HOPE DAWNS FOR THE BOYS.
Indications Are That Their Sentences Will be Commuted.
Reports From Atlanta Indicate That There Is a Strong Feeling About the Capitol That Mercy Will Be Shown Milton and Jesse Rawlings by the Pardon Board.
(From Wednesday’s Daily)
As already reported in The Times, the prison commission, which last week heard the appeals for a commutation of the sentences of Milton and Jesse Rawlings to life imprisonment, will meet again on the 23rd to consider the appeals and announce their decision. The case record spans about three hundred typewritten pages, and every detail will be carefully considered. It is no secret at the Capitol that there is a strong belief the commission will commute the sentences of the boys. The Atlanta Journal mentions the following:
For the past six months, there has been a growing sentiment of sympathy throughout Georgia for the Rawlings boys. Few people are opposed to having the death sentences commuted to life imprisonment, and this sentiment is said to be widespread, especially among the people of Lowndes County.
Attorneys John R. Cooper of Macon and Oscar Smith of Valdosta, representing the Rawlings family, made a strong case before the prison commission when the cases of Milton and Jesse were heard. Their arguments were closely followed by the commission members, and it is believed they made a favorable impression.
Extreme Youth Urged.
Col. Cooper emphasized the extreme youth of the condemned boys and spoke convincingly about the paternal influence that must have been exerted upon his sons by the elder Rawlings, who confessed to the murder of the Carter children. The attorney urged the commission to consider the influence any father has on his sons, especially if the boys are of tender age. One of the boys was only fifteen years old, and the other seventeen at the time of the murder.
Col. Cooper stated that in all his years as a lawyer, he has never encountered such strong public sentiment in favor of commuting death sentences as in this case.
Judge Smith, speaking on behalf of the boys, told the commission that the people of Lowndes County are practically unanimous in supporting the commutation. The case of Burrill Paterson, whose sentence was commuted, has been cited by the commission, and it is probable that this precedent will be followed.