The Washington Luna Park Assault Case (Part II)

This is the second of a three-part series on the an assault case that happened in the opening year of Washington Luna Park in 1906. Read the first article HERE.

By Matthew T. Eng, Offbeat NOVA

Forrest W. Suddenly Gooding took the stand on Halloween in John Wright’s trial at the Circuit Court of Alexandria county. He identified Wright, the defendant, as the one who assaulted them on the 9th of September. Gooding retold his side of the story to the jury and Commonwealth’s Attorney Crandal Mackey, whose job it was to prove Wright’s guilt. Mackey would later make fame in Arlington and Alexandria as a champion of prohibition.   

It was noted in the Alexandria Gazette article that the two had been married in the month and a half since the incident. 

A variety of other witnesses took the stand that day. Ms. Risley’s sister, Mamie L. Sullivan, took the stand to testify that she had, despite being happily married, been in “ill health ever since the occurrence.”¹ 

Mabel Risley, now Mabel Gooding, took the stand in the late afternoon until almost six in the evening. She also identified Wright as the assailant who committed the crime. She also testified that Mr. Wright had jumped out of the underbrush, knocked Mr. Gooding unconscious with a club in one hand and a pistol in another before choking her, assaulting, and robbing her. Hannah Thomas, the common-law wife of Mr. Wright, testified that he had taken her out for a drive that Sunday afternoon, returning the horse and buggy to a livery stable between 8 pm and 9 pm.² 

Testimony opened up on the first of November with Captain Edward S. Randsell of the Washington District jail. Randsell testified that the couple came to the jail on September 22nd to identify Wright. According to him, when given a lineup of Wright and five or six other individuals, she pointed to another African American man named Henry Johnson, alias “Alabama Joe.” A police officer with her let her know that that was not the correct person, and she correctly identified Wright as the accused after some gentle persuasion by the policemen, Officer Wood. Yet Randsell testified that Wright was not correctly identified first and that it was “not done properly.”³ 

More corroborative testimony happened that day in the defense of Wright. A total of four officers at the jail, James Corrigon, William A. Sword, Thomas S. Hope, and Captain Randsell, all stated that Mabel Gooding identified Henry Johnson as the responsible individual, and kept her eyes on him most of the time.  The warden of the jail testified to not taking an active interest in the case, yet told Mr. Mackey that Mr. Wright should not sign papers presented by Mr. Mackey. He felt it was in the best interest of John Wright to seek counsel before signing anything presented by a Commonwealth’s Attorney. He was absolutely right. A cross-examination from Mrs. Gooding yielded little results.⁴  

At 3 pm, Wright took the stand. He denied all charges, accounting for his whereabouts that evening. As corroborated in his wife’s testimony, Wright declared that he was driving when the crime took place. He denied ever owning a pistol. He noted that the policemen Wood directed Ms. Gooding toward Wright, asking her “Is this the man” after incorrectly picking him out in the lineup. She only identified him after he spoke. Wright also denied ever being near Luna Park. The Evening Star included a play-by-play of his testimony, going further into the allegations made against Officer Wood: 

“He stated that he was arrested by Policeman Wood of Washington, and that the officer said” ‘I have got $100 on you.’” 

Evening Star, November 1, 1906

The jury was then sent away to deliberate after the evidence and testimonies wrapped up around 8:30 pm.⁵ 

If you opened up the newspaper on November 2, 1906, you would see one of the local headlines read: “Joseph Thomas, Alias Wright, Sentenced to Be Hanged.” 

At midnight that night before, the jury indicted John Wright for criminal assault on Mabel Risley, now Ms. Gooding. The deliberation only lasted forty-five minutes. The punishment was death. When asked if he had anything to say, Wright said nothing. The sentence was to be carried out on December 14, 1906, between 6 am and noon. The article noted that Wright “did not apparently realize the gravity of the penalty imposed.”⁶

A motion was put forth by Wright’s attorney, James E. Clements, to set aside the verdict and grant a new trial. This was immediately overturned by the judge in charge, Judge Charles Edgar Nicol. Clements moved for a stay of execution for forty days to allow counsel for the defense to prepare an appeal to the state supreme court. The judge reiterated that Wright had received a fair trial before “an intelligent jury.” At that point, the death penalty had not been conducted by Alexandria County authorities since 1873.⁷ 

One of the other attorneys for the defense argued that there should be some consideration as to whether a crime was actually committed, as it was shown that no rape has been committed. He arraigned Commonwealth Attorney Mackey for not trying Mr. Wright on the murder of Jackson Boney, something that was completely tossed out through the course of the trial. Mackey surmised that attempted rape was “punishable by death, and he asked that Wright be sent to the scaffold.”⁸

A reported for the Evening Star contacted defense attorney James E. Clements a week and a half later, asking him about the progress of Wright’s case. It was noted that the sheriff and Crandall Mackey had all but secured a guarantee for a December 14, 1906, hanging. Clements stressed he still had room for an appeal to Judge Nicol, and was in preparation to send the necessary papers to Richmond at the court of appeals of Virginia. He also said that he had not understood that “it was a part of the duty of a commonwealth’s attorney to personally assist in hanging a man he had prosecuted.” By then, the public in Alexandria County was well aware of the trial, asking if the swift verdict of a death penalty justified by the case’s shaky evidence? Why the haste?⁹ 

Footnotes:

1.  Alexandria Gazette, November 1, 1906. 
2.  Alexandria Gazette, November 1, 1906. 
3.  Evening Star, November 1, 1906. 
4.  Evening Star, November 1, 1906. 
5.  Evening Star, November 1, 1906.
6.  Evening Star, November 2, 1906. 
7.  Evening Star, November 2, 1906. 
8.  Evening Star, November 2, 1906. 
9.  Evening Star, November 14, 1906.