100 years ago in Spokane: Split jury in Codd perjury trial ordered back to deliberations

The jury foreman in the Maurice Codd subornation of perjury trial said the jury had reached agreement on three defendants – but was unable to agree on the remaining 10.

The judge ordered the jury go back and deliberate further. Yet hopes were not high, because it was painfully clear that the jury was hopelessly deadlocked.

The foreman told the judge that “some members of the jury have flatly refused to discuss the case.” Another juror told the judge that “at times the jury room discussion has become almost violent.” Reporters said that “loud voices had been heard inside the jury room,” and at one point someone shouted, “Keep your mouth shut and I’ll tell him.”

The foreman did not specify which three defendants that the jury had agreed upon. Nor did they say whether they had found them guilty or not guilty. The judge simply sent them back to the jury room with instructions to decide the fate of all 13.

From the rail strike beat: The rail shop workers strike – one of the most disruptive in U.S. history – officially ended.

For all practical purposes, the strike had been defeated months earlier. The railroads had effectively broken the strike by hiring nonunion replacement workers and convincing some strikers to cross picket lines.

Now, the union strike leaders formally announced that the strike was terminated on the Great Northern line and would soon be terminated on the Northern Pacific line.

The strike leaders said they favored termination of the strike “for the best interests of the strikers,” who had been out of work for months. The agreement did not include a promise from the railroads to reinstate any of the strikers, but they “may be hired from time to time as workers are needed.” If so, they would retain their seniority.

Spokane strike leaders were “at a loss” to explain this decision of the national strike leaders.