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Show JUDGE HOWELL I WINS CONTEST Judge Morse Decides in His Favor. Rules That Evidence of Contestant Con-testant Is Not Sufficiently Clear and Convincing. Contestant Dissents nnd Will Appeal; Affecting Scene in Court When Howell and Mother Embrace. Special to Tho Tribune. OGDEN, March 17. Judgo C. "W. Morso this morning-rendered Judgment In tho Ilnmer-Ho'woll contest case for thc Judgeship Judge-ship of tho Second Judicial district, which sustains James Albert Howell, Republican, Republi-can, ln tho office This Is tho second contest con-test of this kind In Utah, the other bolng for tho bench of tho Soventh district. In tho former caso tho contestant withdrew In this caso thc contestant has been beaten. beat-en. Judge Morse's Decision. Thc court, after briefly reviewing the allegations of the complaint, stated that "a very clear and comprehensive argument argu-ment hnd been presented by the parties with reference to tho law and thc proper rulo ln tho consideration of testimony of matters of this kind. Thero Is occasion. 1 tako It, to announce a doctrlno that would require a somewhat higher grade, or degree, of evidence than In other classes of cases. My view Is that In cases of this class tho proof ought to bo particularly particu-larly clear and convincing. Allegations Not Sustained. "Now I do not Intend this morning to enter Into an analysis of this evidence, nor to glvo the reasons why some of this evidence- has not as great weight as other evidence, but this evldcnco Is not. In tho Judgment of tho court, of that clear and convincing character which would Justify Justi-fy tho finding of tho truth of tho allegations, allega-tions, and tho Judgment of tho court will bo that the allegations arc not sustained by tho proof, and findings may bo mado accordingly. As to Certain Votes. "With reference to tho legality or Illegality Illegal-ity of certain votes that were cast I do not recall tho names of tho parties It Is not necessary to inako any findings on thoso questions. There were not to exceed ex-ceed three, I think, where tho parties testified as to whom they had voted. There being nothing In It that would affect af-fect the results of this caso it rs not necessary nec-essary to make findings with reference to thoso votes. Declares Howell Elected. "Tho Judgment of tho court will be, It having appeared upon the count of theso ballots that tho contesteo, James Albert Howell, received a majority of tho legal votes cast, legally marked and legnlly counted, that the certlllcato of election that was Issued to him was legal, und the Judgment Is against tho contostant " Affecting Scene in Court. Long beforo tho court hnd completed the dollvery of his decision and Judgment the Intuitive sense of an elderly woman who sat Just outside thc railing In the courtroom court-room conveyed to a mother's heart its full import. Her heart was full of pride and Joy In her son and. Ignoring the conventionalities, conven-tionalities, she advanced with a glad cry and for a moment Judge Howell was clasped In embrace ln his mother's arms. Thc incident was quickly over with and scarcely Interrupted the court's delivery. Preparing Decree. At thc announcement of tho Judgment Charles C. Richards requested that tho findings and the decree be prepared and signed as early as possible as ho was anxious to get the sldo of tho contestant before tho Supreme court at the earliest lK)sslblo date, nnd desired to havo It there for the Mav term. Counsel for Judgo Howell offered to prepare tho findings today to-day and Judgo Morso agreed to wait over ono moro day to pass on them. This ho was able to do today. Informal Levy Held. At tho adjournment of court Judgo Howell, How-ell, his father and mothor held an Informal Infor-mal levy, first In tho courtroom and later in tho Judge's chamber, and later yot, as they camo down tho street Mrs. Howell, tho Judge's mother. Is apparently Jealous of her youngest son's honor and tho congratulations con-gratulations of friends as tho trio wont lrom tho courthouse to their homo was delightful to witness. Judge Howell Talks. Speaking of tho progress of the long-drawn-out case, Judgo Howell said today: to-day: "I havo sustained so much montal worry' over this that I think I would havo