A nol prosse was taken in the case of the State against O. Paul Pickard of McDowell street, charged with dealing in whiskey, when he was adjudged non compos mentis by Dr. J.E.S. Davidson in the Recorder’s Court Tuesday morning.
Through the order of Judge Laurence Jones, Pickard will be held in jail until he is placed in a sanitarium in the near future, which will probably be the Morganton asylum, if the suggestion of the court be carried out.
Pickard was arrested in the Selwyn hotel a few days ago when he was caught in the act of carrying whiskey to the room of a guest. The manager of the hotel had received the tip that some one was transporting whiskey to this room, and accordingly placed himself on watch, being rewarded by the apprehension of Pickard.
This was the second offense of Pickard for his connections with whiskey. Only a few weeks ago he was brought into court after 30 gallons of corn whiskey had been found in his home. Pickard then claimed that the whiskey had been left there by a friend. He was found guilty by Judge Laurence Jones, however, and given a fine of $200 in addition to a suspended sentence of four months on the chain gang. This sentence automatically went into effect upon his second arrest.
Wind of the fact that Pickard would enter a plea of insanity spread around the police station Saturday morning, but this could not be confirmed until his attorneys were heard from in court Tuesday morning.
According to Dr. Davidson, who made an examination of him, Pickard is in no way responsible for his acts. His mind is declared to be in some way unbalanced, and it is necessary that he be sent to a sanitarium.
From the front page of The Charlotte News, Feb. 7, 1922
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