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The Morning Press

Bloomsburg, PA, Thursday, September 18, 1919

Ralph Carl is Placed on Trial Murder Charge

All Day was Required to Secure Nine Jurors For the Case

Talesman Called

Court Room Packed Yesterday for Opening Day of The Trail

Ralph Carl was placed on trial yesterday for the murder of his father, Joseph Carl, well known Catawissa farmer, who was found in his own home on the night of April 12, with a bullet hole in his head and fired from an angle that the Commonwealth alleges could never have been self-inflicted in view of the helpless condition of the victims’ right arm.

All of yesterday was required for the work of selecting a jury and late afternoon found the panel exhausted and three more jurors required to fill the jury box. Adjournment was thereupon taken until this morning with the sheriff directed in the meantime to call twenty-five talesman and make return at nine o’clock this morning.

These are the jury men already selected to decide the fate of the well know young Catawissa township farmer:

M. O. Everhart, farmer, Jackson

W. H. Reichart, farmer, Madison

John E. Billig, farmer, Locust

Newman Bower, laborer, Briarcreek

Edward Sterner, carpenter, Hemlock

Rush Freas, farmer, Briarcreek

D. E. Sharretts, farmer, Centre

Howard Welliver, farmer, Benton township

Nathan Beishline, farmer, Fishingcreek.

The case was attached with the opening of court yesterday morning and the noon hour found just half the jury selected.

Representing the Commonwealth is District Attorney Sharpless, unassisted, while James Scarlet, Esq., and R. Scott Ammerman, Esq., of Danville and C. J. Fisher, Esq., represented the defendant.

At the table with his counsel sat the defendant very well dressed apparently not greatly worried over the outcome but taking a marked interest in the examination of each juryman with the final decision as to his acceptance or rejection apparently not infrequently resting with him.

While the court room was only comfortably filled for the morning session, the afternoon session found it packed with a good side contingent of South Side folk following closely the day’s proceedings.

As each juror’s name was called he stepped before the bar and was interrogated by counsel for the defense and for the Commonwealth, as to his health, his family’s health, this with a view to ascertaining whether illness might interfere with his work as a juror, what he had read on the case, whether he had formed any opinion as to the guilt or innocence of the defendant, as to whether that opinion might be changed by the evidence, whether he was opposed to capital punishment, whether he knew the defendant or members of his family or father’s family and whether he knew the prosecutor. If his opinion was fixed and the juror declared it could not be changed by the evidence or if his hearing was such that he could not well serve, or if some other ailment prevented challenge for cause followed. Both sides exercised liberally the right of preemptory challenge, and of the twenty such challenges allotted each side the Commonwealth exercised his right in eighteen instances and the defense in twenty-eight.

The order of the examination of the jurors called and the disposition made of each was as followings: Bowman Turner, West Berwick, challenged; C. F. Hartman, Berwick, challenged peremptorily by the defense; Martin Brobst, Hemlocks challenged peremptorily by the Commonwealth ; M. O. Everhart, Jackson, accepted; Alvin Connery; Briarcreek, challenged peremptorily by the defendant; P. C. Church, Berwick, challenged peremptorily by the Commonwealth; Albert Fetterolf, Conyngham, challenged peremptorily by the Commonwealth; Albert Hollingshead, Catawissa, challenged peremptorily by the Commonwealth; George Helwig, Conyngham, challenged peremptorily by the Commonwealth; Emanuel Frantz, Berwick, excused by Court; W. H. Reichard, accepted; William Wolfe, Bloomsburg, challenged by the Commonwealth peremptorily; H. O. Farver, Millville, challenged peremptorily by the defendant; John E. Billig, Locust, accepted; S.L. Knouse, Jackson, challenged peremptorily by the defendant; Henry Hippensteel, Orangeville, challenged peremptorily by the defense; George Ivey, Montour, challenged for cause by defense; Benjamin F. Shultz, Jerseytown, challenged peremptorily by defense; Andrew Beck, West Berwick, challenged peremptorily by the Commonwealth, Brad Freas, Briarcreek, challenged peremptorily by the defense; Newman Bower, Briarcreek, accepted; Frank Leighow, Centre, challenged for cause by defense; C. F. Crawford, Greenwood, challenged peremptorily by defense; Arthur Cole, Greenwood, challenged peremptorily by defense; M.E. Bomboy, Bloomsburg, challenged peremptorily by Commonwealth; Elmer Shultz, Benton township; challenged peremptorily by defense; W.E. Bitler, Main township, challenged peremptorily by defense; W.D. Holmes, Bloomsburg, challenged by defense; Harvey Shaffer, Berwick, challenged peremptorily by defense; Edward Sterner, Hemlock, accepted; G.W. Ash, Briarcreek, challenged peremptorily by defense; Jere VanSikle, Sugarloaf, challenged for cause by defense; Ruth Freas, Briarcreek, accepted; L. P. Hause, Catawissa, challenged for cause by defense; William Y Mericle, Bloomsburg, challenged peremptorily by defense; David Arndt, Berwick, challenged peremptorily by Commonwealth; George S. Gearhart, Catawissa, challenged for cuase by defense; D.E. Sharretts, Centre, accepted; Frank Hippenstell, Scott, challenged peremptorily by defendant; W.J. Pugh, Mt. Pleasant, challenged peremptorily by Commonwealth; Silas Powlus, Center, challenged peremptorily by defense; Charles Roberts, Benton township, challenged for cause by defense; Josiah Keller, Catawissa, challenged for cause by defense; George Straub, Scott, challenged for cause by defense; John Uptegrove, Mifflin, challenged peremptorily by Commonwealth; Howard Welliver, Benton township, accepted; Nathan Beishline, Fishingcreek, accepted; George Knorr, Bloomsburg, challenged for cause by defense; George Davis, Bloomsburg, challenged peremptorily by Commonwealth; N.G. Shaffer, Hemlock township, challenged for cause by defense; Elmer Parker, Greenwood township, challenged peremptorily by Commonwealth; William Hoover, Bloomsburg, challenged peremptorily by Commonwealth; E. F. Rowe, Bloomsburg, challenged for cause by defense; Thomas McGinty, Centralia , challenged peremptorily by Commonwealth; E. P. Chapin, Fishingcreek, challenged peremptorily by Commonwealth.

JURORS NOT KEPT TOGETHER

Contrary to custom the nine jurors drawn yesterday in the Carl murder case were allowed to go to their homes to spend the night and were not required to keep together. Judge Harman issued this order upon agreement of counsel for the defense and District Attorney Sharpless.

He ordered them, however, to talk to no one about the case and allow no one to talk to them. If it should happen that any of the jurors discuss the case during the night they were ordered to report such discussion to the Court at nine o’clock this morning. Judge Harman also required that none of the jurymen read any newspaper comment concerning yesterday’s proceedings in the trial.