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Show DIDN'T KNOW IF HE WAS GUILTY OR NOT t - - There was but one defendant In the Police Po-lice court Wednesday Afternoon. His name was Chris Hansen, and he was charged with being drunk. His face was battered and bruised, and he looked aa if he had been in a half-dosen fistic combats, com-bats, and been worsted In all of them. "Are you guilty, or not guilty?" was the question that started the business. I "I don't believe I can plead guilty to having been unlawfully drunk," he said. "I only had ene drink, but it was a good-felsed good-felsed one. I don't-know whether It was from the drink, or from the beating that I got on the head, that I could not walk when I got out of the saloon. "I could not stand on my feet, but I do not think 1 was drunk. A man can't get drunk on one drink, can he?" "Are you guilty, or not guilty V again asked the court. "There Is' such a thing as being not guilty," said Hansen, "when one Is three : sheets In the wind, isn't there? ! "I cannot say that I was not guilty. I might have been drunk, or It might have been the beating that I got on my head, or it might have been something that was put in my boose." ' ' t "Mr. Clerk." said" the court, addressing Clerk Leary, "enter a plea of guilty.' Turning to the defendant, the court asked: , . "Is this the first time that you were ever arrested in this court??' - "I have lived here for nineteen years. I worked at one place as an upholsterer for nine years, and in another place, for ten years. I was never arrested before, and I should not have been- this Hme, for I guess, after all, that It was the beating that I got and not the one drink I had that made me unable to walk."' "Since this is your first time In court, you are discharged; but you had better not come back here any more, or you will be sorry." Hansen walked out of the courtroom so unsteadily that it attracted the attention of the court, and Judge Diehl was -about to call him back. On second thought he let Hansen go, but remarked: "The first time for nineteen years. Well, that's a pretty long stretch, but unless I miss my guess, it will not be nineteen years before he comes back again." |