Have you ever wondered what life was like in Jacksonville half a century ago? It may have been a different era of history, culture and politics but there are often parallels between the kind of stories that made headlines then and today. As interesting as the differences may be, so are the similarities. These are some of the top stories from this week in 1960. The items were compiled from the Jacksonville Public Library’s periodical archives by Staff Writer Max Marbut.
• Monday morning, Jay Gould Rogers Jr., 36, a suspended Duval County Patrol lieutenant, went on trial in the Criminal Court of Record on a charge of receiving and concealing stolen property with a value of less than $100.
The charge was the second of two counts contained in one of three informations filed against Rogers after a large quantity of stolen goods was found in his home on March 2, following a tip given to Sheriff Dale Carson by a private investigator, Allen Paynten.
The one charge on which Rogers was being tried involved a Winchester 12-gauge shotgun, allegedly stolen from Towers Hardware Store in the Town and Country Shopping Center on the morning of Dec. 18, 1959. Other guns and merchandise were also stolen from the store at the same time, but were not found in Rogers’ home.
The first witnesses called were John Cox and Donald Sillasen, county patrolmen, who said they were summoned by Rogers about 3 a.m. on the day of the burglary to investigate it. Rogers was at the time their superior officer and was on duty, they said.
Eugene Meadows, manager of the store, identified the shotgun recovered from Rogers’ home as one of the items stolen. His testimony caused Judge William T. Harvey to ask some questions about gun prices after Meadows said the wholesale cost of the shotgun was $106.70. He had listed its value when reporting the theft at $99.
The theft of an article worth less than $100 constituted petit larceny. If the article was worth more than $100, the charge would have been grand larceny.
Details of the search of Rogers’ home for the merchandise missing from two stores and a school were provided by Chief William Johnston of the Duval County Patrol and by Carson.
During cross-examination, defense attorney Neal Evans attempted to draw from Carson the source of information upon which the search was based and secured an admission from the sheriff that Paynten had declared that Rogers’ wife had provided the list of allegedly stolen property in the officer’s home.
Carson and Johnston said Mrs. Rogers had invited them into the home and pointed out several of the allegedly stolen articles. Rogers was not at home when the search was conducted, they said.
Carson said when Rogers arrived about 45 minutes after they had been in the house, Mrs. Rogers asked that he be detained outside so she and the children could leave the premises. Carson said he intercepted Rogers and drove him around in his car for about 20 minutes and when they returned, Mrs. Rogers and the children were gone.
Johnston said that Rogers did not hesitate to point out the allegedly stolen articles, helped gather them together and put them in the officer’s car.
He and Carson both declared Rogers seemed very upset emotionally and cried several times.
During the testimony regarding the house search, Rogers bowed his head, placed his hand before his eyes and wept silently.
Carson said after the evidence was taken into custody, Rogers was taken to the sheriff’s office in the Courthouse, where he made a statement concerning the articles.
As the trial progressed, Carson played a dual role in the proceedings as did Johnston and Carson’s Chief Administrative Deputy, William F. Whitehead. All three had testified against Rogers on the first day of the trial, but were called back by Evans as character witnesses.
After they testified for the defense, County Solicitor Lacy Mahon Jr., who was prosecuting the case, questioned the trio’s assessments of Rogers’ reputation being “good” in light of his confessing to possessing the stolen articles. In all three instances, Mahon found the witness willing to amend his earlier statements to Evans.
Rogers did not take the stand during the trial, but Evans attempted through cross-examination to imply that his client was the victim of a frame-up on the part of his wife and Paynten. Evans underscored part of the statement made by Rogers following his arrest, in which he said that he had found the shotgun just outside the open rear door of the hardware store, where it might have been dropped by the burglars, and had put it in his car instead of returning it.
Only brief arguments were made by Mahon and Evans as the case came to its close. Evans became emotionally overcome during his argument and a brief recess had to be taken in order for him to regain his composure.
Evans had told the jury that, “Even if this man is guilty, he has been punished enough, he has suffered enough. He has lost his job, his home is broken, his friendships gone. Are you going to pull the whole world down on him now?”
Evans’ plea had been anticipated ny Mahon, who reminded the jurors they had declared to him, before being selected for service, that they would render a verdict based on the testimony offered by the witnesses, the law as given them by Harvey, and not upon bias, prejudice or sympathy.
“It is not your job to decide if this man is entitled to mercy. That is the job of the judge. He is the man who imposes the sentence, not you. Don’t assume a greater burden than is rightfully yours. Your only duty is to decide if the state has proven this man to be guilty beyond and to the exclusion of every reasonable doubt,” said Mahon.
“If you let sympathy influence your decision, if you should find this man not guilty, you would be condoning corruption in law enforcement and in government. You expect me to do my duty, you expect the judge to do his duty, you expect the sheriff to do his. Are you going to shirk yours?”
Wednesday, after deliberating for 14 minutes, a six-man jury found Rogers guilty of receiving and concealing stolen goods.
Harvey granted Evans 15 days in which to file a motion for a new trial and set Oct. 18 as the date to hear arguments on the motion. Rogers was released under the same bond of $2,000, which had been fixed upon his arrest. The maximum penalty for the charge upon conviction was five years imprisonment.