A Seattle Editor Convicted of Libeling the Police Chief

LUGRIN IS GUILTY.

Charles H. Lugrin, editor of the Seattle Daily Telegraph, was yesterday morning found guilty by a jury in the municipal court of libeling Bolton Rogers, chief of police. The verdict was reached after a trial which lasted four days, and even at that was much shortened by the tactics of both parties.

A large number of spectators were present when court opened at 10:15 o'clock. Judge Glasgow had not yet received the typewritten instructions which he had dictated to Daniel C. Kennedy, the stenographer. To give the jurors a chance to get a little fresh air he dismissed them for half an hour. The court reassembled shortly before 11 o'clock, and a few minutes later Kennedy came hurriedly into the court room with a copy of the instructions.

Judge Glasgow read the information and the statute on which the prosecution was founded, then delivered his instructions. He told the jury that it was the sole judge of the facts and the credibility of witnesses, but that the court alone determined the law. The defendant was presumed innocent, and the state was required to prove every element beyond a reasonable doubt. To convict, the state had to show that on or about June 22 there was published and circulated in Seattle a newspaper known as the Seattle Telegraph, or Seattle Daily Telegraph; that the article set out in the complaint appeared in it; that the article was composed and published of and concerning Bolton Rogers and meant what the complaint alleged; and that Lugrin made, composed or dictated the article, or procured it to be done, or knowingly and wilfully aided in publishing or circulating it. If the state proved those facts beyond a reasonable doubt, the verdict should be guilty; otherwise, not guilty.

The judge further instructed that the state need not prove the article's falsity in the absence of evidence tending to show its truthfulness and justifiable motives. He also said that no inference of guilt should arise because the accused had failed to testify in his own behalf. A reasonable doubt, he said, was an honest doubt arising from the evidence, not an imaginary one.

The jury retired shortly after 11 o'clock and returned with a verdict in fifteen minutes. The verdict was that Charles H. Lugrin was guilty as charged. On the first ballot the jury stood nine for guilty as charged; on the second, eleven for conviction and one for acquittal; on the third and last ballot the entire jury voted for conviction.

After the verdict W.E. Crews, for the defense, gave notice of an appeal to the superior court. Crews was informed that he could not file an appeal until sentence had been passed, and he accordingly withdrew the notice. Judge Glasgow announced that he would pronounce sentence at 10 o'clock this morning.