The herald and news. (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, September 15, 1908, Page TWO, Image 2

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JOHN T. DUNCAN WAS DISBARRED SUPREME COURT FILED ITS DE CISION FRIDAY. All Brought About in the Trial of a Negro for Assault and Battery With Intent to Kill. Jno. T. I)uncan has been disbarred from the practice of the profession of law. The decision of the State su prenie court was handed down Fri day. Duncan's case was heard in July and the decison has been expect ed daily ever since. The decree was written by Judge R. Withers Mem minger of Charleston, who sat in place of Justice Eugene B. Gary, dis qualified. The court is unanimous in its de eision. , Judge Mem:minger's opinion is very forceful in such' parts as relate to the old proverb, "A good name," etc. Judge Memminger recites the history of the case, and refers to the fact that Duncan had been given warning in former disbarment proceedings. When the papers were received Fri day morning, Col. U. R. Brooks, clerk of the supreme court, submitted to Sheriff Coleman a certified copy setting forth the order of the court that Dancan's license be cancelled. The paper was served in due process, Duncan anpeared at he supreme court room and asked to see the entire de cree. He gave no statement of his intentions other than to say that he is conscious of having done ,no wrong, that he hopes some day to be vindicated before the people. that he harbors no malice. The whQle case comes up on the prosecution of a. negro for assault and battery with intent to kill. Duncan was the attorney for the accused, who was convicted. D'uncan in the effort to get a new trial alleged that another negrd was guilty and presented an affidavit alleging a confession from this negro. Solicitor Benet,. who just about that time came into office, made some investigations upon reports made to him, and submitted affidavits denying Duneaat's allegations. Upon this Dt(nean was charged with having submited "false a'nd ficticious'' affi davits. ' There were side issues in the case of a sensational nature but the above constitute the main facts. The opinion of Judge Memuminger is as follows: The Decision. At the May, I906, teret of the court of general sessions for Riebland coun ty, Judge Klugh presitling, Jesse Hun ter, a negro, was tried and convicted under a charge of firing upon and wounding one,.of a magistrate's posse sent to his house to arrest him. John T. Dtmean, Esq., of the Rich land county bar, defended Hunter, and, after conviction, moved Judge Klugh for a new trial, which was re fused. An appeal to the supreme court was then taken, and supersedeas bond given, the wife of said Duncan being one of the sureties thereon. Thet e was considerable delay in perfecting this appeal but' pending the supersedeas in December, 1907, in conformity with the practice then ef fective, as to motions for new trials on after-discovered evidence, Mr. Du~ncan moved the supreme court for leave to apply to the circuit court on the ground of suti after-discovered evidence, said evidence purporting to be, among others, an affidavit of one Jeff Taylor, stating that he was at Hunter's house at the time of the shooting for which Hunter had been convicted, and that he, not Hunter, did the shooting. This motion was resisted by Mr. Solicitor Timmerman, then solicitor of the Fifth -circuit, of whieh Rich land county was then a part. The supreme court refused this motion but thereafter Mr. Duncan obtained a stay of the remittitur and the mo tion came up for hearing at the next succeeding term of this court in May, 1908. In the meanwhile, by an act of the legislature, Mr. Solicitor Tim merman was put into the Eleventh cir cuit and to the solicitorship of the Fifth circuit, composed of Richland and Kershaw counties, the governor had appointed Christie Benet, Esq., of the Richland bar. When, therefore, the said motion came up in May, 1908, as aforesaid, Mr. Solicitor Benet represented the State, being notified of the motion and- appearing therein, produced and read an affidavit from Jeff Taylor, entirely denying that he had ever made the affidavit whieh Mr. Dunean claimed he had made, confessing to said shooting; an affidavit of Jesse Myers denying that he had ever au thorized an affidavit purporting to be from him which Mr. Duncan was us Mvers 4tated that Taylor was at Hiun ter's house at the time of the shoot in'. and other affidavits corrobor-"tive thereof. At the trial of the cause Taylor had testified that he was not at Hunter's house and knew nothing of the shooting. Mr. Duncan, claiming to be entirely shoke1 and surprised at the produc tion of these affidavits, asked for timn in which to reply thereto, and was given by the court until June 2, 1908, at which time the matter being again irought up for a showing in reply to said affidavits. Mr. Duieau insisted on reading to the court h's own nfi davit, couched in fierce and denun eiatory language; the s:a'stance of which was to villify Solicitors Tim mermn and Benet and to accuse them together with Magistrate L:kes. -A:1 had comamitted Hunter upon the shoot ing charge, and others in any wise connected with that prosecntion, of : vile conspiracy, ("a conspiracy dark. and damnable") to exculpate Taylor, convict Hunter and his wif and in .jure and degrade him, Duncan. as a lawyer; and in support of the geni iaeness of the Taylo: affidavit he submitted an affidax-?. purp-itinz to be from .