aoe. Grave. | gst

New Otten, Max 15.-—The: nerni
Pat Ford and Jotun Murphy, | who. were:
hanged a t the parish prison } riday; ited
BY at arose o’cloek Sa ate Saal :
The remjif ved to] Greenwood
Cemetery by -urse-ciipea:'
ple. On bei men, and
wher thé :
were leet a
persons job ‘both | EXCH, iN Alter} the coffif
_ were! covered | with earth Merny’ Fprd
| ktiecled. and every man! and w womaw iy ty. «
crowd also sank to. their -kKne ys) tee this
remaine while Mra, F ord. pr ayed) fir for.
givehess for her dtad pepe nd. And his
i ib ead for consolatiegy for her.

“| \raseren ye if

self.) Hprg was the only. prayerf said over:
the bodled, fae by their act in attempting |
toy. ¢fomhnit. suicide the menf ad ° placed
ther sel fres mutside the pale yf) the church,
A Ybscription has been Btorttad for the bn-
Mief of Mrs. Ford. ee meee

SEAM anny te!

FORD, Absalom W., white, hanged Lake Charles, Louisiana, May 23, 1879,

Oy ee

THREE MEN UNDER TH GALLO IFS.

BANGING OF A.W. FORD IN LOUJSIANA—TRE
CRIMES OF A DESPERATE HUPFIAX—Ax
INDIAN AND A WIFt-MURDERER HAXGED.

Laxz Ciazies, La, May 23.—Abdsalom W,
Pord was tanzed here to-day for the marder of Dr.
Joseph Basea, June 10, 1578. He escaped from the
jaii here last Winter after he was sentenced, bat was
recaptared at Henderson. Texas, *® few weeks azo,
after teing badly wounded. He afterward broke
bis wounded leg in attempting to escape from the
Heéaderson County Jail. and, consequently, had to be
supported br the Sheriff and bis Beputies to the
scafick!. where be was seated Sn a ebair. Althosgh
wafering intense vain from efforts “made to use bis
Wounded tg, bis features were calm and composed.
During the reading of the death-warrsnt. and wile
the priest tp attendance was praying, Ford ¢om-
pesediy smoked a cigar and gazed at the sky, and at
the erowd of about 500 spectators. He dit not
show the siizbtest tremor. (On being asked whether
he had anything to say to the people, he replied in
the necativra. The bieck cap and‘ noose were thes
aijastet, gad he wes assisted to bis: feet. Ee aaid,
fn g low, eatm scien: “tod have merry on me,”
Amo the next instant the crop fell. His contortions
Were vicleant for Ave minates and life was declared
extinct after 20 miustes . His neck was broken Py:
hie stroggles after the drop fell.

Josep: Hazes, the murdered roan, was a wander-
tog herb doctor. The crime was committed near the
borse cf Washington Porc, Absalom’s cousin, in Cal-
easton Farish, La. Thetueidenta of Absslom's ca-
reer abow that Le wasa man of desperate character.
It was 5 common report that be bad kilicd several
men te Teaas, Washington Ford, a farmer, and his
Saaghter Helen, a beantifal gir! of 20 years. removed
from Texts sbonut two years ago anc earmt to live on
& smal! plare in Calcasicu Parish... As « faztive
; from justice, “Absalom Ford staid at the house of

| Ma ¢onsin, and he waa-specdily captured by Helen's
Beauty. Early iast Sarumer be bade adien ‘to Helen
ad her fgther acd starte? for Texas. Sovn after-
ward Dr, Paces stroiied into the meighborhood and
paid several. tisits to. Washington Ford's house.
Abssion ¥ord returned from Texas and went, a
nsual, te vbia cousin's ‘house,
te. *) Batee.’ On > the. evening © » June
ei they. “qnsrreled at the house, Sal the
| Seesente of the old man and his daughter, concern-

where the Guartel was eostinurd: I¢ is not known
what oreurred fhere, Gat it was obsertea that in
(qetarsiag from the wood they Walked «breast, watch-

that ene should aus (Sek: behing eg

cima tieenian and Frank MeCiure and | Henry San-
Mer, and told ther that’Dr. b
eeetian Helen,
>: Sudan’ Seerixery ‘And Bell
fergé eam 16. an. “Thdian - nat. :
aatny that the four men then formed a plot to kil
mast

“| satebed by the sonsp! but. be did not come
wot aati) mormtag,

+ Was acteon in gated that fleeman

MeCiare shows es) oa Betee and zepresens that his
Sater, Poo}, who jived near by, was alck,: kK, and
of tne Dortar'eectvices; that sMeClure shouut
re are - ‘igtinediatoly befose Baie could saddte tis
pores, in order to join Ford, when the two should:

% dna state themerives aud fire upon bint. Hepple sue.
ie es as So ar ie exeieing She

jo: a. #

sagen
hice og th

praeot Pa: - yaes.

tog the iatter, and proeeeced to an adjoining field. ;

i mes:

lates Wanted to rain.
"It is ae
That. saniv: iS oe? Doctors eamp: Was |

a Mitte patch of woods near the “Melrose, iss Bos
teli pronounced the “tbusiness" done, and thea
tossed the body tnto the woods, where it was fonnd
the next Sunday meriing- wok @ tiny white
hands were found some pine need tea, which had
been clatched during ite cath straggie, pet
fact conelasive!y sapwe that the babe was not de
when toascd fromthe wam, Whes arrested today
Miss Porter at cuce partially tainted. 0 betnx
taken to the stztion abe asked the —_ tf Bezte))
had confessed. He replied thet he shonid eave that
for her to find out. "ie then said that felt thet
ale had better tajl the whole truth, andso.confessed,
She claimed na Buzzell proposed and egecnied the
murder in spite of her entreaties. Mixb
Porter has roalded tn meehen. for several years, ot
though inclined! to geceept the attentions of young
mien, bas nover been considered wild, and was always
y believed to be of good moral. character. She was &
member of the Baptist Sunday-achool. her mother
is a worthy and vengound} le lady, and a mecabet of the
Baptist Charch: te, nudérstood that the family
knew of Miss Porter's condition, bat believed that
the child would be p. ‘in # peed in Bremner asy. Jam. i

FARIOUS PHASES OF OF WRONG-DOING,
KEPORTS OF CRIMES AND PROCEEDINGS ts
. i CRIMtT AL - CASES. pe OR, eS
“Provipexcr, BR. Ty May 23e-The residence
of Mra. Gardiner, widow of. Peleg W; Oardizer,
naed $4, was entered inst night by burglars, Whe
savagely abused Mrs. Gardiner snd ber: house- |.
keerer, another ‘cid ~ lay, thoy being th
only persons in the: family.” “Chaimsy
r ) wesw
nearly perished of strangulation and iajaries t
their throats. | _ Attar the burglars bat fied, with very
little plander. the family up stairs was aroused, and
eesistance called in. Thy physicians think that both

of the lsdies will recover. ©. The Po? iew ave of thp
opinion tha: the outtags was mot cvmmitied nner
fessional burglars.

Bostox, Mass; May
mumeronusly signed. by ‘eitfzens of Pocassct asking -
for the aie of prominent Adventists couterned ae |
the Freeman affair.

PULCAPELTIMA, May 23. —The jury iw the case “et
Edward, alia * "Dever, thargel with t
matdet of Isaac Chase in October, Anvil,

Terdict to-day of “* goilty.

