The Brookhaven leader. [volume] (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1883-1891, 1886-09-23
QUEER DECISIONS.
Prisoners who Were Saved by Some Little
Legal Technically.
[cor. CleveiaHd Plaindealer.I


Icor. Cleveiafid Plaindealer.1
Judge McHenry, of Des Moines, la
lately acquitted a prisoner charged with
selling intoxicating liquors on the ground
that the indictment did not state whether
the offense was committed B. c. or A. D.
1886.
This calls TO mind several queer de-
cisions that have fallen Under my notice.
The first was the indictment Of mar by
the name Of Hoyle for selling liquor con-
trary to law.
Judge jackson, lately an attorney OF
Cleveland, now the president Of New
Mexico gold mining company, at that
time common pleas Judge, acquitted Hoyie
on the ground that the indictment did not
show that the offense was committed IN
the county in which the defendant re-
sided, while the saloon in which the
offense was committed was directly across
the street from the courthouse, in easy
speaking distance of His Honor on the
bench. But the most quaint of all de-
cisions was that of Judge Pillars, Of
Tiffin, o. All who know the Judge pro-
nounce him unquestionably the queer
est, quaintest, yet, withal, the most In
telligent and hest educated judge in Cen
trail Ohio. That he has a vein Of humor in
his makeup and appreciated "the draw
ing Of the long bow" can readily be be-
lieved from the following:
At term of court held al Marion, o., at
which Pillars sat as judge, man by the
name of Severn was indicted for stealing
a hog. The proof of his guilt was I'M
usually clear and strong. The hog, by the
broken bushes and marks of blood, was
| tracked from the pen two miles into piece
of woodland behind the defendants house,
and the hog was found hung up in his
| smoke house.
The testimony for the State was con-
vincing, and no doubt was in the minds Of
the jury as to the guilt of the accused,
who, by the way, was the only witness for
| the defense. Severn stated that when
| coming by the pen one of the hogs became
| suddenly enraged and, breaking out,
| chased him TO his home, where he (Sov-
ern), overcome with the long run, was able
| to go no farther and was compelled to
| shoot the hog in lf-defense. Hating to
waste the meat, he cut it up, and was
| about to cure it when arrested" The jury
/ Drought III u Y6TulCI Ol SuilIE' " HtAO-
upon counsel for the defense made a mo"
ton for a new treal, upon the ground that
| the verdict was contrary to the evidence.
Judge Pillars sustained the motion, re-
marking that he could we'll understand
| how this hog, enraged to madness-as the
defence statel-might chase him this long
distance and make malicious assault
upon the defendant-as a matter of fact,
this was the customary conduct of hog
and how it might be necessary to shoot the
hog in self-defenSe. "No one has CONTRA
! dicted the defendant; no one swore that
the hog did not assault him: therefore,
! his evidence is wholly unimpeached, and
in the eyes of the law, must be taken as
true" AS to the taking the meat and
caring for it, he considered that as but an
evidence of good husbandry, and upon
these grounds he would set the verdict
aside, and required the clerk to take the
| prisoners own recognizance for his APP
! pearance at the next term of court.