sentiment was overwhelmingly hostile. One local newspaper, the Marysville Democrat, denounced the Wobblies as "venomous human snakes" who "always urged armed resistance to constituted authority" and were thus "more dangerous and deadly than the wild animals of the jungles.The trial opened in neighboring Marysville. Attorney Lewis attempted to obtain a change of venue so that the defendants might be tried in a more neutral setting than the superheated environment of Yuba County. In addition to pervasive bias against the IWW in the local community, Lewis noted that the judge in the case, E.P. McDaniel, was a personal friend of the dead district attorney. The request for the change of venue was denied and Governor Johnson likewise declined to appoint a new judge in the case. Eight of the twelve members of the jury for the trial of the agricultural strike organizers were farmers. Testimony for the prosecution emphasized the fact that Ford and Suhr were "agitators." No witness indicated that they had seen Ford with a gun; rather the case was made that by mobilizing the hop pickers the IWW organizer had "filled the magazines of wrath." Suhr's so-called "confession" was not introduced into evidence, indicative that it had been obtained through the use of illegal force, but three deputies were put on the stand to testify that Suhr had told them he had taken a gun from an old man while fleeing the scene and fired twice. This accusation was denied by Suhr. No eyewitness evidence was produced to indicate that Suhr had actually fired the fatal shots. Defense witnesses indicated that the shots which killed the law enforcement officials were fired by the dead Puerto Rican picker from Deputy Reardon's gun, which had been seized in the scuffle. Attorney Lewis emphasized in his closing that None of the defendants took part in the shooting. None was seen with a gun in his hands. None advised or abetted violence. Nothing in the evidence points to a conspiracy — much less proves it. Despite Lewis's best efforts, the result of the trial was never really in doubt. On January 13, 1914 Blackie Ford and Herman Suhr, the recognized leaders of the strike which had degenerated into a fatal riot, were found guilty of second-degree murder after one day of jury deliberations. Both received life sentences in the state penitentiary. Walter Bagan and William Beck, owing to their lesser role in