Haknisscnd; Pen®. May as. —The Board dor Par,
‘devs to-day refuse
for lite the deata of Peter Swingier, and he
will aceorlingly be hanged at Chambersbarg on she |
Sth of Jone. He was sonrecies ot Kiuing:
‘Anderson in December aa!
~ Ostatia, Neb. May 23. sSherift Dra sper. of:
mie County. Wyoming, peesed throng
with Clark Pelton, who had jast been rele
the Alinnesotsa Penitentiary. Ho -wae’ Prater a
reatrested by Sheriff Tira
Adolph. Cunery, near Fert
Cannery, at that time a: Depts:
$0 er: Peiton on # charge o Rorgeateatin
tan ped then, Dut wow arrestel several cont a
afterward near Rapid City. Blagk Hits, for sami
pation in a stage eerrinoal -He has since been jo th ip:
‘Minnesota Penitenttaty.: |
Sax Puaxctaco, May 23.—A dispatch from Seat.
tle. Washington, says Col W. F.- Prosser. Unioct
States mpectal Timber: Acer’, hax. seized some

boom ta divev >

Saute

tacnie, fx yoy AST?
Nheriif,:

got on € iovernmegt
— oot aS Be pater at least &
ings are the y
heir pen land wibiehe sae fe
eanteme

‘ee wit ¢ a.
c, Hin a

“Pucr, cha with doxtag’ Efta Hearn, '+

Serer ¥, at Pocomoke ity, inst November, bas
aed for next Thuraday.”

the shooting was aceid

"allow a ples of insnuity.

that she Will nat Be convicted, x ae
i r ‘snd Migs’

& En,
eee Poe ERE | =

23 23.—Petitions . are "being }

fo. connate to imprisoninent

eae '

f.tnr. the marde? of |

ViEw or THE FLAMES ROK . COLUMB

| ‘MEIONTS—POOR JUG ENT OF Tut FIUE-

MEX — LOsS OVER $270, 068 +4

. CauRe OF bg ee PIKE xo? KsOWR,

* LA beight peak of flame shot yp
ihe ‘qwass. of sombre urick paildiags- oO
street, Brooklyn, last night, shortly. befors
‘and lighted ap all the surroundings.» ‘Heavy e}
Of smoke began to roti up higher and higher, and sd0u
“the, Siang of fire-eng ines ‘futrying fo the sone. trots
all, “@reetions Was beara, Alaroe. after’
_pealedont cs the, volume of smoke and their:
‘grester, bat It was long before the Fire
was nf work, sithough finally every svenier bn
Ciry wasnt oe sotees what syonueed.
destructise
with “wery’ Shab Judgmenit, » and, indesd,
of > the owery \\ fires - thiegs ghey. did Arg
biunder; saniely,* wrontng, the
first foorof the
® Dowerfsl denaxhs
the Shaseed-ofl factory of

* eerehaieg tromt ®

vaildings Néx. 50, ‘BR, and
‘The tirstalarm: ‘was gent
a0 met. fod
rushing ant” ‘to the. “egowe

or “dhree-qoarters” of ad hete.

fiemn were. , ahoptltg ‘hrough s

atructnres wero tout atorhes. oO eke
| front, They were Solid e tids of

; ~ ere a ba
me: seas thee

/ id ee j
ivand lodemet, through the oye a windows phi

of the bell toy nebliid, Ou the woudl: Bea

gerber i a
Peds a Bie Atre*tags. see to obs

The defer mi ee 5
CY erise 2)
gar » Aidet

seia's %
fe 2a ablaing Con oi sci Hes LA

aie ot ®
: Feelin 16! Heloek thowiew a

: ait They’
ania 2 ORs. ne

ts Bren tile WAves, ca
Aower an Ts: Lad Aisthaet
fopitering it Co Amigos

vot of huge wire tavins over,

: weta belek.
Fas coe Every wisi? evary tree,
opin thensichboriead wiirh -cemed
Paint from whieh to view the eceve was “at
pak ts eatimated: thar folly Pe cotas f
Must ot these srere (of ‘the
dY acon Ae ingkers-00 at Bree, |
© 5 rai lopking at. The
2. gti vary. Uitle
goeined © te: Msuou r own. Cote,
sta ee fantastte apiral. hud other formes, 1
pe tee: Was Rauellowe ie wie |
te ip siraug, trou Ty osoe daxztine.
ahi rete vce 8 ais bg Siteres

ee eeeteaettnastiiomens ae
e caw seat ne ‘
=e Tees

92 DEATH AND THE SUPREME COURT

hands. I have done my duty. All remedies have been ex-
hausted—the case is in your hands.”

The board, to a man, was unmoved by the plea. Three days
after the hearing, de Blanc wired Wright in Washington:
“Board refused to commute sentence. File petition and wire
me.” Wright was prepared with his petition asking the Su-
preme Court to hear the case, and he filed it the next day. In
view of the fact that Willie was due to be electrocuted in
three days, the Court immediately issued a stay of execution
until it could decide whether to hear the case. At the same
time, Governor Davis was also issuing a reprieve “until fur-
ther order” so that Willie would have time to take his case to
the high court.

The following Monday, June 10, the Court handed down
a brief order. Wright was immediately notified by phone.
Sadly, he wired de Blanc: “Supreme Court denied writ Fran-
cis case today.” And he wrote de Blanc the same day that he
was “consoled by the fact that we did everything in our
power to be of assistance.” De Blanc told Willie’s parents
that the Supreme Court had refused to hear the case and then
visited Willie in jail to explain that all avenues had been cov-
ered, that there seemed to be no further hope, that there was
nowhere else to turn. Willie was badly shaken, as was de
Blanc. For a long while, the youngster sat quietly with his
attorney, his mind now filled not with the unknown, as be-
fore, but rather with a vivid awareness of the horrible ex-
perience he had already undergone and would have to
undergo again. After a while, he rallied and told de Blanc
he would see the reporters who were clamoring to obtain a
statement from him. He told them: “I’m praying harder than
ever. Got myself a new prayer book. All I can do is wait.”
The governor, in the meantime, prepared to set a new date
for the execution.

The next day, Tuesday, the 11th, there came to light an oc-
currence virtually unparalleled in Supreme Court history. A
horrified clerk at the Supreme Court discovered that a terrible
error had been made, that due to a clerical mistake the Willie
Francis case had been designated “denied” instead of
“sranted.” The Court had in fact decided to hear Willie’s
case, and Mr. Justice Black had even ordered that “execution
and enforcement of the sentence of death imposed upon
petitioner, Willie Francis . . . be, and the same is hereby,
stayed pending further order of this Court.”

As soon as he had discovered his mistake and had dis-
cussed it with the Chief Justice, the clerk phoned Wright and

IF AT FIRST 93

Governor Davis and notified reporters. Wright immediately
called de Blanc, even as the news services were sending the
story out over the wires. By the time de Blanc reached the
jail with candy, cigarettes, and magazines for his client, re-
porters were already converging on the scene, and they were
soon allowed to talk to Willie. They found him sitting on the
cot of his cell, chewing a nickel candy bar. Asked for his
reaction to the news, Willie said, “That’s funny, sort of. I
was expecting good news yesterday, and I got bad. And now
when I’m expecting bad news, it’s good.” He smiled. “I feel
pretty good.” sy

Willie said he guessed his father, who had visited him the
day before, would be glad. When the reporters asked what
his father had said during the visit, Willie stammered, “I
don’t rightly know. I got an awful short memory. I forgets
quick.” The reporters pressed him as to whether he would be
content with life imprisonment if he were lucky enough to
have the death sentence commuted. On this point, Willie was
neither reticent nor forgetful, but adamant. “A life in prison
would be a lot better than that chair.”

De Blanc was jubilant. He told reporters he was “tickled to
death’—a macabre though unintentional pun on Willie’s
plight. “I told Willie that he must pray hard, that his case
was before the highest court, and Willie said he had a new
prayer book and would do so. I think there is something of
Divine Providence in this case.”

