The Nevada journal., 1853-07-22
Opinion.

Opinion.
District Court, 10th Judicial Dis.
trict, Nevada county, June term, 1858
The people vs.. A. A. Sargent The
facts in the case are in substance as
follows:
On the 23d Of March 1858, Henry
Jansen was arrested in Nevada city
for assauIting Eli Cook with intent to
kill, inficting on his person two wounds
of which he afterwards died, An exam
ination Of the case was had before JUS
tice Colburn who finally committed him
on the charge of murder. In the court
of sessions the grand jury found a
true bill for murder, and the case was
transferred for trial to the district court.
The cause came on to be heard at a
special term of the district court held
in Nevada city in the month of May
last, when the counsel for the prisoner
moved for a change of venue to anoth-
er county, on the ground that the pref
udices of the community in Nevada
county had been, and were than great
ly excited against the accused by reas-
on Of the publication of the testimony
taken before the committing court, in
a newspaper called the Nevada Jour
nal, and the improper commentaries
made upon the case by the editor of
that paper. This motion was over
ruled by the court on the ground that
the best mode of testing the existence
of such state of feeling, was by an
attempt to procure an unbiased jury.
A yenire was Issued for one hundred
jurors and placed in the hands of the
sheriff, who returned the same on the
converting of the court. On the i'm
panneling of the trial jury, it was
found that many of the jurors sum-
moned, (though they had been taken
from places remote from where the
homicide was -committed,) had formed
and expressed an unqualified opinion
as to the guilt or innocence of the pris-
oner, from reading the account aspub>
lished in the Nevada Journal this OF
course disqualified them as jurors, and
it was with much difficulty and at great
expense to the county that fair and
impartial jury could be procured to try
the prisoner.
On the 18th of May, the district
court being still in session an order was
made and placed in the hands Of the
sheriff to arrest the defendant, A. A.
Sargent the editor, for an alleged con-
tempt of this court, and to show cause
why he should not be fined or impris-
oned, in which order the cause of con-
tempt was recited as follows
"For having on the 1st day of April
A. D. 1853, and at various times be-
fore that, published in newspaper
called the Nevada Journal an article
purporting to be the testimony taken
before Justice Colburn of said coun-
ty, on the oath of March 1858, in the
case of the people VS.. Henry Jansen,
on the charge of assaulting Z. Cook
with the intent to kill, commenting on
the facts of the case in said newspa-
per, thereby prejudicing the public
mind, and corrupting, and preventing
the administration of justice %
The defendant appearing in court
under arrest, defended his case in pro-
pria persona and after having argued
the cause, moved for a continuance,
which the court granted.
The case came on to be heard at the
present term on the trial the follow
ing additional facts were given in ey-
idence.
That the defendant made applica-
aion to Justice Colburn for the testi-
mony which was reduced to writing
on the examination of the prisoner,
Jansen, for the purpose Of publishing
the same, that Colburn positively re-
fused, saying to him that he should
assume no such responsibility, that
Judge Buckner being present, advls-
ed Sargent not to persist in publishing
the testimony and at the same time
gave him his reasons. That Sargent
then obtained permission to take the
testimony to the clerks office to be Ill
ed there, and again asked to have IT.
when the clerk told him that he had
no control over the paper until 1t was
filed in his Office. Sargent then With
out permission retained the testimony