PART ONE OF TWO
Originally posted by mortenview:
Let me say a few things about your comments coming from one who:
has umpteen sermons by Norris (put on cassette); Articles; books; personally talked to many who knew Norris .... those who liked him and those who hated him....
Well, I’ve interviewed former church members who knew him personally, read old issues of Norris’ newspapers, read old copies of newspapers from the time, read correspondence written in Norris’ own hand to various people, studied sworn statements from judges and Norris’ bodyguard, read transcripts from the trials, examined photos of the evidence against him, and read books by people who were very favorable toward Norris.
I am very familiar with the issues.
And ... my uncle ...head usher at Temple Baptist, Detroit.... and my elderly mother-in-law -- maiden name "Norris" etc. etc.
Oh? Is your mother-in-law related to Norris?
Now... Your views on some of the happenings are very slanted. I will not waste the time to try and refute them, and it would not be hard to do.
Actually, I believe it would be much harder than you think.
You sound like one who has made it a personal vendetta to villify the man.
No. I find him fascinating.
Now... it depends on who you read and whay they wrote what they did about Norris.
I’ve studied materials from both Norris supporters (including Norris himself) and those who opposed him as well as the transcripts from the trials (which are not slanted).
I will say, that there was NO evidence of Norris burning down 1st Baptist, Ft. Worth...
Norris had a motive – the former pastor (J. Morgan Wells) was so highly regarded that the congregation created a stained glass portrait of Wells that stood over Norris when he preached. They also had Wells literally interned in a crypt immediately under the window. This near worship of Wells frustrated Norris to no end. Norris confessed to Lee Scarborough, the future president of Southwestern Seminary in Fort Worth, that he “would never be able to do anything with this church as long as that face looks down on me.”
Norris claimed he did not have a key to the building, but a key to the church building was found in his possession. He claimed he was not in town and produced a letter with a postmark from Ennis, Texas (about 60 miles away) allegedly mailed by Norris while visiting his sister on the same day when some threatening letters to Norris were mailed. At trial, the prosecution brought forth a man from Dallas who created an Ennis postmark stamp for Norris and another witness (a secretary of Norris’) who witnessed him practicing stamping pieces of paper with the stamp in his office. Furthermore, the financial secretary of First Baptist, Annie Taylor, testified that Norris asked her to mail a stack of letters at 11 a.m. the next day – without looking at them – when Norris was leaving to catch the train to Ennis.
if so ... with all his detractors, he would have been convicted.
Actually, one of the jurors had a medical emergency and needed to leave and Judge Swayne (allegedly a fervent supporter of Norris), called the jurors before the bench and asked the jury if they had reached a verdict – they had not. According to a document written by Judge Hosey of Tarrant County, Swayne “took the bull by the horns and made a short speech to the jury in which he declared that Norris was no guilty; the state had not proven him guilty; and for them to return a verdict of not guilty.” The jury deliberated more than an hour and then returned to the courtroom. J.R. Fuller, the jury foreman, rose and said, “We have come to the conclusion that Norris is guilty, but there is but one verdict that we can reach, under your Honor’s charge… that we should find the defendant not guilty.”
Lying in depositions???? Come now... that is farrrrr reaching. Again, he would have NEVER gotten away with it.
When he was tried for perjury, he was specifically charged with lying about the origin of threatening letters that he had received.
The evidence:
One of the threatening letters was written on a half sheet of hotel stationary. The other half of the piece of paper was later discovered in one of Norris’ charred overcoats in the remains of Norris’ burned-out parsonage. (The parsonage burned one night with the Norris family escaping injury, but Norris had been seen earlier in the garage with a can of kerosene by his bodyguard. Suddenly the bodyguard - who was staying inside the house – smelled smoke and emerged from his room to find a major fire in the closet under the stairs in the middle of the house.) The tear marks on the threatening note and the paper found in Norris’ coat pocket matched perfectly.
Norris provided a writing sample that a local expert matched to the threatening letters. (The expert also noted that the author of the threatening letters and Norris both misspelled the word “damn” as “damb”.)
(There was more evidence, but this thing is getting too long.)
Things were looking very grim for the defense until they discovered that the grand jury could not recall if Norris had been sworn in at the beginning of his second appearance before them. The defense asserted that Norris should not be found guilty of perjury since he was being tried for a statement made during the second session. The judge, Judge Simmons, instructed the jury to find Norris not guilty, regardless of the facts or circumstances, if they believed the grand jury had failed to place Norris under oath the second time. After a deliberation that lasted all morning, the jury found Norris not guilty.
PART TWO FOLLOWS
F TWO