The Supreme Court had acted at the very end of its term,
so that oral argument in the case of Louisiana ex rel. Francis
v. Resweber could not be heard until the following fall. In
the spiraling, undulating Louisiana heat of that summer, Wil-
lie Francis waited. The public furor over his predicament
died down; his mail lessened to a few miscellaneous notes.
A magazine, The World’s Messenger, had established a “Wil-
lie Francis Defense Fund” which still drew a little money,
from ten cents to five dollars from each of dozens. of
contributors around the country, but on the whole the public
lost interest.

One interesting letter, however, arrived at the Supreme
Court addressed simply “To the Attorney for the man who
was saved from the electric chair by a faulty electrode, c/o
Clerk of the Supreme Court of the U. S., Washington, D. Cc.”
It was duly forwarded to Wright. The letter, from a man in
Williamsburg, Virginia, began:

Do you remember these lines from Robinson Crusoe which may

88 DEATH AND THE SUPREME COURT

reprieve. He also said he had received a letter from the gen-
eral manager of the Texas prison system, telling of an execu-
tion that failed in Texas in 1938. On that occasion, one
John Vaughn was led to the electric chair and strapped in
place. The electrical system, however, totally failed to func-
tion. The governor granted two successive reprieves, and
‘one court granted a restraining order against a further at-
tempt, but the judge who had originally sentenced Vaughn
dissolved the restraining order, and Vaughn was subsequently
electrocuted.

The district attorney who had prosecuted Willie’s case |
summed up his position before the board: “How can we ex- \
pect [juries] to convict men to pay their debts to society \

when, afterwards, what they have done is undone by another
authority of law having the power to do so.” And he warned
the board, “There is another side to this case. I don’t want
to refer to an unpleasant question, but those are facts that
happen. We have repeatedly known in the past, unfortunately,
of lynchings going on after crimes are committed. The only
way and safest way to keep that from happening is to bring
to justice and punish, according to each case, the guilty

party. Society looks to us to do our duty, and I know that .

you gentlemen are not going to be carried away by sentiment
in this case and that you are going to carry the law as
far as it is possible to do so.”

Several persons appeared on Willie’s behalf. Perhaps
the most effective was a white priest who belonged to a reli-
gious order called “The Holy Ghost Fathers” and who had
prepared Willie for the execution during his seven months
in the New Iberia jail. There was also a message from the
boy’s bishop, who wrote: “The torture of mind and body
through which Willie Francis, St. Martinville negro, has al-
ready passed entitles him in my humble opinion to reprieve
and commutation of sentence. It would be most unfortunate
if the impression were created that there is no justice or
mercy for a negro in Louisiana.”

De Blanc made a detailed and eloquent statement on Wil-
lie’s behalf. He presented six affidavits from witnesses who
had seen Willie when the switch was thrown and who
thought that electricity had swept through his body. As de
Blanc summed it up, “Everything was done to electrocute this
boy up to and including the pulling of the switch and the
passing of electricity into his body. He died mentally; his
body still exists, but through no fault of his.” De Blanc said
this was the first time in Louisiana history that a boy as

at At cmap taantene te tie Oe cage a Rian’ nip Ceti

IF AT FIRST 89

young as fifteen had committed a homicide for which he had
been given the death penalty. And he added: “The main
point which I wish to stress, gentlemen, is that no man
should go to the chair twice. No man should suffer impending
death twice. The voice of humanity and justice cries out
against such an outrage. You men who compose this Honor-
able Body are just and sincere and I know that you will be
guided only by the hand of justice. I am not asking that this
boy be set free. I am only asking that his sentence be com-
muted from death to life imprisonment in the State Peniten-
tiary. Is that too much to ask for a boy who has gone
through the mental and physical torture that he has?”

De Blanc then cited several unique cases of his own to sup-
port his position that justice required a commutation. The
first was that of John Lee of Dorset, England, in the year
1889. Lee was placed on the scaffold three times, and each
time the trap failed to operate, despite the fact that when he
was removed from the scaffold, his weight in sand operated
the trap perfectly. After the third try, Lee was reprieved by
the Home Secretary.

The second case was that of Shadrach, Meshach, and
Abednego, cast into the fiery furnace by King Nebuchadnez-
zar for refusing to bow down to a gold statue. When the
flames failed to burn them, they were pardoned and allowed
to go on their way. The third case was also from the Old
Testament. Daniel, refusing to obey King Darius’s edict
against petitioning anyone but the king, was cast into the
den of lions, and the den was sealed with the king’s ring. The
next day Daniel was found alive and unharmed. This was
considered divine intervention, and he was pardoned.

Then there was the strange case of Will Purvis, sentenced
by the State of Mississippi to be hanged on February 7, 1894.
Something went wrong, Purvis was not killed, and when the
sheriff immediately attempted to hang him again, the crowd
witnessing the event opposed it, and the condemned man was
returned to jail. The governor refused to commute the sen-
tence, and three appeals to the courts failed. A mob then res-
cued Purvis from jail, and he lived for some time with rela-
tives and friends. A new governor agreed to commute his
sentence to life imprisonment if he surrendered, and two
years later he was pardoned altogether when the state’s star
witness said he could have been mistaken in his identification
of Purvis. Years afterward, another man confessed to the
crime, and the Mississippi legislature voted Purvis five

90 DEATH AND THE SUPREME COURT

thousand dollars as indemnity for the agony of his
earlier years.

Finally, de Blane cited the peculiar circumstances sur-
rounding the case of Lonnie Eaton, another Louisiana Negro,
who was convicted of killing a white man in December, 1917,
and sentenced to be hanged. Some time after the date of
the hanging, the sheriff wrote the governor that he had been
“so rushed with work” that he had forgotten to hang Eaton.
The governor promptly signed a commutation of Eaton’s sen-
tence from death to life imprisonment.

De Blanc paused in his recitation and surveyed the impas-
sive faces before him. In a gentler tone, he reminded them of
Willie’s fine prison record, and he ventured, “I’d stake my
reputation that he would make a model convict at the State
Penitentiary.” He pointed out that Willie’s conviction rested
almost entirely on his confessions, and he argued the unreli-
ability of such confessions, citing a number of instances in
which persons had confessed to crimes they had not in fact
committed.

Suddenly, in the midst of this argument, de Blanc reached
into his briefcase, took out a picture, and held it up before
the board. It showed Willie strapped in the electric chair.
Where it had come from was something of a mystery, since
no one specifically remembered it having been taken during
the excitement and confusion of the attempted execution.
Some thought the Reverend Rousseve must have snapped it
and others a police photographer, but in any case, there it
was, and it served as a grim reminder of what had occurred
and of the serious business before the board. Pointing to the
picture and waving it before the members, de Blanc admon-
ished them: “Look at him strapped to the chair of death, the
chair that had already claimed twenty-three victims, the chair
that was later to claim another victim. What chance did he
think he had of surviving? Look at him, gentlemen, a beaten
animal; do you think there was any hope within that brain?
Here you see the picture of a human being facing death, a
boy on the threshold of eternity, a picture that speaks a thou-
sand words. Here is a boy who, were it not for a quirk of
fate, was about to plunge headlong into the dark abyss of
death. What thoughts ran through his mind? Is there any
’ belligerency in that bowed head? Is there anything but hu-
mility in those dark features? Is this not a picture of total
resignation?”

