Ward’s Acquittal

The Jury*; acquitted Walter S. Ward after three hours of deliberation. All present appeared to be surprised at the speedy verdict except Ward himself, who preserved his appearance of complete confidence till the very end. Though his personal attorney broke down and the eyes of his trial counsel, Judge Mills, filled with tears on hearing the verdict, Ward remained cool and calm, if not cynical. One of the jurymen stated after the trial that it was Ward’s absolute appearance of confidence and of ” sheer decency” that led the jury to determine he could not have killed Sailor Peters in cold blood.

“Respect for our jury system,”said Arthur Brisbane, Hearst editor,” compels usall to call the verdict justified. But it causes thought. The accused man confessedthe killing. He did not go on the stand, or offer any defense, produce a single witness. Except a speech by his lawyer, who said Ward killed, in self-defense, a man attempting to blackmail him, he declined to give further information on the ground that it would disgrace his family. And the jury acquitted him.”

Mr. Brisbane, like most laymen, overlooks the fact that the burden was upon the prosecution to establishbeyond a reasonable doubt that the killing was deliberate, intentional, wilful and unjustifiable. Anyone acquainted with the progress of the case must have realized that the evidence brought forward by the Attorney General’s office was insufficient to convict.

One thing is certain about the Ward case—it again illustrates the shocking delays of the law. The tale told by the revolving hands of the clock and by its immobile companion, the calendar:

On the morning of May 16, 1922, the body of an unidentified man was found alongside the Chappaqua Road, not far from White Plains.

On May 18, the body was identified as that of Clarence M. Peters, a man who had been rejected for enlistment in the marines but two days before at Paris Island, S.C.

On May 19, Walter S. Ward notified the authorities that he had shot Peters in self-defense, while subject to blackmail.

On June 15, Ward was indicted for murder by a Westchester County Grand Jury.

On Jan. 2, 1923, the indictment was dismissed because the County had failed to bring him to trial.

On March 27, Governor Smith of New York ordered a special investigation of the Peters killing by the State Attorney General.

On July 26, the Attorney General obtained a second indictment.

On Sept. 12, Ward was brought to trial.

On Sept. 28, the case went to the jury and it acquitted Ward.

*In Justice Robert P. Wagner’s Extraordinary Term of the Supreme Court (of N.Y.) at Wnite Plains, N.Y.