Four young men between the ages of 30 and 40 were assigned to the Wiley Perry murder trial in Granville Superior Court last week. Perry was represented by B.K. Lassiter and F.W. Hancock Jr., Solicitor McLendon and F.G. McDuffie of Creedmoor, prosecuted the prisoner.
The case was of such a nature as to test the quick wit and wisdom of each of the attorneys, Lassiter and Hancock having been assigned to the task by the State at a late hour, and the solicitor and his assistant depended entirely upon the evidence as it was dug up and laid bare.
This trial alone was sufficient to establish Major McLendon, our new Solicitor, in the hearts of all good people. He is not only an able lawyer, but he is a gentleman of high character and a Christian. He is for law enforcement at all times. In this murder trial, as in all other causes at bar, he not only made a fine plea for the State, but he gave a conception of justice and fairness that stamps him as a man who will give every prisoner at the bar a square deal, but at the same time will protect the interests of the State. Mr. McDuffie was his able assistant.
The State said that the poor negro at the bar must have a fair an honest trial, and as stated above, Messrs. Lassiter and Hancock Jr. was assigned to the task, and they went at it as if they were receiving a $20,000 fee. Mr. Hancock’s address to the jury was a strong and beautiful appeal to stay the hand of the executioner, but the evidence was so strong, the prisoner was sentenced to be executed on March 9.
From the front page of the Oxford Public Ledger, Feb. 13, 1923
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