Then de Blanc pointed his finger at each of the three board
members in turn and asked sternly: “What assurance, gentle-

IF AT FIRST 91

men, does this boy have that he will go to his death in a hu-
mane manner, quickly and painlessly? Supposing that the
chair doesn’t work a second time? Suppose it doesn’t work
the third time? That could happen; it’s happened once and it
could happen again. What is this going to be? An experiment
in electricity? An experiment in modern forms of torture? An
experiment in cruelty? Is the State of Louisiana trying to
outdo the Caesars, the Hitlers, the Tojos, the Nazis, the
Gestapo in torture? How long does the State of Louisiana
take to kill a man? If we want to make it cruel, let’s do it
right; let’s boil him in oil. Why not burn him at the stake, or
put him on the rack? Then we would be sure that by sun-
down he would be dead.

“Gentlemen, the whole system of capital punishment which
is the policy of this State is in jeopardy because of the inhu-
man method in which it is being inflicted in this case. I say,
without equivocation, that unless this Board sees fit to say
that this boy will not suffer the torture of death again, the
critics of our method of execution shall have ample ground
to condemn as a whole our system of punishment.

“Gentlemen, I have traveled throughout southern Louisi-
ana since the attempted electrocution on May 3rd, and I can
say with certainty that public opinion is against this boy
being electrocuted again. If this boy goes back to the chair,
they will say that the one and only reason is to satisfy the
bestial lust for blood, to satisfy this cry for revenge. If he
goes back to the chair they will say that it is nothing short
of murder.

“People all over America have written to me expressing
their sincere belief that it was the hand of God that stopped
the electrocution. They have expressed their horror and dis-
gust at a second attempt. I say in all sincerity that I believe
that Willie Francis was not killed because it was not meant
that he should be killed, that there was some reason, perhaps
not explainable, but still there was a reason in the design of
Fate that this boy should live. Fate acts in strange ways. I,
for one, would want no part in his re-execution. When I meet
my God face to face, I would not want the stain of his blood
on my hands.”

Then, in ringing tones, he concluded: “You, gentlemen,
are the heart and soul of the State of Louisiana in this case.
Men and women everywhere are asking: What will Louisi-

, ana do in this case? Will they return this boy to the chair?

Will Louisiana be fair to this Negro? A boy’s life is in your

Hs
is
My
4
nat
i

Ao NR A AONE A ENN
“a 7s
NS ee ee ee ee intig: yk

San a ey a ee te ee ge

86 DEATH AND THE SUPREME COURT

way deficient. De Blanc felt that regardless of the obstacles
in the way of a strict legal argument, the equities were cer-
tainly with him.

Nevertheless, he decided to proceed first through the Lou-

_isiana courts. His reasoning was that after the courts turned

him down, the choice would lie squarely in the hands of the
executive branch, and the board and governor could not then
avoid their duty by arguing that de Blanc should first
pursue other remedies. Therefore, he petitioned for a writ
of habeas corpus in the same court that had convicted Willie.
He argued that the state and Federal constitutions had been

violated in two respects. First, Willie had once been put in|

jeopardy of losing his life, and to attempt to electrocute him
again would constitute double jeopardy. Secondly, to put
Willie back in the chair after his agonizing experience
would be such cruel and unusual punishment as to violate
due process of law. The trial court denied the petition.

De Blanc immediately filed papers in the Louisiana Su-
preme Court. Because the case was so unique, he was not
certain precisely which method of appeal he should follow,
so he filed four different writs (certiorari, mandamus, prohibi-
tion, and habeas corpus) just to make sure. The Louisiana Su-
preme Court, without a hearing, denied all four of them. The
court concluded that it had no authority to act. Since the trial
and the sentencing had been entirely regular, there was noth-
ing the appellate court could do simply because something
had gone wrong with the execution. The only authority to
grant a pardon or commute a sentence was vested in the gov-
ernor, who in turn could act only upon recommendation of
the Board of Pardons.

The case was now in the posture de Blanc had anticipated.
The courts had placed the responsibility squarely in the laps
of the board and governor. With only a week left before the
execution, de Blanc requested a special meeting of the Board
of Pardons in New Orleans. At the same time, however, he
looked ahead to a possible denial by the board of his plea for
clemency, in which event only one course remained open—an
appeal to the United States Supreme Court. Through a friend,
he contacted a Washington attorney, J. Skelly Wright, and
asked him to prepare appropriate papers in the event that re-
sort to the Supreme Court became necessary.

Wright (since appointed a United States district judge) was
the same age as de Blanc, thirty-five, and was also a native
Louisianian, although he practiced law in the nation’s capital.
A graduate in philosophy and law from Loyola University

IF AT FIRST 87

in New Orleans, he had become a member of the bar at
twenty-three, had entered the United States Attorney’s Of-
fice, and had begun handling all types of civil and criminal
cases for the United States, including the trial of some of the
Louisiana scandal cases of 1940 and the sabotage cases of
1941; He had entered the coast guard in 1942, done a tour
of duty on a subchaser, and then been assigned to Europe for
work in connection with the transportation of material to the
Continent. After two and a half years in service, he had re-
turned to the United States Attorney’s Office as first assistant
and had prosecuted a number of war fraud cases. He re-
signed in May, 1946, to enter private practice in Washing-
ton, and this is where de Blanc found him. Wright said he
would be happy to prepare the necessary papers for the
Supreme Court.

An extensive correspondence developed between de Blanc
and Wright, as they attempted to correlate their efforts. De
Blanc was informed by the lieutenant governor that if a pe-
tition were filed in the United States Supreme Court prior to

the Board of Pardons hearing in New Orleans, the board

would not act until the Supreme Court disposed of the case.
Therefore, de Blanc requested Wright not to file his petition
in the Supreme Court until the board reached its decision.

On May 31, 1946, one week before the new date of execu-
tion, the Board of Pardons met in New Orleans. Captain Fos-
ter and Venezia, the inmate, both gave their stories. They told
of setting up the chair, of testing it, and of their attempts at
electrocution. Although Foster was not an electrician and
Venezia had not been present in the jail, both gave their opin-
ion that no electricity could have passed through Willie’s
body. They pointed out that the chair had never failed to
operate before or since May 3 and that in fact it had been
used successfully the following day in another part of the
state. Venezia said that he had carefully investigated the chair
after the mishap and had discovered a loose wire running
from the panel to the truck. It was his opinion that the elec-
tricity generated by the truck had run directly into the ground
and had failed to reach Willie. Foster agreed. He said Willie’s
protruding lips could have been caused by the hood being

fastened too tightly around his head, and the chair could ~

have shifted simply as the result of Willie moving his feet.
Sheriffs Resweber and Ozeene explained briefly the history
of the Andrews murder and Willie’s arrest, and the coroner
told of his examination of Willie after the attempted execu-
tion. The warden related the phone call which resulted in the

The | reporter conversed with the, mur.
derer on ‘various topics, and aske or .
jer if he had made his peace with ie begs nodding P aor bi
| “The {Innocent question was Hke @ = i? {wo Je hn nenges, th
thrust to the negro, who, with a he out 08 ate Ba yen Fag the
bi 7 or doen't bother me, aie i 9 rtf ' Lda ahh next, corntug JB into a
in’a bad fax, If you onty knew a LB ae r

elie 4 a4 4g through you wou. alley: jeading
hag 2 alata ay rea Ww hours of tt ae res dag te errs

