Supreme Court

The involvement of the Virginia Supreme Court in the Lunenburg Case is analyzed.

Richmond was excited, the county of Lunenburg was in a state of ferment and Solomon Marable, Mary Abernathy, and Pokey Barnes were at this time pale with fright. Sheriff M. C. Cardoza had made repeated efforts to secure the removal of the prisoners to Lunenburg county where it was generally conceded certain death awaited them as armed bodies of men had organized to take their lives.
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The court finally refused to grant the writ of mandamus but in its decision, it roundly scored the Governor, and intimated strongly that Judge Wellford of the Circuit Court had acted unwise in granting the writ of habeas corpus. The effect of this was to cause him to dissolve the writ. But surprise was a mild designation for the feeling which followed when this court granted the novel motion of Capt. A. B. Guigon, providing for the enlargement of the writ and the detention of the prisoners in the Richmond jail in the actual custody of the Supreme Court itself.
Never in the history of this or any other state had any such motion ever been heard of, much Jess granted and a it stands forth as the only instance of where such a tribunal ever took actual possession of prisoners.
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As strange as it may seem Judge James Keith, president of the Supreme Court, was always deeply interested in the case and seemed to have an intuition that the women were innocent, and that the forms of law should be rigidly observed. The decision granting a new trial was by a vote of 3 to 2 in favor of the prisoners. Those in favor of granting a new trial were Judge James Keith, Judge Richard H. Cardwell, Judge George M. Harrison. Those against granting it were Judge John W. Riely and Judge John A. Buchanan.
They were all agreed in the beginning in the granting of the writ of error. The prisoners were tried without counsel, and sentenced to death, with no exceptions entered. It was contended that on this account, the case could not be appealed and that the Supreme Court would not grant a writ of error. This opinion was concurred in by some of the best lawyers in the state, those of minor importance and ability being practically unanimous in this view of the case. Hon. George D. Wise held a different view and in this he was cordially supported by his associate counsel in the case, Ex-Judge H. W. Flournoy and Capt. A. B. Guigon.
They won a brilliant victory and set a precedent not only in the granting of the writ, but in the securing of a new trial for their clients.
They finally won every point made. From start to finish the case has been a series of surprises. The prosecution broke down, and the final release of Pokey Barnes and Mary Abernathy is a lasting monument to their skill and ability, and an everlasting tribute to that spirit of justice and fair-play which permeated the Supreme Court and was ever present and vigorously manifest in the actions of Governor O'Ferrall and Judge B. R. Wellford o the Circuit Court. The Supreme Court of Appeals of Virginia occupies a high plane. It is feared and respected, having made a record for tempering justice with mercy and hearing the cry of the distressed through the many labyrinths of the law.

“Supreme Court,” Black Virginia: The Richmond Planet, 1894-1909, accessed December 7, 2025, https://blackvirginia.richmond.edu/items/show/1552.