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SOME TALI SWEARINGIN THE OEO. COVEN PERJURY CASE.Aflir a U.rA-Fo-mbt Irtol lUcJnrr^l'iS* la a Vvrdtct ot GuU«jr-A Nomnwhnt Mli| S«nten««.George W, Cover, of Sail tins townnbip, ha* achieved fame *ii ralLer doubtful line*. He tlml cawo lul© notIro at the trial of Staup, for lira murder of Qlovrr,In J872, and wa* prooiinent In that trial aw a defender of Htaup. of whose Oaughtor ho vem onamored, although he had thon a wife atilt living. He furnished akl, •uch writwin, toIho defense with hisotvn toiign* and in procuring wliuosMft. dine© then he ha* been engaged In other ront-tei-H that hove contributed to hi* Interesting local ropulaUon. Ilia last cscauado was* to t*ko French leave of court rind j f bendnnaii one nlghl during Lwt Scptoni- f j her term when ho learned thru biatrial on the grave charge of perjnrv would como up next morning. SquiroJohn Minkloy, bla bondsman, eel outupon Georgo’s trail and found him at hb horno lu iho motin-talns about, IS miles from L'aiontown, whither ho hud betoken himself on lb© plea of Hicknuse. The ’Squiro loll a deputy to guard hb allpf ery prisoner.— While the former was nngagod In building n Qro in tbe room on tho lirstdoor.lho Invalid Jumped from a second-sl or y window and escaped. He gave himaolf up afterward*, was brought to town anil surrendered by Mark ley, and was ngtdn ro teased under ball. A confederate and j tool ol his. one Ktrausor, was convicted ( and in now sorving aihro© ve-irs' non : ( tone© In Ihe penitentiary. This naturally lt;made George apprehensive a* to ilio i**- ( sue of his own ease.THE CI1AIIOK ANO Til ft IMSl’J-Nifi.The i rial occupied the whole or Friday. * The charge against Cover, we* perjury in a Case which, by ft siifgulur coincidence, was trial Just u yciu- before :o tho day.— Ho was ably defended by General A. II. Cofirolb, the Somerset luwvor and ox- * congressman, and Minor ami Gnilcr, of « this place; A. D. Boyd wwlstod the (lls-J trid attorney, Frank Browning, a Fall* City merchant, wot tho prosecutor. Ho wm called to »ho aland and rtcouniod tho history of tho case. Ul» in briof as fol- t lows; In 1872, Browning aotl C. M. «0r- , ■ pelt ptiKbiMKl a saw-mlll from Caoorgo W. Cover, which l*o at that Mmo claimed as liia own exclusive property, giving his receipt for Si,800, tho amount paid bin* by ft check on a Pittsburg bank, and : which was cashed by Geo. A. Torrence, j then doing business asil banket1 in Con-1 nellsvUlc. The receipt expressly slated |' that tho payment waa for tfco mill, and ] not for any nbaro of it. The parcb-wors j ran the mill until 187P and then sold it. j • Then It was thul John Cover, George's; brothor, stepped In and chimed a half intorost In the mill. Ho pushed his claim by suing for ouo half or* tbo purchase money, and got judgement ngnlnst Browning anil Sorpoll for that amount.It was in that trial that George Cover committed Che alleged perjury, lies wore (hut ho sold only une-balf the milt.* A PAlJt OK A KINO.Tho defense claimed that it was a sham sale and that Cover p«td the money bacl: to Browning, and prndnuod Eli Leonard to swear that ho wllncewed tbt* tranme-WOHin '*‘h» pj'OACCH-tion culled John Little tosvrenr theop-jxuji#. Horo was o Hal contrmllntlon I© tweefi I’it o ini port nnt witnesses. Bjili aldeiadopted tho same tactic* and attempted «| disprove the lo^Irnony of each witness by calling witnesses to swear away therr character. The movomcnt ori both sides proved qulto lanccosslul one. Tbo wliMttvet called by the defense wore 11 ruinimon.*» In tho tellef that John l.itllo'a rcpilallon for truth and voracity wasn’t wcltb shucks,and witnosscafor tho com-I. 1.1. W1M rlci« KMmmiwcnl :h wore equally auro that Kli Leonard couldn’t he iMtloved on oath. Abner I.vnu, ft Call, slab-sided ultlzon of PtnnVlIn township,Uihl or a conversation \\n over-heard in front of tho court house during John Cover’s suit for the mill, 1» diicb he heard Browning, who wiwde-idant In ibat caao, say that it didn't lake anv cliffownmo lo him whotlter Iho Lit went ugainst Jilm or not, as ho mldn’t lose *oy money anyway. Thla ledefonse claimed supported their tho-that the money bail been paul back. Irowning denied iho ston*. Evldeneo was prod11cod by tho defense k1.owing that -luhw Cover notified tho purchasers of lb© mill tliut ho owned oiio-hulfof it before tbo ido wits ouueuuiuiated, and by the conn lonwenltli lo show | hut ihedcl'orulant attempto*l to auliorn wUiu?sr»©a by ottering bribes and bulldor-iny.AN ABI.V. ARUCMBSr IK»Bs NOT AVAIL.o. w. K. Minor mado tho 11 nt plw* fr tbo prisoner. Ho wjw followed ly Gen-eral Coffrotli, who ma«lo a special oflbrl in bis* client'* favor. Ho didn't bothor much with the fuels In the ciwo which boro strongly agnlns*. tbo prisoner, but worked iho Hcutiracntnl racket for all It was worth. George's wife uwl infant child woro more than once tho subject of tbe counsel's eloquence. A. !. Boyd summed up for tho prosecution Ho j handled i lie hard facts la his iisiml skillful manner, and made a nioco lawycr-llke arguraent than bis opponent. Judge I Ugh ram charged tho Jury oxlmusiivoly on tho law and thoy retited at 7 (Tclock p. m. Tboy woro not long In uomlng lo avordlc;. Una* opened la court next jamming tuid contained the futai word ••guilty-'*TJm very abto dofeoee hiul Huiuuinihed lo Iho condemning fact* prcsomciL by iho proscout Ion. TIij defense mov«Jd Tor » now trial a»'« argued tbe matter before Judge Inghnmi oii Monday, Ur. the court did not see uuy suffldcm reason for interfering with tho verdict, anil tbo motion was refused. 4’ovOr was brought in foraenteiKe nml received four jjpara and mix months In tho penilvntiaijy. The limit oi the law la tiye years. Tbo sen-teiH’O conialnetl tho further provision, that b© bo forever dLsqnalitiixl :e» ft wit-noss lu ft court of justice. Gener.U i'of-froth lufeniiotl tho Covnuiu reporter that he would take tho case lo iho supronm court, as ho didn’t think the character ot the tostluiouy warranted AeoiivLrtiouun the grave charge of perjury.
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Connellsville Keystone Courier

Connellsville, Pennsylvania, US

Thu, Dec 24, 1885

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VA, USA 14 Oct 2018

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