“3 ‘ reache
an news: ; allows was of strople, f
Mechs turned. To the re The r.
Ba ve Mek whispered that it ‘looked atantial build. aS age Ps ca: out
is though Kullee was weake ning BS de form of ener oreo Sear ae
Sipe) eda Seat Tis nd ow ; @. groun SR
Saat fee eetial: tgF: ry “short ee oft pepe and "strengthened. by. Sibel oh 18
tinte aiid pewwines hig seats: ‘Phen be coir ate agit stout Peed norteoe ede oF be
‘ : rin tye ¢ ‘ porn te pelow,. Ana: 4} e rap,. ai ates
pene Md ent hs pane to Captain tatform, wae held firm by a@ very. a ¥F¥
McKie aaa pak th Pra ern one end of which was. tted - a

se a At ERO. o'clock. he | Wits, given, 4 ai{rong’ | «trang rope to the outer edge. oy ‘the
Ae . O97 ‘Sle. ; we ; er mes ind war telat. A hat fae affatd, wa hite the inner end whe | ke
With ignation, A mn ste it Pow pis .clur li, d cured with n Tope, two loops of which -
; Pe . peat tas ers Slerey wetc ready: for lt ad. been passed through a atit in the
: nin " Potier retired te hist | fearing and tieit 10 a wooden projec jon
‘And eee eee irce making bia tollel Mb ton a elie platform, where the Bangman
: a ee ee heh rea wis co Ne ; eouds “a & fu. tie we to at a re adv: with « wehar cleaver

—_ to His Death Without & yy ; on hy ! 1 ! o, bee oper the twin strands of haw, aye:

hee teantine Captain McKay Had | nberate the under beam, sole support of
‘Ditering » Word | Se ee at ueparies. aartcetiis, the: pPAOneEe it

: ' Papi thy

trae
- lie gallows eoms nanded oa full view: of
2 i ee tolong! idk saad -bhe. Beer ene: ety Ae Pot aval © men's vard. which waw. led
—_ ; } ee A Py ahi) aye Mak ith: spectators, excepting the inevita-
4 SS Ae: Pile 4 pL aged \turthy, aaa Cerner la bugs of excited conversations: and the.
Scenes and ‘ Incidents Accompany ing +. ‘ 4 hy ; r, , j acd ty Mt ute ae} i SilOsenerna Apel earruilr's ols moh
bes ibid os : 1 oe ee As nae eed malt y ig tho inessing of peveral hundred |pev-
the First Execution in the | | Fe Sidaaedh gear abt OW i dar Mabe ste og

er juait ed fycloutte, the

rape rk

: , (8 Well hehbaved. and ert arty
t ‘ ; tr kh ee ’ : ninutes afier the Witnesses
New Courthouse. ; it se ore

eft hapel, uber Mae otole
; As, ety \ spony ad ithe Hore that he Was fo prepare

ian: said; cine
1 refi to the ;

3
7
*
ie

> eS

ron

hed

s
eo
a

PR.

i
a = RE

‘ft ele
7 ve hie rat
h eh Avi aR
20 te miatbility

Douly,

. from the

AM pression th At
he Inqreat to da

Avanorrow.

SORA lors

i HPP se 4

ats ¢uircrea nis
to the. tomiteri

hea fare
sarin! t+

for the boura preceding. the.

ACL TOO o'clock. Puller. will be bag "
Jewn cto the vhapel where be WHE. be
| shriven liy Father Moore, A mans willbe
said whieh the. comfemned man wikd
waviake of connmunton. After the nervice P

Sisters of Mercy will retrain with hit
for an heur or piore” Ain the time ar
tives for the’ reading of the death. war-
. rant, Poller a be allowed: to say kn :

wHapel,. if be elooses, oF retin to- Argun
hin etl, At tt ion, (he she rift will pre pare alsin nea

oy Was iresi ty
* aghrhe ripest ed
Vial wae net
urbe ths:
ane dened
aah Ben utd his

eek us PLEASED

th ‘Attention
Th rouxghout

we between noon and Boa ehock, -prokey)”
ly a tow minutes after 1 olelack.. Chief Argume
Pepitty Sherif Jo3. Auburtin with read | byt
deuth watrant te Puller atothe en: | Boris
tet oof the eondemped cpp’ cell Th heirs bd
presener of the sheriff and the wit- Judge
vs, Preeyiounsl*+ gyoorh taut provided forniart
be ohiwe. That fekumiite: having doen} court at
eoourplistiod, batter Vit b@. eeeprted. th
éhapel aod there wv tinal prayer will | Mhentiel
“srebe oly Reve Path ‘ bepent'e ; f Jigrtat
thw line of: mareh t4éoVhe-o scaffold will) tana
hew Degine The vondemned: mans: will 1 of
“1 die hiagaibrious procession, having at:
i Tight. his ospleitiab adviser, Mev. pimalios
nther Alwore, andkoat hia left Mr. Jere) net
ryan, chief of the «leath wateh Next flephig
follow the keepers, Prank Mumford, | of 1

set thar nw th! cody
ta the “inle rey
the. ‘Police any,
ge Lhe iisoner,
J he yu ' voli ‘e bist “aa b as
f Dnra

abe festhhesiry af Chae whe
Goat - i ane atte)

§ woes
Seding, ‘ot:
ery nrant ity
% flrs wd he The hotuwers:
sige from this a to M
7 that — hot 4 ne
; “pver Nis face.
<i ed Ended yoy
; &he cmnrder KR
gh and he. see inte t Say
Mt there are wnat s

' we have rin -dow ii the wrons

ese te und
ee NSt. Puirayt.
inet else wit i

tryed

et nlm
FRUIT GROWERS
fornia Want
‘Currant tndrasiry.

neisco, ™ 3 A
Oo Brurt bixct

the :sdivaixesi:
Soeteetiricos int
ety. The wet
a reernt: «cde

4 MM Wi}

Protect ¥ he ae

st
.
a .
st 5 }
eyant
pia
‘z Ci
iat picket
“pa hia
ee -
frend too
:
44) ?
4 °
yfe i
wi .
‘an j
ee re
me ee
fre ¥ ty
' ~ f
I ge %
arrrnt 4
indigent»
P PENS LUST
waeteat pert

~ BRT eer. . Bike
enry. athiele

the ee

dletatia of the solemn.
Arranged last night,

Will be Jeftia- the ehapel, nd the

the fatal monn,
be diewr of: egeiaytion will he’ at any

Kiiv end Thowas Fulham, of the

thowateh,”” then Sherhit Remy Klock | native
the witnesses, large
Hier will carry chisped thn ahr oe day

front ef his. breibt oa eruchix,: w ae

wilhoniy ioave Dh at the. seadiald, @ |
naniterd to Prather: Moore ; ‘ie
Dow theee double fights of harrow, |
dita ostalr@ the solemn) gronyro. wilh [ose
wen ti -@® Bmath var, throuch a a Lj
the “bettom “of the Just statewidy.c Eaat pata
ml de toyards- asin street, near the pme?
er Of Grrav ber, nied at rin etree Wit

res A. BArraw pPussage, vey oh, hy “

rio the right, leads to a Kate opening hehe

too Thorexvorcise yatd of the wilite mate 11 Hii
SHAS i } of
piat fie Very thexshald “of that door a ft the
| ? 1. titht ey ‘ < hy
tee ! £1 RN ands 4 2prn H Ved
‘ ti ekeletou beanies. Of the fre Ww
Mai rabse the i rid Height abriws Was
mVveal ’ tara: p. hese «sfeme. tha J
Seek OW aHiwi¥t eo. wth | t
4 t hed, and then 1 t
fri xy nept } ; Wiil mt ;
| anything’ to " i's t peri , 4
’ ‘ react: Man j
ta ¢.ul ment the ' ¢
‘ qulek .
| ief TUnATe } ‘ | mij
i? ifter ’ '
b Bileeeeeay x wie iris y
‘ tnd at a opr ' 1 win SPH
' EIT: tins - , iss of
aA t. ae P { ii le topen
ie 6 ae ti | t . of 21 19)
, j vd of. 3 re eyitt i
1° ayititn i WH hed
f § hiv ¢ i :
j i : '
t Lit :
t : Aw? q
, ‘ |
“t
i i
ye
ay : “* .
i ' " /
tod 4
| }
y ar wy . |
t fi oS ii )
( 1 4
’
i ‘
‘ H }
‘
ial

THE WILKS

Hlebrate the Pleetian of OMoers

Woh a’ Soetet

whe
hiusineds
put asid

inne

At OM

ify und Fe
neh & woe
ritents Whi

ees:
of fran

traud wit

Sit

tor Lbtel: prppe

thats of (arag
crude te nw

Tatts ae te
i ara wera

f.) Pheocase
lags at |W
aiet forniwd

appeaiok bey
seiacs of

bei taa te Phe

the Fil
Rock, } A

7¢

i anak) FE
Lourie &

Vk mary

on. the ©

re shir @

veornor Fe
worn: CVE
rr peaity Oo

ane jx ihe
‘ i, aA i

pi. o Phe

evra

ot. RPTine

Seve tire

hebrs,) Dy
Le aware
the. suit

+4 eeuLEr ES

PO Luts rtis
Pi hy
me tf
To *

‘

colin sam

4¥ Ces may

Pa |

vet
Cap wasrdrawp overshis face,

Althotigh Puller had tet

altéyne@an, When: The Dla

SV RIRTOSS

“Peank Faller.

