In this way the State administration evaded the issue.
Now let us see what the civil authorities did with Poole. On January 9th, 1904, he was brought before a justice of the peace at Cripple Creek. An attorney for the Mine Owners' Association asked for a continuation, on the grounds that the prosecution needed more time in which to gather evidence.
The justice said that Poole had been held in custody long enough for the gathering of any amount of evidence, and ordered his immediate release.
The Pinkerton Labor Spy. 99
Poole was accordingly released, and neither the military nor anyone else molested him further.
Since the State at no time had one iota of evidence connecting Victor Poole with any crime, why did they deprive him of his liberty for so many weeks in the first place, and why did Governor Peabody, who knew the exact status of the case, suspend the writ of habeas corpus in this case?
Why, indeed?