= stenogr:'V--r, Mrs. Siew art, going to show a very distinct re collection, on her part, of the circum stunees it the making of that alida vit, its subs ance :n I :t.; r-n'unoen = Whereupon the s:ud 'motion for leave to apply for a new trial was again refused. and .) a :ie same la:. this court, if its own motion, issued an order as follew.s: "From the affidavits in the case of the State .against Jesse Hunter and Francis. Hunter, it appears that charges are made under- oath that John T. Duncan, an attorney of this court, has knowingly submitted to this court false and fictitious affida vits. "It is considered by the court that the said charges should be investi gated, therefore is is ordered that t-he said John T. Duncan do show eause before the supreme court on Monday June 3, 1908, at 10 o'clock a. m., whN he should not be attached for con tempt or be disbarred as an attorne3 for submitting said affidavits. "Ordered further, a certified copy of this order be forthwith strved or the said John T. Duncan. "Y. J. Pope, C. J., etc.'' And on June 6, by per curlam or der, Mr. Attorney General Lyon be ing requested by the court to conduci the investigation and trial under its said order of June 2. On motion ol said attorney general, the hearing un der the order of June, being deferred until July 15; on June 10 the court made another order in the mattei wvhereunder said Du:ncan was directed at the same time, to wit: July 15, 1908, also to show cause why he should not be attached for a contempt of this court on account of so villifyina its officers in the presence of the court and using towards them such offen sive language as would be unwarran table to be used in this court undei any circumstances; and so couehing his charges -against, them and other persons in such harsh and intemper ate language and invective as to brina himself into contempt of this court aforesaid. Associate Justice Gary being dis qualified by reason of relationship te thre said Duncan by affinity and not having participated in any of t.hese proceedings, on July 15, 1908, Circiti Judge Memmninger having been assign. ed by the governor to take the place of Justice Gary, and :the court being thus composed and ready to proceed with the matter, Mr. Schumpert ap pea ring for Mr. D)uncan and Mr. At tor-ney General Lyon for the State, due return was made to said orders on behalf of Mr. Duncan; the return being -as to the first order, under which disbarment was involved, for presenting false and fictitious affi davits; in substance a detailed state mnent of the circumstances, under whiehi he claimed the Taylor and My. ers affidavits were obtained; and thus presenting a clear issue of faci upon this question; as to the second order. under wihich attachment for contempt was involved, as aforesaid, in substance a reiteration of the al leged conspiracy c-harged in the affi davit of June 2, involving the chiarge of theft of papers in the case by Mr. Solicitor Timmerman in conspiracy with Mr. Solicitor Benet and others; and, while reaffirming said charges, expressing megret and 'apology for the use of intemperate language in whieb said affidavit was couched, the cir cumstances of extenuation being al leged to have been great haste in the preparation of the affidavit' without opportunity for revision or of reflec tion upon the same. Whiereupon'the issues being me12 up under said orders of the court and the said returns, and the testimony being delivered orally and steno graphica.lly reported; the State being eontilnuing through the sllii 1.5t Ii July and the Iext day and argutnent being heard on hehalft of t re-p':: dent (Mr. Attorney General Lyon) declaring his unwillingness to pres. the matter by argument; it being up on the facts for the court ; and there fore not arguing the same, the courl reserved its decision and now aftei due deliberation proceeds to announce the same. The questions arising for decisior are: Whether upon the record thu> presenlted said John T. )iuean shoul( be disbarred and stricken from tlh roll of attorneys of this State and should he be punished for contempi of this court in respect to the mat ter