The Indiana State Sentinel

A HEAVY VERDICT.
The Jury in the Needham-New Bank Case
Return a Special Verdict,
Finding for the Plaintiff and Assessing the
Damages at $154,700—The Verdict Re-
ceived With Surprise by the
Defendants.
At 2 o'clock yesterday afternoon the jury
in the suit of the survivors of the Indiana
Banking Company against John C. Wright
and John C. New announced that they had
made a verdict and Judge Walker was
called. The attorneys for the plaintiffs and
defendants were notified and appeared in the
court room, where the verdict was read. The
document was very long, being a special
verdict, covering all the points in the
case and giving the plaintiffs $154,700
damages. The principal points covered
by the verdict
are as
follows: The
jury find that Morrison and Miller
were acting for the Indiana Banking Com-
pany in the purchase of 2,380 shares of First
National Bank stock from New and Wright.
and that the purchase price was $165 for each
$100 share of the stock; that John C. New was
Secretary of the United States Treasury and
had his residence in Washington City after
the sale to Morrison and Miller, and that
John C. Wright was absent in Europe for
more than a year after the sale, and that be-
ing thus absent service could not be thus had
upon them, and therefore the suit
was
not
barred
by limitation;
that Wright and New concealed from
Morrison the true condition of the First Na-
tional Bank; that when Morrison purchased
the stock of New and Wright he was not
aware of the extent of the Miller and Slaugh-
ter defalcations nor of the condition of the
notes,
accounts
and
other assets of
the
bank, nor
of
the
existence
of the spurious United States bonds;
that A. D. Lynch, the United States Bank
Examiner, had been used as an instrument
in the hands of New and Wright to forward
the sale of the bank stock to Morrison and
Miller. In all the points covered by the
verdict it agrees with the plaintiff's theory
of the case, except that the jury estimates
the value of the stock at the time of the
sale at $50 per share.
The suit was brought by William Need-
ham and others, surviving members of the
Indiana Banking Company, against John C.
New and John C. Wright, for damages, al-
leged to have been sustained by the plain-
tiffs in the purchase of the old
First National from the defendants.
The complaint set up that New
and Wright knew that the First National
Bank (in 1878) was burdened with a large
amount of worthless notes, accounts and
poor property; that James L. Slaughter and
Carey I. Miller had embezzled a large
amount of the bank's funds; that it
amounts of forged United States bonds; that
forged bonds and worthless paper to the
amount of $500,000 was carried; that the
embezzlements were
not
shown on
the bank books, but that a large
amount of the embezzled funds were carried
as cash on the counter; that New and Wright
entered into a conspiracy to sell William H.
Morrison, who was acting for the Indiana
Banking company, $238,500 par value of First
National stock at $395,525, when the said stock
was not worth face value; that false repre-
sentations were made to him, and Morrison,
ignorant of the condition of the bank and re-
lving upon the representation made, did buy
2,380 shares for $393,525. In a second para-
graph the plaintiffs averred that the In-
diana Banking Company did not know the
condition of the First National, and that
knowing this, New and Wright made false
and fraudulent representations, assuring the
Indiana Banking Company that everything
was all right. Further, that under such mis-
representations the Indiana Banking Com-
pany bought 2,380 shares of First National
stock at $165, and that the condition of the
bank was not discovered until shortly before
it went into liquidation. The defend-
ants set up a general denial, and also
held that the plaintiffs were barred by the
statute of limitations. On the issues thus
joined the introduction of testimony began
and continued five weeks, being argued dur-
ing the whole of last week, and going to the
jury Saturday. The evidence has been
given in the Sentinel, and further reference
to it is unnecessary.
A reporter called upon Mr. Wright after
the verdict was rendered and asked if he had
anything to say in the matter. He said that
he was very much surprised to hear the ver-
dict, and was curious to know upon what
facts it was based, as nothing given in testi-
mony would justify such a finding. He
would most certainly appeal the case to the
Supreme Court, and did not question that it
would be reversed. He did not wish to ex-
press himself further in the matter, and
was disposed to take a cheerful view of the
ultimate result. The reporter, during the
talk with Mr. Wright, was impressed with
his cheerfulness. He did not have the air of
a man who has such a heavy verdict returned
against him, one in fact that would sweep
away a large part of his property if sustained
by the Supreme Court. Mr. New was no less
surprised at the verdict, but beyond ex-
pressing a determination to carry the case to
a higher court, would say nothing. On the
street it
was
the one
topic of con-
versation,
and
much
surprise
was
manifested in all quarters.
The merits
of the case were discussed from different
standpoints, but even those who expected a
verdict for the plaintiffs were not prepared
to hear such large figures returned. The
court will convene at 2 o'clock this after-
noon, and the first step will no doubt be a
motion by defendants for a new trial. If
this is overruled an appeal will be taken to
the Supreme Court. It is related that Mr.
New, after the jury went out on Saturday.
accosted Wright as follows: If you will
pay the lawyer's fees in this case I will agree
to pay whatever damages the jury assess
against us." Mr. Wright declined the prop-
osition, feeling certain that there would be
no verdict for the plaintiffs.