MIDDLESBORO DAILY NEWS
Middlesboro, Bell County, Kentucky June 8, 1923


TESTIMONY VERY CONFLICTING -
CASE POSTPONED TILL AUGUST

Testimony given in the trial yesterday and the day before of Commonwealth against Floyd Ball was very conflicting. The case, which is being tried in London, went to the jury today. Ball is indicted for malicious shooting and wounding John Hurst at the Pineville Courthouse on May 17, 1922.John Hurst, the first witness to take the stand, swore he was shot in the head, the back, the arm and hands, five times, he did not know by whom. He said he was shot first in the head and started for Doctor Bingham's office for first aid when he was shot again.

John Asher said he was in Judge Bingham's office with two other men when he saw John Hurst coming toward the office from the steps leading upstairs. Asher said he was followed by a man he did not know at that time, but later found to be Floyd Ball.

James S. Helton, Master Commissioner of Bell Circuit Court, said he was on the second floor of the Courthouse and saw John Hurst go down the steps bleeding. He continued that he saw Floyd Ball, who was then upstairs, turn and go down in the same direction. He soon heard three shots fired, but he did not know by whom.

Dillard Bingham swore he was in the door of the county clerk's office, downstairs, when he heard the shooting. He went to the door and saw Hurst coming that way. Floyd Ball was directly behind, Bingham said, and he saw Ball shoot Hurst in the back. He saw Hurst fall and crawl in Judge Bingham's door.

HAD GUN IN BOTH HANDS

Grant Partin testified that he saw John Hurst in the hall going toward the county judge's office. He saw a fellow right behind him raise a gun in both hands, point it toward Hurst's back and fire three shots. Partin declared the fellow looked larger and fuller in the face than Floyd Ball.

Ben Asher said he was standing on the first floor of the Courthouse when he saw John Hurst coming down the steps toward the county judge's office. He saw a fellow following, shoot him three or four times, he testified. Asher did not know either man at the time, but now recognizes Floyd Ball as the one who did the shooting.

After several other witnesses for the state, Floyd Ball took the stand in defense. He said he went to Pineville the morning of the trial with his wife, Alva Ball and his wife, and Tom Manning. He said they took the two women to the Courthouse, then went across the street to the drugstore to get some medicine for Alva Ball who was feeling sick. Then, he said, they came out and sat in their car parked on the north side of the Courthouse. He, Alva, Tom Manning and Herbert Ball were sitting there, he said, when they heard the shooting begin. He, Alva and Manning jumped out of the car and ran around to the west entrance of the Courthouse. Before they got in, the shooting had ceased, he said. He had two guns, he said, but put them back in his pockets, then went upstairs. He said he didn't see John Hurst and didn't shoot at all, and that he took his guns to Martin Green and Millard Creech to examine to prove they had not been fired.

SHERIFF TESTIFIES TO BALL

Martin Green, Bell County Sheriff, swore he saw Floyd and Alva Ball run toward the Courthouse, but that he did not believe they had time to get in the house before the firing ceased. He said he examined Floyd Ball's guns and that only one chamber was empty and neither gun looked as if it had been shot. He said he instructed his deputies to bring Floyd and Alva to the Middlesboro jail as he was afraid there would be trouble if he left them in the same jail with George Colson.

Rufus Wilson, Custodian of State Capital, swore he was upstairs when the shooting began. He came right down to the Sheriff's office to get the latter. He said John Hurst shot through the face and bleeding was right behind him, so close he spattered blood on him. When he got downstairs, he saw Hurst turn toward the county judge's office. A large man right behind him turned in the same direction and fired at Hurst's back. Wilson swore the man was not Ball.

E.B. Southard said he was driving along the street by the eastside of the Pineville Courthouse when he saw Floyd and Alva Ball run toward the Courthouse. He heard the shooting downstairs and swore it ended before the Balls got inside.

The trial of Frank Ball, scheduled for Monday, then Wednesday, was postponed till the August term of London Court. Alva Ball's trial will follow Floyd Ball's. A number of local men are in London as witnesses for the cases.

Newspaper Article Submission
Article #7, RE: Colson-Ball Feud
by Pat Akers Lacy
nanapat2007@embarqmail.com