of his adfiavit of June 2 afore said. Upon the question of the alleged -affidavits of Taylor and Myers be ing false and fictitious, and beinr thus knowingly presented to this court by Mr. Duncan as a basis of hi: motion for leave to apply for a ne-% trial for Hunter in the circuit court, we have (neither purporting to bE signed by the affiant, but by hi? mark) the affirmance of Duncan that the affidavits were fairly made by thc alleged affiants, and the point blanli denial of the afftants of ever havino made or sanctioned them. To properly solve this questior therefore we are called upon to weigi it in the light of the intrinsic prob abilities of the situation, that is. ii it probably true that Taylor or My ers would either have made the affi davits purporting to have been mad( by him for Duncan? As to Myers, there is no ligh thrown directly by these probabili ties. He merely states that TayloI was at the house where the shooting took place; but as to Taylor, the Dun. can affidavit if genuine, would hav< him confessing to a crime for whiel another had been tried and convicted and to a perjury at that trial; for hE had there sworn that he was not a ,the house and knew nothing of th shooting. We start then with that as an in trinsie improbability. The next poin is. is it. true that he and not Hunte1 did. the shooting? And if true, an the fact that an innocent man ha( been convicted for his crime, woul< be a cause impelling him to confess then :that might be taken as an in trinsie probability that he woul< make the affidavit Duncan claims ha made. This point drives us to inquire whether or not it is true that Taylo and not Hunter di4 the shooting. After a eareful consideration of al the evidence, we can not but answe this question in the negative and uni derwrite the verdict of the jury which convicted Hunter. There is of course some conflict ii the testimony upon which Hunter was convicted in the circuit bourt, as wel as that taken in this court on the question; as there will ever be in the investigation of .issues of fact; bu' throughout there is direct testimony of unimpeae~hed eye witnesses tha1 Hunter's wife handed 'him the gun afster a parley with the posse whiel had come to his house to arrst him and that he did the shooting. Ther wie hae the testimiony of Sherifj C'olemani of Riehland county - (no brought forward at the trial on cir euit) of the confession of Hunter t< him very shortly after his arrest From this testimony it appears thai Sheriff Coleman had known Huntea from boyhood and thought .well .o: him and was well-disposed towards him, and was surprised at his becom ing implicated, in so serious a charge asked him in a friendly way why h< had done it, whereupon Hunter ac knfowledged having fired upon the posse, his excuse being -that it was done under the advice of Mr. Duncan his attorney. There is no -positive eviden'ee thai Taylor was not at the duouse, Arro borative of his own testimony to tha effect -and no motive can be traced t< him for -having done the shooting. 01 behalf of Dancan's theory through out 'that Taylor was the guifty man we have the suggestian that Taylor beinz at the hosue, shot in defens< of Hunter, whom it is charged firei under a corner of the house, the poss4 opening fire on him there, and it wai intimated in support of this theory that the mark of the shot in thal portion of the house would demon stirate the theory. Tihis was a mat tier susceptible of direct proof bui none was brought fdrward. Som< of the witnesses brought~ forward or behalf of Mr. Duncan at this hearing failed utterly to corroborate his theory The testimony from the weather bu. r'eau office at Columbia, nine milet from the scene, as to the cloudy con. dition of the weather at Columbia and the inference sought therefrom that Hunter could nort have beer (visible for identifir-ation, fails to out. Z C Mrs. Alice Robertsou TEACHER OF Voice, Piano and Harmon Studio Over Mower's Store. Opens Sept. 1st. VIOLIN MUSIC: Miss Carrie Pool will give instruc tion on the Violin, beginning September the 14th. Address: 1727 Harrington Street Phone: No. 78. LANDER COLLEGE (Formerly williamston Female College). GREENWOOD, S. C. Rev. John 0. Willson, President PENS Sept. x8. 