[Chattanooga Times, 3/8/1906]
Unable to Reach Agreement After Several Hours Spent Deliberation.
WILL TRY AGAIN THIS MORNING TO ARRIVE AT SOME CONCLUSION
Last Day of Most Notable Trail Held in Chattanooga in Recent Years Proves Most Sensational of All-Jurors Break Down Under Tremendous Strain and One Goes Into Hysterics-Lawyers Work Themselves and Their Hearers to High Pitch by Impassioned Pleas.
The Ed Johnson rape case went to the jury last night shortly before 6 o’clock.
From that hour the twelve men were engaged in consideration of the case and balloting in an effort to agree upon a verdict. At almost midnight the jury retired without succeeding in that regard.
In was learned at midnight that the jury stood eight for the death sentence to four against.
It was given out from the jury room before retiring that there was probability of an agreement and that a verdict would probably be reported early today.
LAST DAY OF TRIAL PROVES SENSATIONAL IN EXTREME
Sensation of the extreme sort followed each other in rapid succession during the Johnson trial yesterday. No such a day was ever experienced in the criminal court here. Old lawyers declared they had never been witnessed such scenes in all their experience as practitioners and that they never expected to see their like again.
In the taking of evidence the climax was reached when Miss Nevada Taylor, with the accused negro no more than three feet from her chair, raised her hand toward heaven and in a tone of gentle earnestness said, “Before God, I believe that is the guilty negro.” Her manner action and words brought tears to the eyes of practically very person who heard her. Nervousness possessed the jury, sobs were herd coming form the jury box and one juror, C. E. Bearden, was completely overcome by his emotion. One juror said aloud words which no doubt carried consternation to the heart of the accused negro. They were: “If I could get at him, I would tear his heart our right now....”