Lt. Gov. Cooper's Appeal Following Conviction for Bank Fraud Argued in Richmond

Lieut. Gov. Cooper Case Argued in Richmond Today. . . R.C. Lawrence Represents Defendant in His Application for a New Trial

Mr. R.C. Lawrene left Friday night for Richmond, Va., where, with Chas. C. Douglass of Washington, D.C., in the circuit courts of appeals today, he represents former Lieut. Gov. W.B. Cooper, who was convicted in Wilmington last February of violating the national banking laws and sentenced to 18 months in the Federal prison in Atlanta, in his application for a new trial. The defendant is basing his appeal mainly on alleged errors in the charge to the jury of Judge John C. Ross of Baltimore, who tried the Cooper cases in Wilmington.

The following is taken from the News and Observer:

Cooper was convicted at a special term of Federal court in Wilmington, and he was sentenced to Federal prison on February 14 of this year at the same time that his brother, Thos. E. Cooper, was given a three-year sentence. The latter began his sentence eight days later, and under the usual rules of the Federal prison would be eligible for parole next February.

Appeal Still Pending

There is an appeal from a sentence in the State courts before the State Supreme Court that may block his parole. This appeal has been pending for nearly six months, being the only one that was brought over from the spring term. Thom. E. Cooper was given an alternative sentence by Judge Henry Grady, which is said never to have gotten into the court record sent up on appeal. He was given the option of serving eight years on the county roads or paying back the funds alleged to have been wrongfully taken from the bank. The latter offer was later withdrawn after it was apparent no effort would be made to comply with it, and is said never to have been entered on the records of the court.

Alternative sentences are not permitted in the courts. While the record does not show that and that such a sentence was imposed, an affidavit was filed to the effect that such an offer was made.

With a sentence hanging over him some doubt as to whether or not Thos. E. Cooper would be eligible for parole under the rules of the Federal prison. With the appeal pending, the sentence in the State courts is stayed automatically. If a new trial were granted, he would still be under indictment. The legal complications in his case may hold up his parole, but in any event he is not eligible for parole until next February.

From the front page of The Robesonian, Lumberton, N.C., Monday, Nov. 9, 1925

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