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· 63 · 8 Many are in the position of a well-known Christian County farmer who declared , in commenting upon the case last night, that he was upon the fence and that today’s developments would determine on which side he would get down. —Decatur review, August 10, 1882 Thursday, August 10, 1882. many believed Wednesday’s evidence had turned slightly in favor of the defendants. However, any advantage thus gained was about to go the way of a spring snow on freshly turned earth. Prevailing opinion held that Thursday would be the last day of testimony; as a result, the turnout was up again. Attendees were anticipating some high drama, should the justice system falter . And, accordingly, one suspect wasn’t taking any chances. right before court resumed, Lee Pettus was found to be carrying a loaded revolver. The other prisoners were then searched for weapons, but they came up clean. Paying a fine of just $10, Lee got off relatively easily, considering that a new state law had specified a $25 to $200 fine for carrying a concealed weapon.1 Pettus probably figured that if he won his release, all hell was going to break loose—in which case, he wanted to be ready for it. of course, it was just as possible that all hell would break loose regardless of the final ruling. even if the state came up short in the eyes of the law, everyone firmly believed that the case would go to the grand jury. some even surmised that the prosecution had purposely held back, not wanting to tip its hand by revealing all its evidence before trial. That was a risky approach, to say the least, because if the evidence wasn’t compelling enough now, there would be no trial later. The state was probably counting on public pressure to influence the justice’s decision . Then again, if the prosecution failed to show just cause, the justice was duty-bound to set the accused free. But the hearing was not over yet. The defense still had a few more witnesses waiting in the wings, ready to shore up its clients’alibis. John morgret, who was also at Joe younker’s on June 29, testified that he saw John there “between four 64 · nameless indignities and six o’clock.”2 Whether that meant that John had been present the full two hours or had stopped by sometime in that window is unclear. To this point, the alibi testimony had focused largely on John’s whereabouts. Now it was time to give the other defendants their due. Newlywed mrs. owen Hart, the former Cora Pettus, confirmed that she spent Thursday, June 29, at her mother’s house, where she saw her brother and Clementi “every little while.”3 she also observed Clementi in the wagon that afternoon, reading a paper. When asked about her brother-in-law, she said he had brought his wife, her sister mattie, by and stayed through the noon hour. After the family ate dinner together, said Cora, he left. she had seen emma Bond that day, too, when she came to practice with her sisters, sometime between two and three o’clock. The teacher stayed half an hour. After Cora was excused, the other three Pettus girls—minnie, ona, and mattie—were brought forth in succession. except for mattie, they corroborated everything Cora had said on the stand. it was ruled that because mattie was John’s wife, she would only be allowed to testify on behalf of her brother and Clementi. she, too, acknowledged seeing the two around the house throughout the day. in the course of the interrogation, she did add one new detail. she stated that she had taken supper with both Lee and Clementi at her mother’s home at seven o’clock that evening; this was a direct contradiction to the six o’clock mealtime Clementi had professed to his arresting officer. The defense called George, the oldest of the Pettus siblings, and asked him about the conversation he’d witnessed between his uncle Laurence and his brother Lee. According to George, his brother’s exact words were that he “didn’t know anything.”4 Among the montgomerys who testified that day were John and William’s two youngest siblings. Their newlywed sister, Amanda, and her husband, James Allen, still lived at the montgomery homestead with her parents. Amanda stated that William had been at the family home between three and four and again between six...
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