The Sylvester Family of Plainview, Minnesota*

Jury in Stoltz case deadlocks

December 11, 1925 - December 18, 1925

PAGE 172

the management of the bank’s affairs were in the hands of Kennedy and Sylvester exclusively.
The defense scored a point Wednesday when Murdoch pointed out that the indictment mentioned the checks that had been deposited by Miss Gorrell and that none of them had been presented in court. He therefore asked that her testimony and exhibits connected with them be stricken out. The records of the R. E. Jones Co. for whom the money had been deposited showed who had issued the checks and subpoenas were issued that the checks and their makers might appear in court.
In Stoltz’s defense Murdoch expects to call a large number of witnesses and the case will occupy all of the court’s time for this week.
Due to the poor roads only those who have been called to testify have been attending the trial and because of the tedious procedure of piling up evidence of the bank’s insolvency outside interest has not been very great. The mass of testimony and records exhibited makes it impossible to follow and file a full account of the trial.
December 18, 1925-

Jurymen Disagree in Stoltz Case Early Sunday Evening
Jurors Fail to Bring in Verdict After 26 Hours Deliberation
Wabasha, Minn., Dec. 14 – After being out for more than 26 hours the jury in the trial of Adolph Stoltz reported at 8:30 PM Sunday that they were unable to agree on a verdict and were discharged by Judge Karl Finkelnburg.
County Attorney John R. Foley moved at once that the case be tried a second time at this term of the district court, but the court continued the case until the next regular term next May. Stoltz, who is at liberty on $5,000 bail, will be tried at that time on the same indictment under which he was tried at this term, that of receiving a deposit in a bank which he is alleged to have had good reason to know was insolvent, Mr. Foley said. There also are two charges of falsifying bank records pending against him.
The trial, which was in several respects the most unusual in the annals of Wabasha county, lasted for nine days, going to the jury at 6 PM Saturday, after more than half a day had been consumed in the closing arguments of Mr. Foley for the state, J. W. Murdoch for the defense, and the court’s instructions. The jurors almost from the start of the balloting stood 8 to 4 for conviction, it was said, and were divided in the same way when the last ballot was taken.
Seek Further Instructions
Shortly after 2 AM Sunday, it appeared that the jury might reach an agreement when they called for further instructions from the court. Judge Finkelnburg was summoned from the hotel where he had retired when it was evident that there was no immediate prospect of a verdict, and the opposing attorneys, the defendant, and court officers hastily gathered in the court room.
The jurors then inquired of the court whether it would be possible form them to bring in a verdict with a suggestion for clemency or with a recommendation that a fine rather than a prison sentence be imposed. Judge Finkelnburg informed them however, that it was their sole duty to determine the facts in the case and that the matter of punishment, if any were to be fixed, was the function of the court. It was not proper for them to compromise in reaching a decision, he said, and any juror who was convinced that the defendant was not guilty should not vote for conviction. From that time on, it was reported, the jury was hopelessly deadlocked and continued their deliberations for 18 more hours without sleep until they were dismissed.
Attorneys Picture Ruin
Eloquence and persuasiveness featured addresses to the jury of Mr. Foley and Mr. Murdoch, each of whom spoke for nearly two and one-half hours. Each of them made as the background of his plea the contrast between the peace and quiet and safety of the community at Plainview in the early part of the year, and the storm which

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* SOURCE: Manzow, Ron (compiler), "The Sylvester Family of Plainview, Minnesota - a collection of information taken from the Plainview News, other newspapers, letters, and diaries beginning in 1884": Plainview Area History Center, 40 4th St. S.W., Plainview, MN 55964. Compiled in 2001.

NOTE: from Ron Manzow, December 2001: "Feel free to reproduce the pages for anyone who wants a copy. It was compiled to be shared... All I ask is that they consider sending a check to the [Plainview Area] History Center to help us out. That should be enough."