1908. Comfortable, stean heated, electric lighted building, in cit limits. Good 'food. Home-like life an oversight. - Thorough teaching and training. Fine wor in music and art. Cost reasonable. Send for catalogue. Due West Female Collega With the best modern conven jences and equipment, and higi standards of teaching and living this is an ideal place for prepara tion for the great responsibilitie of womanhood. TERMS MODERATE. For attractive catalog write REV. JAMES BOYCE. Due West, S. C. University of South Carolin Wide range of choice in Scier tific, Literary, Graduate and Prc fessional Courses leading to degre -of Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor c Scierce, Licentiate of Iristructions SBachelor of Laws, Master of Arts Civil Engineer and Electrical Et Sgineer. Well equipped Labor2 tories, Library of over 40,000 vol umes. Expenses moderate. Many sti dents make their own expenses. Next session (ro4th) begin September 23di 19oS For annot' :ement-'write to th President, Columbia, S. C. K harleston, S. C. 124th Year Begins September 25th~ Entrance examinations will b held at the County Court Hous on Friday, July 3, at 9 a. m. A: candidates for admission can con pete in September for vacant Boyc Scholarships which pay $1oo a year One free tuition scholarship to eac1 county of South Carolina. Boar< and fnrnished rcom in dormitor $r i. Tuition $4o. For catalogue address HARRISON RANDOLPH, .. President Piano and Organ Econoing PIANo r an ORG , we ~an topurllbase on Don't think you must goto some mail ordi outsd of Southt Carolina to get the bs piar and all sye hateprice which cannot fai interest you. We are manufacturers' f.actot representatives for several of the largest ai most famous makr of piAnos and organse.a make most liberal terms of payment to tho: who wish to buy on time. No house-quality'i Dianos and organs considered-can undersell u Twenty-four years of f air dealing in Columbi and throughout South .Carohina is our referent aW rite us at once for catalog price and terms. Malone's Music House, Columbia, S. ( -PIANOS AND ORGANS. SUMMER EXCURSION RATES IVia Southern Railway. Round trip summer excursio) tickets to seashore and mountain re sort points are now on sale vi Southern Railway at greatly redue ed rates. Tickets good returning uri til October 31st, 1908. Ashevillh Waynesville, Hendersonville, in th~ "Land of the Sky''; Lake To'rawa and the "Beautiful Sayphire Cout try,'' now in their glory. Apply to Southern Railway ageni for rates, tickets, etc. J. C. Lusk, Division Passenger Agent. J. L. Meek, Charleston, S. ( Asst. Gen '1 Passenger Agt.. Atlanta. Ga. The Comm NEWBEA Condensed from r Examiner at the clo: 4th, 1908: RESOU Loans and Discouni Overd rafts. Furniture and FixtL Cash. -... LIABIL Capital ........... Undivided Profits n( Dividends Unpaid-. Cashiers Checks . Due to Banks .---... Individual Deposits Borrowed Money.-. JNO. M. KINARD, O. B. President. Vice 4 Per Cent. Intere ings Department. NEWBERR E Two Courses: W 1 Bachelor of B Languages E with Ele< R 2 Bachelor of R Mechanical Y Engineerir IC HIGH STAI 0 GOOD SANIT L UNUSUAL E( :L Positive Moral It 1E QPENS SEPT G For Illustrated C E J. A. B.Scherer, e * .CHICORA GREEN VI 0Owned and controlled by the Presbyteri A hig grade college for women. A Cl Grdate courses in the Arts and Scien and Business. .Large and able faculty, beautiful grot niences, healthful climate. Locatioun mI 1A. Tuition, Board, Room and Fees B. All included in proposition (A) and eNext session opens September 17th Fo REPORT OFO LasTIlE EXCHI of Newbe Scondensed from report s. . RESOt Lasand discounts. .... ..... . Overdrafts ............-.--.--. Furniture and fixtures...--.. .... Cash on hand and in Banks.. LIABIL Capital1stock.. ...... .... ..--. Surplus, net....... Unpaid Divideds.. .... .----.-. Cashiers Checks .... ... ....--.. Bills Payable. -.....-..--..--..--..--. . Banks....-...-.. - Dposits' Individual... ... .. . -Reliable and absolutely safe. W sJ. D. DAVENPORT, Piesident. EDW. R. HIPP, Vice-President. GEO. B. CROA rcial Bank, RY, S. C. eport to State Bank e of business June RCES: ts................$37 1.217.20 .6..... 6,521.92 res....- 3,1 16.93 ............. 30,599.38 $41 1,455.43 ITIES: -. .-.$ 50,000.00 t. 55,887.90 ..... 1,1 12.00 12.00 . ,063,32 303,380.21 ....- None $41 1,455.43 MAYER, J. Y. McFALL, Pres. Cashier. st Paid in Our Sav COLLEGE Arts and Mathematics tives Science and Electrical g with A. B. English 4DARDS A TION ~ONOMY ifluenCes . 23. atalogue PRSDN Newberry, S. C. COLLEGE, L LE, S.~C. [es of the Synod of South Carolina. Stison home school. ces, Music, Art, Expression, Gymnastics ids, elegant buildings, modern conve iedmont section, and in city of 25,000. E{E ENTIRE YEAR. - - . - - - .$183-00 ruition in Music, Art or Expression $203.00 to $21300o r catalogue and .information address BYRD, D. D., President. ONDITION OF NGE BANK rry, S. C., of State Bank Exam: 4th, 1 908. RCES: ... ..............$99,738 76 ....... ................ 2.,15-92 .... ... .... ... --- 3,696.62 .... ... .... ... ... 26,548-34 $232,099 64 TIES: ................--.-.-$ 50,000.09 .... ... .... .. ... 8,439-70 .... ... .... ... ...12.51 .... ... .... ... ... 1,162.80 .................... 6,00-00 ........$ 1,492.74 ........ 105,991.82-107,484-57 $232,099.64 pay 4 per cent on time deposits. M. L SPEARMAN, Cashier. W. B. WALLACE, Assistant Cashier.