The test jrate)
Prison WOK Place -vedterday ‘
Frank ‘Puller, (fare éxplated on. the
Fallows the awful ering at urdes
, at demenhor
which were the norable charweteriatit ya
his chising dares iY abiran a did nat ‘ta
wake hin threavgbort tive teeing rit
Hotweoen the awakening at sunrise oh

q
or ae

eve

al execution in t

RO. expressed: Kimiself the wigtp pres
} i> TAGKY 8 it h-friwy the: Bean |
changed bis wiltid at the lost moment
deetiwed> 11 privites wile A
‘the scaffold if He d ed: to: add
craw,
rie. ¢
Y (ihe. vaeys ie 1 :
: Tae < at
Ga té
A ‘ve .
i eutecat’ 3
: ul
‘i d
. i ‘ . ix
: ~ r “,
ee ‘
et ,
' “
| ’
7
4
¢
%
:.
e}
4
i
te ‘
a
wipe 4 eagy Pees ’
Tha. degutiv a : is
eee Mumford.) 4
fp er tien . vad j
sey 4 % badd oe he i
aecertain bow: he ui
ment soundly ahd weyers stirred. f
fy eee
soet aa) the belie tat ;

he new

His

el us he ehisped’ the. hand

ied Adal pt
took - bts
Hepes: ‘
“eae he, bie.
Fick deinarkeod,

tina 1

hh yaenk, ent trys?’

denmed han.

At ff o'etack Patter was

btidi ecb
way guadby

Gerasy ohm. respond:

of the ‘eon:

piven breakfast,

Whiely. coueisted of stewed siainps, fried
Peete tere, Ay ays wees, {tied eee, Spaniel
eu net Cored,

ano cheered,

Peselyere

t alsont- fai

ik f

hhyaita anda
The ‘whe hearilly., gind “afier

mrebviites

the. real de:

then.

fetumed ty the chapels There he romain
ed ati! wiinost tive. for the cmaren to
the gullowse. Atant 10 o'elock his ‘Bister,
Maty,° Visiced. Idan aad abe conversed
with. Patter some time, carefully Arvrapg
five every detall of- the funeral Wihilels wap
tae fullaw,. dwas declded thot he fine
val should take place, tion the hath at
the eprwr of General..Ogdern- and othe
i Poller eocined entirels: unconeet:
€ sere ¢ 1st ie) ater. DEPP AR RIA
fie etults. ef hl funeral Several tine
| 44 ib. atiel cote veil gerern fo think
tt he reqnpdimd the entitemntter nan
fake Ajit da loeh. Hie Skater Kissed
Pi, “aw (l li tial ‘i Anite eiy ‘ye do out
‘ ; pel Liver f)y9 hiatran
q ! POI \ ; : f depts ote
i taf Walkie? ie Ponte nthnne
fart | ; wud J ht Nahe, teen
¢} | he io their cell
ae F o 3) te
SIN ie 2 ae
*R\ A oth | Wea
Scent a . r’ 7 ! r } ae
RGA A |e ie
A aNON te ¥ j ve Fis *
ASS Seg hanat fete
iat ae
ae

iN 1 te mn fen
ad By
a=
nt ; b/ i J
it y 4 \ y
‘)) 4 if /
} fF &
‘ *
' oar
[- :
‘ i > ‘i

»
wit
; SY mh
a,
igo nine 3
—
r 4 BRS

Fess ‘ ;
i ‘ aU
en ie &
Ler ye
pa f Poy
el
; Bi lhiety
Ae towne
mt
q wn
‘ oe
5, +
4
j oly ™
e< hy
‘
is
finltloswws
‘
,
ty
a \ 7
' t 3 eer
Hee % iteee}
i vert ha
eel?
Loree ant ital od bey
( Mt Vincent ae Maat
Vo ero. Pye ta 7“
} yew e soe .
+} AEiS 1, A
eeniad eee Af Be LV tA
hent within cetaht
chia ay }
, } ’ by

SNE

aa Se

3
HF

and God bless you? Bien

hiss :
vomled to. dDind Fuller's hands ;
CANeG te to tin Bik fe) Se ving

back and to

bean

eo One
to th

aoe

e middle 6

cutioner then genuy . piehs
aPuts

omplshed | quickly and.

qrously, the black cap Was adjust geo g

nox wis slipped. on
ini thet, prompuy stepping te on

the hang

and

wroke on the énd of the rope which “ :
j cy im- 7
the uprights 10 rari the

thie

pact

broug

pov ble
PW ith a. BAaAPps

aga

hinwed'. sie

bod
tit ft

then stood suapenited
for. three

less,

leurs

ermine
he ov

guys

the patient's

welzed a aheaver, j

he it down. with a wwilt, vere

beain Under the tra
aidden #wish and ne

net a
fe; the trap yawned, Finller’s
. down heavily and swiftly un
fue a opHre hase. coused, f na. it
in mid air, mpotion-.
or. four seconds; #Oqn the
faow convulsive, twitching

movements, the arms trembled ts if, elec.

triga

liv. 4

thing .8oMm

fipirtl
jer

these of the

tlie

the

profersiont

#8 ftuTra

A,°%

tried

Pi ayew

mr athet

i
nial
the

ly. twenty
pationt was |

rillel. dne or two horrible: rate
is forced through the dying
it. and then a rigid immebility..
}, Mayle, deputy. coroner, and:
witnesses who belonged to
al profession advanced. under
and for several minutes the
it men felt for the pune aril
signs of aniniation, mati} after
minutes of examination

‘RONOUNCED DEAD, |

Dr. Maylie was of the eolatap that:
Fyiter passed from life to eternits with.
out” pal. Hie believed that the}. man s
junk wis broken, because When the body
' rbeal the end of the drop there (war no.
i thon of limb aor misc for seve ‘al BeC-

i 4 ‘ tinet: sean: after. thie fatal

4 ee felt at WO p.m, aud the
] ' red at] ’

it: " “doo a bong tabip near the

if : + wx 3 (Tye ClLepeut § OE OF

i ) Weal, We att aL t the wee

ae af iu Wovlle that the bece

rl Thay deh t Wy : the flail was
it ‘4 : } exe ta ination.

