Term, 1932, the names of six colored men, qualified to sit as jurors, were included in the panel of
two hundred, so that there can be no question about this panel meeting the requirements
necessary to eliminate prejudice from that drawing."108 But Lee objected that the jury panel
included all those persons who had been on the panel the preceding term and had not served as
petit jurors. Thus only forty six new jurors, including the six negroes, had been added to the list.
The court held that the earlier jurors had been "qualified" jurors and there was no error in
allowing them to serve on subsequent panels so long as the whole procedure did not exclude
negroes.

The final set of exceptions on which the appellate court passed was to the trial court's
refusal to permit Ades to ask questions of prospective jurors concerning their belief on racial
inferiority - "Do you regard negroes as your social equal?" "Would you believe a colored man's
story just as quickly as a white man's?" and whether the prospective juror knew of the "Jim Crow
practices in Baltimore County." The Court said the proper question would have been "Could you
give the defendant, who is a negro, as fair and impartial a trial as you could a white man, and
give him the same advantage and protection as you would a white man upon the same
evidence."109

Although Lee's second conviction was upheld, the case proved important to organization
within the black community. Blacks contributed funds and held meetings in the churches to
provide support for the appeals.110 The success of the first two appeals foreshadowed some
positive changes in criminal proceedings, although the failure of the third showed that much
remained to be accomplished. Indeed, the protracted criminal process in Lee's case further
outraged white citizens on the Eastern Shore.

In October of 1933, a young black man named George Armwood was arrested for the
attempted robbery of a seventy two year old white woman in Somerset County. In the course of
the robbery, the victim resisted and her dress was torn off before the assailant fled. Fearing
violence in the wake of Armwood's arrest, state police brought him to Baltimore City. The
State's Attorney for Somerset County and the circuit court judge demanded and obtained his
return to Somerset County. One day after Armwood's return to Princess Anne, a mob of about
two thousand people overpowered the jail guards, forced entrance to the jail, brought Armwood
outside and killed him. Governor Ritchie tried to bring some of the members of the mob to
justice, but he was frustrated by uncooperative witnesses and an uncooperative local states
attorney. Ritchie invoked the national guard to arrest several alleged members of the lynch party.
When the attorney general of the state appeared to make the formal arrest, a mob stoned his car.
The Somerset County judge issued a writ of habeas corpus to bring the defendants back to his
court where another local judge freed them. The lynching of Armwood and the failure of the
state to take effective action to punish the members of the mob was national news.1" The
combination of lynchings and mob action on the Eastern Shore in the early 30's brought
organized protests from the black community. The state and national legislatures failed to
respond to the protests, but Armwood's death was the last lynching in Maryland.

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