been Incompetent to havo managed or even arranged my own defense, and I cannot give too much credit to tho counsel coun-sel I had. On only ono occasion did I differ with them; that was when I wished to go on tho stand and deny tho allegations allega-tions ln toto. My counsel was right when It was willing to submit my caso without evidence " Judgo Morso Congratulated. Anothor recipient of congratulations when court adjourned was Judgo Charles "VY". Morse, beforo whom tho case was tried. Tho attornoyn flocked around him and congratulatod him upon the high quality of patlenco ho had exhibition during dur-ing tho long and tedious trial and tho eminent fairness of bis Judgmont. Motion for New Trial Overruled. When court rcconvoncd at 2 o'clock tho docreo and findings wcro ready nnd were signed by tho court without argument, but tho contestant then moved for a new trial and was overruled. Judge Maglnnis Elated. Judgo Maglnnis of counsel for Judgo IIowolI expressed himself as naturally olatod over tho court's decision. He thought tho contest was originally 111-udvUed 111-udvUed and aoldo from tho fact that It had Interrupted tho operations of tho Stato Judiciary In two districts. It hnd cast aspersions on people whoso highest alra3 aro to bo honorable. "Our vlow was that tho allegations were trivial. That Is tho reason we did not offer testimony testi-mony In contradiction of tho allegations. So far as counsel for Judge Howell la concerned con-cerned wo never considered tho complaint com-plaint ns being serious and today's decision de-cision by tho court seems to bo In harmony har-mony with this," Contestant's Counsel Heard. Attorneys for tho contestant lndulgo In an oppoBlto vlow, and thlB afternoon Charles C. Richards, counsel for Daniel Hamor, contonded that tho allegations ln tho complaint had boon proved. In an Interview ho assorted that ho would ap-poal ap-poal the case, and Immediately, and on tho ground that the decision was not In harmony with tho ovldoncc. "Tho chargo that Judgo Howoll tendered ten-dered Dyo tho office of assistant stenographer stenog-rapher nnd that ho assured Skeen that ho would arrango that ho should havo tho Municipal Judgeship In caso of Howell's election to tho District bench, provided they would assist ln hlo cleotlon has boon proved. I concur with Judgo Powem's argument of yestorday that mon havo boon convicted and executed In this Stato on evldcnco not nearly so clear and con- vlnclng' ns thl3. Nono of tho testimony offered by us on this point has been con- I tradlcted and we think Judgment should i be rendered against him." About Judgo Howell. James Albert Howell Is a nephew of Congressman Joseph Howell, and Is 28 years of ago. When but 25 he was olected Municipal Judgo of Ogden. carrying Ogden Og-den city by a majority of 1000. Two years later he was re-elected with a majority of 1G00. and was then selected as the only candidate who was sufficiently strong ln Ogden to carry tho District Judgeship against tho Democrats. The result was his nomination by tho Republicans and his election. Hccord as Trial Judge. During his Incumbency of tho Municipal Munici-pal Judgeship, covering thrco years, Judge Howell established tho reputation of being be-ing a "bad one" among tho hoboes und criminal element that Ogden suffers under. un-der. In tho three years he tried over S000 cases, and turned Into the city treasury upwards of 53000 In flne3 and forfeitures each month Tho criminals got tho maximum maxi-mum sentence ln each case, and tho Instinct In-stinct to suppress crlmo was so strong In him that In the first caso that came before him after he ascended the district bench ho gave tho offenders clghteon nnd twenty years, respectively. This was a caso "whero two men had held up and robbed a buslnoss woman south of Ogdon. Ono of the notable traits of his character charac-ter is thc affectionate regard In which ho holds his mother. It Is almost boyish In Its simplicity, and tho two arc all but Insoparablo. Judge Howoll. strango as It may seem, takes moro pleasure out of tho faot that ho Is a member of tho Library Board of Ogden. the organization responsible for thc building of tho Carneglo library nt that point, and Is secretary of tho board, than he does out of tho political preferment prefer-ment ho has received. |