Stages of Legal Systems
In the 40 cases that were examined, the stages of legal systems varried between the initial arrest and awaiting a trial, to sentences being enacted on the offenders who were found guilty and even two cases of applications for a poardon being submitted to the governor of Maryland. Of the cases where where the alleged offender was brought to trial, eight resulted in a prison sentence. Of these eight cases, two led to a pardon application by the offender, after they had already spent several years in a penitentiary. In the case listed below, a man named Clarence E. Price had requested a pardon after being incarcerated for two years. (Application for Pardon) The remainder of the cases either did not involve any stage of legal system or only mentioned the initial arrest.
Cases found in the "Local and Personal" section often didn't have any information about the legal systems in use besides the mention of the initial arrest, and if the alleged offender was awaiting trial or not. In some cases the verdict on an alleged offender could be found in the "Circuit Court" section in later issues of the Sentinel. This is seen in the other two examples shown below, where Augustus Awkward and Archie Bellows were both initially charged with stealing chickens. In a later issue, Augustus was found not guilty, but bellows was sentenced to three years and six months in the penitentiary. (Local and Personal & Circuit Court)
