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Quick and Sundberg Sentenced County Jail. Stearns Sentence Wednesday DAVIDSON FINE SUSPENDED Judge Lessons Charge Against Brain erd Youths on Hearing Facts of Entry Six prisoners faced Judge Graham Torrance in district court this morn ing, four receiving sentences ranging from one month in the county jail to three years in state's prison. One other prisoner will be sentenced Wed nesday and the other plead guilty in court this afternoon. Sentences this morning were de clared Judge Torrance as follows: A. B. Peterson, convicted of present ing a false claim to the county, inde terminate sentence at Stillwater prison not to exceed three years. Hard labor. Charles Barrett, guilty of using a motor vehicle, not his own, without the consent of the owner, by his own admission, indeterminate term at St. Cloud reformatory not to exceed three years. Edward Quirk, guilty by his own plea to entering a building under cir cumstances not amounting to burg lary, four months in the county jail with suspension of three months on good behavior and abstinence from liquor. George Sundberg, guilty of the same charge by his own plea, same sentence as Quirk. Sentence of H. L. Stearns, convicted by a jury of uttering a forged instru ment, a county warrant, Was deferred until Wednesday at 1:30 p. m. on mo tion of counsel, W. W. Bane. Gene Davidson was being arraigned this afternoon on the charge of assault in the third degree upon his father on September 23, 1930. Peterson, arraigned first, appeared before the court in a blue and black mackinaw jacket. In answering ques tions of the court he stated he was 61 years old and had made his home in Little Falls for the past 17 years. His attorney, Hilding Swanson, made a strong plea for leniency. He advanced the arguments that the amount of the claim of which Peterson was con victed was small, $35.75, that the jury had been out 18 hours, that three or four of the jurymen held out for an acquittal and entered a verdict of guilty after writing a letter asking for a certain investigation to be con ducted. “The verdict was compromised and would not have been such had the let ter not been written,” Attorney Swan son stated. . . The attorney further informed the court that Peterson had played square with the state in providing them with any information he could. “Peterson has told everything Crow Wing county,” Swanson said. The counsel also presented to the court a report from a Brainerd doctor on the physical condition of the prisoner, showing the elderly prisoner to be anemie and having lost 39 pounds in the past six months. Pleading the prisoner's good reputa tion previous to the crime of which he was convicted, Mr. Swanson said that his client had never been in court be fore and that the Masonic order recog nized his services at Hopkins by giv ing him a life membership in the lodge thereafter he had completed the con struction of the Masonic Temple at Hopkins. Asked if he had any remarks to make, County Attorney Arthur J Sullivan stated that the court knew the circumstances of the case well and that the prisoner had received a fair trial. “It is difficult to me to sentence you because of your age and of your physical condition but the offense of which you have been convicted is a serious one,” Judge Torrance re marked before sentencing Peterson. The judge informed the prisoner that the offense carried a maximum term in the states prison of seven years but felt that such a sentence would be severe to the man. He an nounced in sentencing the former county road and bridge foreman to a termeut exceeding three years at Still water prison as hard labor that he would at this time recommend a parole when the State Parole Board considers his application for such. Charles Barrett, 24, West Brainerd man, gave a history of his case through questions asked by the judge. He said he broke the lock on the gate of the Tyrholm show for the night of July 26, took a car from there and drove it to his home in West Brain erd. He said that later he hid the vehicle in the woods and a month ago recovered it and drove it to Racine, Wis., where he tried to get work. At Racine, the prisoner stated, he failed to get work and then applies to a finance company for a loan of $106 on the car. He said that soon after ward he was arrested and brought back to Brainerd. L. P. Koop, who was named attor ney for Barrett by the court, said that he had discussed the case with the prisoner and had been informed by him that the car was stolen by Bar rett because his girl wanted him to drive her around. In talking for the state County At torney Sullivan said that Barrett was known to have a car of his own when the Tyrholm car was taken. Barrett admitted this. Judge Torrance stated that under the statute Barrett could be sentenced to a term not exceeding ten years. Con sidering the plea that Barrett had never been convicted of a felony be fore, Judge Torrance sentenced the m to the St. Cloud reformatory * a term not to exceed three years. Pludge suggested that Barrett in. was emplayed for a while in the gar age at Breezy Point lodge. The cases of Edward Quirk and George Sundberg were similar. The two were arraigned on the charge of burglary in the third degree and each pleaded not guilty. On the statement of County Attor ney Sullivan that he was justified in reducing the charge to entering a building under circumstances not amounting to burglary, Judge Tor rance accepted pleas of guilty to the lesser charges. Sullivan explained to the court that upon investigation he had learned that the boys had entered the build ing to recover a bottle of liquor they had left there. Quirk was represented by Attorney Donald I. Ryan and Sundberg by At torney Hilding Swanson. The two Brainerd boys were arrest ed in the Home Oil station, corner Maple and South th streets, Decem ber 7 when they were trapped in the basement of the station by police. Quirk stated he was 20 years old, had been employed in the N. P. shops and previously as a bell boy in a local hotel. He said that he and Sundberg had been drinking that evening and that they broke into the station about 10 p. m. to recover a bottle of liquor they had left with a person at the station. He said they had no inten tion of committing a robbery. Quirk informed the judge he had been in the county jail for 33 days af ter his arrest, when questioned. Judge Torrance said the offense carried a maximum term of one year in the county jail or $1,000 fine or both. He sentenced both youths to the same sentence, four months in the county jail with suspension of sen tence after the first month. The judge stipulated in both cases that the youths report to the county attorney each month, that they be of good behavior and abstain from liq uor. They will be arraigned under the
Newspaper Details
Brainerd Daily Dispatch
Brainerd, Minnesota, US
Mon, Jan 12, 1931
Page 5
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USA 20 May 2026
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