By the Associated Press
Wilmington, N.C., Feb. 16—Lieutenant Governor W.B. Cooper and his brother T.E. Cooper were found not guilty this afternoon in United States district court of a charge of conspiracy to defraud and violate the national bank laws in connection with the failure of the Commercial National Bank of Wilmington.
The verdict was returned at 3:45 p.m. after the case had been in the hands of the jury since 12:45 p.m., and after three ballots had been taken.
A joint indictment against the same defendants and three other indictments in connection with the bank failure are awaiting trial and District Attorney Tucker announced that they will not be heard until the regular term of court in May. The defendants were released under the same bonds which have been in force since their arrest.
Lieutenant Governor W.B. Cooper expressed confidence that he would be completely exonerated of other criminal charges brought against him as chairman of the board of the defunct Commercial National bank of Wilmington. The verdict of the jury, which was released this afternoon at 3:40 o’clock, freed Lieutenant Governor Cooper and Thomas E. Cooper, his brother, on the first of five indictments brought in connection with the bank’s failure. The other charges are set for trial at the regular term in May.
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He said he had not resigned his office in the state government because he had felt confident that he would be acquitted.
“My relations with the bank were honest and my efforts were to build it up,” the lieutenant governor said tonight, “and I believed all along that the jury would not find that I had conspired to wreck it.” No statement was made by the younger brother who was president of the bank.
The jury’s verdict came after two weeks of a trial which had been unique in that it was the first criminal action in North Carolina in which a prominent state official has been accused. The jury received the case three hours before its decision was announced by J.M. Outlaw of Duplin, the foreman, and after three ballots had been taken. It was reported that the vote was 11 to 1 for acquittal on the first two ballots.
Judge Henry G. Connor commended the jury on its verdict and said that if he had been a member of the jury he also would have voted for acquittal.
Only a few persons besides the defendants and attorneys were in the court room when the verdict was delivered. Mrs. T.E. Cooper, who has been present every day since the trial started, and Mrs. W.B. Cooper were unable to stand the strain of waiting while the jury deliberated and were not present during the final hours of the trial. The defendants received the verdict calmly. Noah W. Cooper, a brother, of Nashville, Tenn., appeared deeply affected when the decision was announced.
District Attorney Irvin B. Tucker stated that the bonds of the defendants would be continued. T.E. Cooper has been under $10,000 bond and Lieutenant Governor Cooper under $5,000 bond since their arrest last August. The other charge against the brothers which will be tried in May is a joined indictment which alleges virtually the same offenses as those alleged in support of the charge of conspiracy. In addition, T.E. Cooper is indicted separately and jointly with C.W. Lassiter, patron of the bank. Horace C. Cooper, son of the lieutenant governor and cashier of the defunct bank, is also under indictment separately.
Judge Connor’s charge to the jury eliminated from consideration of the jury all of the charges except that in connection with a note for $13,500 signed by E.L. Sanderson of Cerro Gordo, N.C., as an accommodation paper for T.E. Cooper. The indictment charged that through this transaction the brothers had conspired to convert $12,905 of the bank’s funds to the personal credit of T.E. Cooper. Judge Connor found for the defense on its contention that conspiracy had not been proved in connection with 15 other alleged offenses and 20 alleged overt acts in the indictment, including the sale of Lieutenant Governor Cooper’s stock in the ban before its failure. Judge Connor reviewed the evidence exhaustively, his charge requiring nearly three hours. He instructed the jury that the defendants were not on trial for the commission of wrongful acts but only for conspiracy under the present indictment, and said that in order for a verdict of guilty to be returned the jury must find that the alleged conspiracy had been entered into after the date when the bank had been changed from a state to a national institution. He ruled that any alleged wrongful acts committed prior to that time were matters for the state courts and not for the federal court to decide. He said that it had been proper to hear evidence relating to matters occurring before the conversion into a national bank, in order that the jury might obtain a connected story of the bank’s transactions, but said that the jury must not be influenced by this evidence. He also said that a verdict of acquittal on the charge of conspiracy would not prejudice future court actions under indictments charging specific alleged violations of the national banking laws.
A lengthy charge submitted by defense counsel was adopted in its entirety by Judge Connor and his ruling in striking out the major portion of the evidence was regarded as an important victory for the defense.
From the front page of the Durham Morning Herald, Feb. 17, 1924
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