Henderson, Sept. 27—“Rawls” was the answer brought in by 12 Vance county men to the question of identity that has hung like a spectre over the unperturbed figure of J. Bynum Rawls, charged with being J. Bynum Reid, wife deserter, at 10:15 here tonight.
-=-
A large number of Oxford and Granville county people attended the sensational court case in Henderson this week. The following is an extract from the Henderson Daily Dispatch:
Taking the testimony was begun here Wednesday in the trial to determine whether the defendant in the case is J. Bynum Reid, as the State contends, or J.B. Rawls, as is claimed by the defendant. The case grew out of a charge of abandonment, and before that can be determined, the question of who the defendant is must be decided. The trial is drawing hundreds of persons, and all morning the court room was thronged with crowds among the largest ever to attend a hearing here.
Ten lawyers are appearing in the case. For the State Solicitor Garland E. Midyette is being assisted by J.C. Kittrell and T.S. Kittrell of Henderson, and Pippin & Picot of Littleton. For the defense are T.T. Hicks and Edison Polk and William Polk, of Warrenton; and Fred W. Bynum of Rockingham.
The jury as accepted follows: R.O. Reavis, J.S. Norwood, A.P. Wilkerson, J.F. Spain, W.B. Fleming, W.M. Peck, W.H. Nelson, W.F. Wade, F.H. Moss, C.G. Stainback, W.P. Mitchell, A.J. Owen.
Judge Grady charged the jury that the only question for them to decide was whether the defendant was J.B. Reid, as the State contends, or J.B. Rawls, as the defendant claims he is.
The defendant’s wife, Mrs. Rawls, and their two small children, sat with him and his lawyers, the defendant holding the children in his lap at times.
Mrs. J.B. Reid was the first witness called by the State. Mr. Pippin examined the witness. She said she was married December 24, 1899, and was born near Henderson and was a Hewett before marriage. She said she was married to John Bynum Reid. She walked to where the defendant sat and declared, “There he is.” Reid stared at her as she pointed him out. She testified he was frequently away from ho me for long intervals of several months before finally leaving. Last time she saw him before preliminary trial was October 30, 1915. She said she did not know where he was frequently. He had not contributed anything to her since he left. She had three children when he left, ranging from 5 to 15 years. She made her living any way she could by farming in the day and sewing at night. She said she was married to him for 16 years before he left. The witness reaffirmed that the defendant is her husband.
Mrs. Reid said that at the hearing at Warrenton before the case was moved to Vance, she identified a scar on the defendant’s leg before seeing it, and on exhibition that scar was there as described, just above the shoe top.
Tasker Polk examined the witness for the defense. She said she thought her husband worked in 1913 in Durham. She denied she had heard there was another J.B. Reid since the Warrenton trial, and she had not made an effort to find him. She said she had no picture of her husband with her but had one at Warrenton court but did not show it. She didn’t know where the picture was now.
The witness said her husband had a fracture of a tooth. She admitted saying to a spectator in court at Warrenton after her testimony that she ought never to have mentioned the teeth. She remembered the defendant’s mouth being examined by her at that time, and she shook his teeth and told him “these ain’t your natural teeth. You have had something done to them.” She could not find a broken place on his tooth.
She declared she could give no other marks of identification of her husband than the tooth and the scar on the right leg. Her husband was 21 when they were married in 1899, and is now 45 years old. A photograph was shown her and she identified it as being a picture of her, her husband and daughter, made at the time she said the child was five years old. The picture was introduced as evidence and shown the jury. Her husband wore a No. 7 hat, 9 shoe, and collar No. 16, a size larger shoe if heavy.
The witness said her husband wore mustache very little before leaving her, and was clean shaven at the time he left her. She was married at her home near Littleton. Her husband told her, she said, her brother broke his teeth playing a game of horseshoes before they were married. She was not certain about teeth other than those in question.
She told the State her husband’s occupation was a contractor.
Mrs. Nettie Reid Warren, Mrs. Reid’s daughter, took the stand and was examined by Solicitor Midyette. She said she was married and living with her husband. She walked to where the defendant sat and said he was her father. She said she was 15 in December of the year he left home. She next saw him in Littleton when brought there this year. She saw him in a lawyer’s office there, and recognized him as her father.
Mr. Polk examined for the defense. She said she last saw her father October 30, 1915. The date was fixed in her mind because it was there, and recognized him as her again until last February. She had heard her father was in an office in Littleton, and when she went there she saw him. She knew her mother had been to Rockingham (where the defendant came from). She know no mark about him to identify him as her father, but she just knew him.
The witness examined the picture and said it was her parents and her when she was about five years old, speaking from what she had been told as to her age.
Dr. E.A. Perry was examined by Mr. Pippin. He has practiced dentistry in Littleton for 20 years. At preliminary hearing he saw gold on defendant’s tooth.
He said he was not at trial in Warrenton. He was smiling when he saw the defendant, four or five feet away. He started to shake hands with the defendant, having recognized him, and he turned away. He reiterated seeing gold on upper front tooth. Said Reid smiles a great deal He could not see gold on teeth years ago. He said it was possible to polish teeth. An X-ray would not show rough places not there.
Foster Reid, son of the plaintiff, Mrs. Reid, was examined by Mr. Picot. He walked to where the defendant sat and with tears in his eyes, identified him as his father. He said he was 16. He broke down on the stand.
The witness told Mr. Hicks his father left home when he (the witness) was nine years old. He knew no marks to identify his father, except that he was his father. He hadn’t heard from his father since he went away from home, until he saw him at the hearing. He denied talking to his lawyers.
Dr. Picot was the next witness offered by the State, and was examined by the Solicitor. He is a practicing physician of Littleton. He said he had known the defendant since he was a small boy, and knew his father very well and his mother. He was the family physician. The defendant , he said, was J. Bynum Reid, and he had not the slightest doubt about it on earth.
He told Mr. Polk he knew the defendant was J. Bynum Reid the same as he knew Mr. Polk, the solicitor, and others. He knew him by his face, his walk, his voice, his general features.
The witness testified to the general good character of J.P. Reid, father of J. Bynum Reid.
He said John P. Reid told him when the defendant was taken to Littleton, that the defendant was Bynum, that he was not going to say so on the stand. He said the old man was the picture was Bynum’s and his wife and child. The old man broke down and cried, and the witness said he did himself. He said he spoke to the witness and called him “Bynum” and the defendant turned, came back and said “You are mistaken.” He said he added, “I’ll shake hands with you any how; I’m damned sorry for you.”
He denied that Mr. Polk called the defendant back.
J.L. Skinner was next called. He said he lives in Littleton. He had worked in a bank in Henderson. He said he is a farmer and chairman of the board of county commissioners, and is secretary of the State association. He said he had known Bynum Reid since he was 12 years old. He pointed to the defendant positively as being J. Bynum Reid. He knew he had eaten, hunted and slept with Bynum Reid before his arrest, before he left home. He remembered Reid by the tone of his voice, and by his general appearance. He walks like Reid, he said, his whole general appearance is like him, and follows the same occupation. He said Reid’s hair was about a dirt color or hair (?), and his forehead rather high.
A.S. Renn was called. He gave various occupations, including chief of police of Henderson. J.C. Kittrell was examining. He remembered when the Vance hotel was built and put in the plumbing. He identified the defendant as J. Bynum Reid, who was foreman of carpenters on the job.
Forty witnesses in all testified that J.B. Reid is not Rawls.
From the front page of The Oxford Public Ledger, Sept. 28, 1923
No comments:
Post a Comment