Roosevelt Saunders, Ed Dailey, Hugh Woods Face Capital Charges, May 20, 1923

Capital Cases in Court This Week. . . Two Negroes Face Capital Punishment—208 Cases on Calendar

Two capital cases will be tried this week in the May criminal session of the Durham county superior court.

--Roosevelt Saunders, a young negro, will go on trial for his life upon a charge of burglary. The negro is alleged to have entered the home of Dr. N.M. Johnson on Watts street sometime last March. This case will probably be called Monday.

--Ed Dailey, another negro, faces capital punishment in that he is charged with criminal assault upon a five-year-old white girl.

--Hugh Woods, a young Durham man, a brother of W.W. Woods, local police officer, will probably be tried during the term upon a charge of murder. Woods is said to have shot a negro named Leonard Meadows several weeks ago following a raid made by officers upon a house in Hayti. The point to be raised at the trial will be whether Woods was deputized at the time of the shooting.

In all, 208 cases appear on the docket for this term, one of the stiffest that court officials have faced in some time. Judge W.M. Bond will again preside.

From page 15 of the Durham Morning Herald, Sunday, May 20, 1923