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Bureau Refugees. F. &. A. Lds.
Division No 5.  Bedford & Botetourt Cos
Liberty Va. Feb 28th 1868.

Bvt Brig General O Brown
Assistant Commissioner
Richmond Va.

In compliance with Circular No 10. S. 1866, I have the honor to report for the month of February 1868. that I visited the Courts of my Division.  The County Court of Botetourt has had no Cases before it, in which Freedmen were a party.  The Court for Bedford County tried several freedmen for criminal offenses, all of them were ably defended by Counsel's, but the juries show a disposition to punish Colored persons more severely then whites for the same crime,  There is however but one case in which gross injustice has been done by the Jury.  And that was three Freedmen charged with house breaking, and stealing a quantity of tobacco, notwithstanding there being no evidence to sustain the charges; the Jury rendered a verdict of guilty, and sentenced them to be confined in the penitentiary for two years.  The Counsel for the prisoners made an efford to have the verdict set aside, which motion the Court overruled.  I then applied for a certified copy of the record of the case, and the evidence, but on this application, the Court consented

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--Errors. Reopened for Editing 2024-05-11 15:22:18