{ ive ity re ubhierwesl te bret taken
;way i tehiake © Rhodes aeting. wonder
1 te f ; ee mm ttee ie eee
peo} 4 {i ib atlemd to ite viahiat,

Vth q iv wi conveyed tie ittinades’-
i ae ax. at. the artery of Con

i } s. Repeat where!) it wit]
i tas fhe pematoe will
Tee ’ in” ta HILO} thin Torvioon,
‘ be Paposed > Tas a. Dall) mt the
: H ee : tyenereh Otten
@henee othe tener’ with: take

i i lay afternoon at Vi er pioek,
tela et. COtmected > with
' “wat Ute ering. | toe Obes
+ tie testatiwnn of the hehe

' the felhowing Words
‘ rie ‘ahd and
. a Th Wate danivy sWhery
eneiutliia of rank
La oPeee cs TY ENE teed pha rene
rhe Giarditver, Owetlly thw€)/ t+ 12 OS
Mridag, Apri WW, Ay. De
Fae warreht of.the governir aot the
~. Fas ’ chabest Miroh 9a.
t mn He piawee Wile the hey,”
act No, a, approved) daly 16
ie intima the criminal | ehertt
he | J f A} te eae ote
eke Lin ¢ ie ithe On fhe ah) Pian k
Bag do Ba m3 aeoreming 4 ithe
aM . es Ty yt ie M” ia Peal i the

+ oe ea o phieg he J } A Ww heontt Hit,
iLevgayn! he oo hein al eherll tier the
ares thyvieane y é

tae rietstigrtih further altest ana
eriity.4 4 1 17 oP ws mm. the
ropes Wae pik a} mVnivd the. te ok ny the

“VA Pea

ok Fulter Tee oa cheparty: ote 7 the
ehevitt: aud that’ at ar ae

i. The Teereniy “aignei Whe
TPAD: TWA ow hw hb) the raid
ek Wan pinot Tell fiom woe:

if ed

1 hw wae shepended ih the ae

wh and the undersi@ped. atl of

me:
=f

Sas =

= Ss

rity.

of RS er
mi) He tiok

& eheould tirs:
P. Maitery altel
water front:

qDosition Wes made of ait by tie

wibject to
gever, than

bill. w hic h
as not. ftuthi«

the: cormimitice it
than «hat sent. in

Pols bad bet
ae Sat

ws a
SICK McCADICS DEATH.

acronis

passed hia 68th: y:

@ in this coun
Pat bis home

psterday moruing
a native of [1
pantry when 4"

im «this city

he was 2
pus hes

gree ried apie!
he eetes. and

v
; WH Vek
yy the: vey
boar oh behatt.
ad alike ‘the ¢yun-

Hicen hie minder ath:
Whe nh, tive
Ta Uiey
RevINC. Cot pose,
the Bia ifaldl
Niw
Khot awd
Pepemted
“a spel ut of the

TU Ls us,

ad tent Before
» Lawmakers.
Apel)
Sadat
atotlal contest wus agatn
etcher the Toutes ee, 4
the

¥aiued
Was Wefeated. in i eenate

S$. {hpectal.)-

bath

With proposed Tegislation

a “wy ja avi koi
allory appearcd
ay steve on conmmierce
the: representative of

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put his: son

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onstanthy
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ailrolited

“ ite men yer women: white youths and

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: the setles std %
| patterned at Bt.

COOMA es

“Alpboasus’ x

2 CONDEMNED
The Steel Cue in’ White ‘he: pean “pth
ener ia Kept. .

toe

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eetediaus +e
rire
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eorved: Baur
White
latter
fare ta satisfy
sexe thd |

to serd ? seadcbe tu

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c an wire
of bie

t there
crowed,
barr (I

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at. viight,
bet TA

Hit Wars

in
into
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fay 4
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other
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his the following officer rs
hth 4 weer bi AL Tadner, exalter: rater WwW.
ih HE. Povirlas, esteenied leading eek plight:
his ey Wrace.. esteemed —Jeeturin ‘

: ft POO

. behind
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asked

frieivia
hin

rie

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OOMNCES,

ot will ped te al! he eon
wlinewses that T..die ake a mn and with)
Abe baishidapts of 4 Christian.” °

ee cr oc lp! Shed
THR BLKS

With a Seecint. -

; The New Orledaue Lodge of Mikes held
one ‘of thelr. fam eet cessions at the new
urters inat night, Ne; 1021 Can: xh street,
a ‘ia it was a. gout vin e tan all wh cat
tended, The sama: ‘old. reilaible ‘Bethed
+ ae ‘urtts wi aa the chairman of: the even-

tice was composed. of Messrs, A. BE. bad

Starrs sy BMyanusy ode W. Clrbstie Mf.

“tie

the shakin, Baud with seer

teresting and made quite a hit.
The evenive came to, an end all

for n good time until tie..sinat
when the: general talent gave oute 1)
Kika’. promise fo entertain their:

friends in the mess Quarters hefore th
Lt oa revert meetlig

fer the. pre

Phineas Moses; secretary; G. HH.

Bb i Handy, on Make Vatarla,

maewt-d
cluiel, “and aak the peapie ‘presnt 10 he:

Celebrate ‘the Election of Officers:

tne tah. he pre: wided with his Ght.time
| snirit, which means that the night was
apent enjoyably, Mr, AV FL: Donglas was’
appointed the: chief of police and J... Oh
sehérer, bis assistant. The beer éoinnslt-

ner, Morris Marks, R.o 1b. Wraes, rok

Seldenbiech, Brother Sone, of -Detrelt,
hn. BE. Kelly and) Poo Chapman. heere:
tury: Moses attended fo the. progra ime
and he made up. a very interesting one.
The entertainment -was begun with «a
plane holo ly Prof, Chadwick Joe Simon. !
was along pext with a humorous. fecita
ron. Unat @éarned, a hearty, encore, Mr.
George Lurney pleased the audience avith
ni Song, Alex MMos smeyer with a recits itor,
ys, Mr. WD.
it. Graliam told a. funny. story, J. W.
Cyristlie Was heard. fn dialect stories, J.
Mick sang, Wells and Hartzwell re nilerctl
a duet ‘on. the. mandolin. and, guitar, J,
tom pleased with an anecdote und ALr.
ward sang o ballad, Messts. Bin Wil-
liams, Billy Wolf, Chenmuel: Pred ewetl
nul We lL Buchanank, members of “The
' Month Rofore the. Wat Coulis en
1 | fettained the audience immensely. in The
itter part of the. evening. Dilv.. Walt
and Biity Williams were particularly in

too

soon, for the addlence Was getting down
hours

hag

the KikS& ate tend

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National

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sheimer, FE Ss. Michet and J. Gy Scherer, | 2G. 8
te poard of. trustecs, — thin
il : Me -. leeaiatacaientinliaientoniite he resitis
a arom
v of
; : 1th: Mua ¥
When Baby was sick, wl gave her Castoria. a fall
: ern
When eho was a Child, she cried for Castoria. oa - Pee
When she became Mim, she clung to Castoria, ine. Toe
\* | When she had Children, she gave them Castorte | jr. oak tabetha
‘ shomtd

tit

ape ‘JAfe Savers’ on Paty.
ok hate N.. Ya AD 1 TS. The Buffalo road Ay
an ata.oW af the }hfersaving serviee Welt di
pro} egnumigatyn for Aire - séaeem ‘towbhay
af the take stations: in this. district
now ‘ppened except those at Oswego aud | wont

on hl

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mail and
ope, cone ining ioe

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wi

New York
in tive anys, ret
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rel

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416 La.

ish is about 11,000 people, of which about
25 per cent. are colored. Mr. Saul testified
that he imagined it was one-fourth or one-
third negroes, and in answer to the ques-
tion whether or not there were qualified
negroes, he said, “I think so,” and when
asked what the percentage was, he answer-
ed, “I don’t know.” He also testified that
“as long as I have been in office there has
always been the names of a negro or ne-
groes in the box.” Mr. Mecom testified
that about 30 per cent. of the population of
Caldwell parish consisted of negroes, and
that about one-half of one per cent. were
qualified, and in an effort to estimate the
approximate number qualified to serve as
jurors, stated, “probably 75.” But the trial
judge in his per curiam said, “this is an
exaggerated estimate,” and his estimate
was approximately twenty-five negroes.
The three witnesses, who were called to
testify, stated that there has always been
one or more negroes on the jury list and
that no discrimination was exercised in the
selection of persons for jury service in
Caldwell parish.

