WEDNESDAY, MARCH 7, 1956

Wednesday, March 7, 1956

HEADLINE: DEFENSE SEEKS TRIAL OF TAYLOR WITHOUT JURY

Court to Act Today on Motions of Lawyers in Lindbergh Slaying Case

A hearing was set for today in Minneapolis on motions made by attorneys for James P. Taylor requesting that the murder trial be delayed; that the trial be held in Sherburne County and conducted without a jury.
Taylor a was indicted by a federal grand jury for the murder of Kenneth E. Lindbergh, and for the theft of money from the Northern State Bank in Thief River Falls where Lindbergh was a cashier.


Taylor’s court appointed attorneys, Irving Nemerov and Walter E. Riordan, had turned in a total of 13 motions last Wednesday, minutes before the deadline for such action.


In addition to asking that the trial be delayed until September, the defense requested dismissal on each of the four counts on which Taylor was indicted, and asked that the government be ordered to state on which count Taylor was to be tried.


They also requested the right to examine government evidence, including photos, the travelers checks, and the cash involved, Lindbergh’s car, and the witnesses statements.


The motion asking that the trial be moved to Sherburne County might require that the government prove that the murder was committed there, should it be granted.


It was pointed out previously by Taylor’s attorneys, that the federal law provides that a murder trial be conducted in the county in which the murder was committed unless such action would inconvenience the government. Clear Lake is in Sherburne County.


In requesting that Taylor be tried without jury, Nemerov submitted a 5 foot stack of Minneapolis papers as indication that the widespread public city given the case would make the selection of an impartial jury an impossibility.


Release of $801 which Taylor had at the time of his arrest was requested by the attorneys saying that the money was needed to pay defense expenses.
Lindbergh disappeared on November 12 after having met a stranger at the bank on Saturday afternoon. Also missing were $15,750 and travelers checks and silver coin.


His frozen body was found near Clear Lake in Sherburne County on November 25. He had been killed by blows on the back of the head by a bladed instrument.


Taylor, an ex convict was arrested in Joplin, Missouri on December 8 after FBI agents had identified a fingerprint on one of the stolen traveler’s checks.

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