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Wednesday, May 9, 1951 Two years and ten months after presenting their defense the first time, the Trenton Six began to do so again.RaymondAlexander began by calling Horace Wilson to the witness stand. First, Alexander made clear to Wilson that if he did not understand any question, he was to say so, telling the lawyer or the judge. Then Wilson, with great composure and dignity, told the story of his arrest and his confrontations in the police station with the other defendants, arranged by Acting Captain Delate: Delate brought Cooper into his room, pointed his finger at Wilson and asked, “Is this the man?” Cooper answered, “Yes, that is him.”Wilson responded,“You’re crazy, boy, you don’t know what you are talking about.” This sequence was then repeated with both Cooper and English present, both identifying Wilson as “the one.” Wilson objected, stressed his complete innocence, and said he could prove he was working on Koppel’s farm under the supervision of Mr. Murphy at the time of the murder. Wilson told Delate, “I wish you would call Mr. Murphy or Mr. Koppel; they will tell you the same thing as I am telling you.” Delate left and came back in a few minutes with a paper “and he said he called the people up and they, these people said they don’t know anything about you.” Before court adjourned for the day, Judge Smalley signed an order for Collis English’s examination by a cardiologist of the defense’s choosing.1 Thursday, May 10, 1951 Judge Smalley granted George Pellettieri’s request to have a psychiatrist examine Ralph Cooper, Collis English, and McKinley Forrest. Horace Wilson spent the day on the witness stand, where Alexander had him elaborate on 155 chapter 6  Second Trial, Defense 156 jersey justice his responses to Captain Delate. Wilson had asked Delate to take him to see his employers so he could prove his innocence; this was not done. On the Monday evening after Wilson’s arrest, Chief Detective Naples provided a pack of cigarettes to Cooper, Thorpe, McKinley, and English but said that Wilson “was not worth a pack.” At this point, Pellettieri interrupted proceedings to object to the “grimaces by these officers back here, particularly Sergeant Creeden,” referring to officers observing the proceedings, presumably attempting to cast doubt on Wilson’s testimony. Smalley remarked that the jury would disregard any such mannerisms and asked, as he did frequently, that they “move along.” On the same Monday evening after his arrest, Wilson said Chief Naples stopped outside his cell, where Wilson was lying on the board which served as a bed, with his coat serving as a pillow against the bars, and asked if he was ready to tell the truth. Wilson answered, “You want the truth and I told you the truth, and now you want me to tell you a lie?” In response, Naples kicked his feet against the bars toward Wilson’s head and then complained, “You done caused me to hurt my feet.” Later Naples brought Wilson a sandwich, which Wilson did not eat: “Well, after he kicked at my head in the cell then come back and tried to give me a sandwich, then I just wouldn’t accept the sandwich. That’s all.” Pellettieri took this opportunity to point out, “The one man who did not partake of food, drink, or cigarettes produced by Chief Naples did not make a confession. We allege the men who signed the confessions were drugged, were not acting properly, were in a controlled state.” Such allegations seem fantastic now, but do match the facts at the time. After luncheon recess, Alexander asked Wilson about the recent testimony of George English. Wilson stated that he had never seen George English before he appeared in court and had never worked for him. Further, when George English identified Wilson in court, Wilson said, “He looked to me as if he was crazy. He didn’t look as if he had good sense. I thought he was crazy sure enough,” referring to the “silly grin” on English’s face.2 Friday, May 11, 1951 George Pellettieri brought George English back to the witness stand to question him further about where and when he purchased his coat, but received only evasive responses. Then Pellettieri, stage-managing events, had a court attendant bring in Rubie English, who had been found with great difficulty by an investigator in the backwoods of...

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