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MITCHELL FOUND GUILTY OF LASHING CHIEFS; TO BE ARMY OUTCAST 5 YEARS
CONVINCTED OFFICER AND PROSECUTOR Who Demanded Air Critic's Dismissal From Rolls of the Army
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Col. WILLIAM MITCHELL
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Major ALLEN J. GULLION
Air Critic Convicted on All Insubordination Counts But Judges Extend Him Leniency in View of His Record During the War
From The World's Bureau
Special Despatch to The World
WASHINGTON, Dec, 17. - Col. William Mitchell is to be an outcast from the Army for the next five years.
Found guilty after a day of sensations, he faced the court martial in its drafty dim-lighted, smoke-laden little hearing room this evening, and thus heard his fate pronounced by Major Gen. Robert L. Howze, Predisent of the court:
"The Court, upon secret written ballot, two-thirds of the members present at the time the vote was taken concurring in each finding of guilty, finds the accused guilty of all specifications and the charge.
"Upon secret written ballot the court sentences the accused to be suspended from rank, command and duty, with forfeiture of all pay and allowances, for five years.
"The court is thus lenient because of the military record of the accused during the World War, two-thirds of the members present as the vote was taken concurring."
Blow to Critic and Wife
It was a blow to Col. Mitchell. His wife, seated beside him, pressed her hands to her lips. A moment later the few rows of spectators were filing out. Flashlight flared while the nine members of the court were photographed. Col. Mitchell shook hands with each, smiling rather grimly. The most spectacular of military trials was over-suddenly, unexpectedly and with a verdict little anticipated.
It remains only for the higher judiciary of the army-the Judge Advocate General and President Coolidge, as Commander in Chief, to make today's finding final and effective. Whether either will amellorate it is doubtful-improbable.
There was no demonstration as the rather weary court members, their uniforms rumpled after the four hours of secret pondering, emerged from the small ante-room, took their places behind the semi-circular wooden table and despatched their last business, Howze's voice tense and staccato as he read the result. He admonished the hushed crowd packed into the room to make no demonstration. There was only that vague intake of breath audible as Howze ended reading.