Unlike the Scottsboro Case, in this case
there is no evidence pointing to any partic-
ular negro who was qualified to serve.
The evidence shows that there are some
negroes qualified within the parish for jury
service, which at best are only estimates or
opinions of a former clerk of court and of
the district judge. The record is totally
barren of any evidence tending to show
that any negro was excluded from the jury
list because of his color or race. On the
contrary, we think that the testimony
shows, as is summarized in the per curiam
of the trial judge, that negroes, during the
past thirty or forty years, have been con-
stantly included in every jury list and have
served on petit and grand juries. The evi-
dence does not show that one or two ne-
groes on the jury list is not a fair and just
proportion of negroes in comparison with
the white persons qualified to serve as
jurors in that parish. It stands to reason
that if there are only 25, or “probably 75”
as testified to by one witness, negroes qual-
ified to serve as jurors in the parish, in the
drawing of a venire list of 300 twice a
year, hardly more than 2 or 3 could be rea-
sonably and fairly expected to be placed on
any one venire list. Defendant in this case
does not even contend that he did not re-
ceive a fair and impartial trial, nor does
he claim that he was not properly and just-
ly convicted, or that a negro jury would

172 SOUTHERN REPORTER

not have convicted him; nor that he is
innocent. His sole and only defense is an
effort to bring his case within the decision
of the Supreme Court of the United States
in the case of Norris v. State of Alabarna,
supra.

There is no feeling or prejudice on ac-
count of race or color in this case as there
was in the Scottsboro Case. That case in-
volved a most heinous crime by a group of
negroes on the person of a white woman,
whereas in this case, the defendant, a ne-
gro, murdered three children of his own
color, two being his own children, and the
feeling, if any existed in that parish, was
principally among the people of his own
race and color.

Our conclusion, from a careful study of
the entire record, is that there was no dis-
crimination shown because of race or color
in this case in the drawing of the jury list
from which were drawn the grand jurors,
who later indicted the defendant, and the
petit jurors, who convicted him. The de-
fendant received every consideration at
the hands of justice. He was tried fairly
and impartially in the same manner and
under the same procedure as all other
people are tried in the State of Louisiana,
regardless of their race or color and that
is all that is required by the equal protec-
tion clause of the Constitutions of this
State and of the United States.

We find no error in the court’s ruling
either as to bill of exception No. 1 or bill
of exception No. 2.

Immediately after the court overruled
the two motions, the counsel for defendant
filed a motion for a continuance based on
the ground that they did not have time to
adequately prepare his defense, but when
the court announced that counsel would be
granted such time as they required to prop-
erly prepare his defense, they immediately
withdrew the motion for a continuance.
This, we think, conclusively shows the fair-
ness with which the defendant was treated
during his trial.

[9] The next bill of exception was re-
served to the court’s refusal to grant the
defendant a change of venue. A review
of the testimony offered in connection with
this bill shows that the trial judge’s conclu-
sion, that the defendant had not established
by the testimony offered that he could not
receive a fair and impartial trial in the
parish of Caldwell, was correct. The mo-
tion was therefore properly denied,

STATE v. GILL
172 So. “ae 417

[10] The defendant, with full reserva-
tion of his rights under the bills of excep-
tion Nos. 1, 2, and 3, was tried and found
guilty as charged, but before he was sen-
tenced, his counsel filed a motion for a new
trial setting forth the alleged errors al-
ready pointed out in the first three bills of
exception, with the additional grounds
that: (1) The verdict was contrary to the
law and the evidence, and (2) that Mr. C.
P. Thornhill, who was originally appointed
by the court to represent the defendant did
not advise with the defendant or, in fact,
make any effort to protect his,rights in the
premises, and therefore defertdant did not
have any one to look after his interests
until October 8, 1936, when his present
leading counsel, Mr: Mecom, was appoint-
ed. The trial judge, after due hearing on
this motion, denied it and stated in his per
curiam his reasons therefor, to wit:

“The motion for a new trial was denied
for the law and the evidence beyond any
doubt justified the verdict. The other

points raised in the motion have practically |

been given by the court for denial in its
per curiam to bills Nos. One and Two.
While William H. Mecom was only ap-
pointed as attorney on the 8th of October
in the place of C. P. Thornhill, and the
case was tried on the 13th of October, Mr.

*Mecom filed a motion for a continuance

but afterwards withdrew it. When the
Court informed him that it would give him
additional time to prepare the defense if he
needed it Mr. Mecom then withdrew his
motion for continuance and said he was
ready for trial. The defendant was.-repre-
sented throughout the trial by attorneys
who had been practicing law for more than
five years as the law directs. There is
nothing to the motion that C. P. Thornhill
was only appointed after arraignment.
The minutes show that he was appointed
to try the case, and on oath, he states that
he accepted the appointment ‘with the in-
tention of defending the case throughout
the entire trial, but that it was several days
after the arraignment he was talking with
the defendant and from facts he then ob-
tained from the defendant he determined
to withdraw from the case if permitted.
172 SO.—27

Again we wish to state that the Judge of-
fered to continue the case for several days
if Mr. Mecom desired more time for the
purpose of preparing the defense and he
stated that he didn’t want same; that he
was ready to go to trial.

“For these reasons and for reasons in
Bills One and Two given, we refused a
new trial.”

We are of the opinion that the ruling of
the trial judge in refusing to grant the de-
fendant a new trial was correct.

[11] Bill of exception No. 5 was re-
served to the ruling of the trial judge in
refusing to grant a motion in arrest of
judgment, which motion was leveled at the
entire proceedings and particularly the rul-
ings of the court which are the basis of the
first four bills of exception. In his per
curiam attached to the last bill of excep-
tion, the trial judge stated:

“This motion was denied for the reason
the motion in arrest of judgment, as we
understand, must be leveled at facts patent
on the face, and this, motion was not so
leveled, but if it was intended to be con-
sidered leveled at the whole proceedings,
then the motion was denied for the reason
stated in the previous bills of exception,
and for the further reason there is nothing
to show that the defendant was tried by a
jury that was improperly drawn and se-
lected by the Jury Commission. He was
tried by a jury that was properly and legal-
ly drawn and selected by the Jury Commis-
sion as we understand the law. There is
nothing in the record to show that the Jury
Commission systematically excluded the
names of negroes from the Grand Jury
and Petit Jury box. We have stated in
previous bills that negroes have been used
and that the name of a negro was in the
box and that it is useless to reiterate same.”

The judge’s ruling was correct because
“a motion in arrest of judgment lies only
for a substantial defect, patent upon the
face of the record.” Code of Criminal Pro-
cedure, art. 517. See, also, State v. Hart,
133 La. 5, 62 So. 161.

For the reasons assigned, the conviction
and sentence are affirmed.

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New Louisiana

Angelo Giurlando , a white man,
hanged at Amite, Tangiahoa Farish,

m February 16,1923 tor the
murder of his brother-in- law.

1 have 1) send Aulay to Lousiana for infer-
library loan of microtiln and that will Take
time. You might want To prepare smal{ Card

pend ing recejot of further information.

Metadata

Containers:: Box 18 (2-Documentation of Executions), Folder 6
Resource Type:: Document
Description:: Wayne Felde executed on 1988-03-15 in Louisiana (LA)
Rights:: In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted
Date Uploaded:: June 30, 2019

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