, 1891-01-28
MILLER'S FATE
To be Hanged by the Neck on
March 20.
He Received the Sentence With His
Accustomed Goodness.
Kinch Mckinney is Sentenced to
Eight Years.
Other Cases Quickly Disposed of in
the District Court.

1esterOAy was a most Important day
in the district court. The fact that
Wright and Pettys were TO be tried for
assault with attempt TO commit rape,
brought a large crowd and the court
room was crowded all day long.
The first business disposed of was the
plea 10 abatement filed in the Brantner
case. The ground taken by Brantner's
attorneys in the plea was that the alleged
crime had been committed on Aug. /, and
that the law authorizing prosecutions by
information had not been passed until
Jan. 10, 1891; that the law. in its relation
to the prisoner, was an ex post facto Law,
and therefore unconstitutional; and that
the prisoner could not be tried on an IL
formation. The court ruled that laws
relating to procedure only we're ex post
facto laws, and that no rights belonging
to the prisoner had been taken away by
the information law.
WRIGHT AMI PETTYs' CASES.
The case of the stats against Leonard
Wright was then taken up. The prison.
er's counsel stated that the prisoner
wished to withdraw his plea of not guilty
and to enter a plea OF guilty. Wright is
the man who assaulted Josephine Wallace
or the 9th of last December near the
capitol grounds. The case against him
was a very clear one
Edward Pettys. the hack driver, who
took Miss Wallace up to the capitol, was
the next man on the list. A jury was
secured without much trouble, and the
prosecuting witness took the stand. Her
story was to the effect that on the 9th OF
last December Pettys had come 10 the
house at which she was boarding and told
her that a Young man wanted her up at
the capitol. She got 10 the hack, and at
the corner Of Eighteenth and Ferguson
streets a man got up on the seat with
Pettys. When they reached the capitol
she got out and Pettys told her to go with
Wright, who was the man who had got
on at Eighteenth street. She went With
him to the capitol steps, and there Wright
left her; saying that he was going into the
capitol to see that everything was all
right. We he came back, he Informed
her that the man they were looking for
was not in, but was at a cottage a short
distance way. She went with him
toward the cottage, but upon WriRht's
stating that she would have to wait q
while, she commenced to grow suspicious,
and started for home. She then com
menced to tell of the manner IN which she
had been treated by Wright, when the
prisoners counsel offered to admit that
Wright had made an assault upon her.
At this point, the prisoners attorney
raised the point which had been ruled on
in the Brantner case in the ~morning-that
the prisoner could not be proceeded
ansinst m an in formatinn.
GRAND JURY REQUIRED
After half an hours recess, a ruling
was made on the motion. Judge Scott
stated that some authorities HAD been
submitted to him alter he had overruled
the plea in the Brantner case which
had changed his views of the law in re-
lation to the matter. The authorities were
directly in point, and decided that il, at
the tint a nan commits a crime, he must
be indicted by a grand jury before he can
be tried, no law passed subsequent to the
commission of the crime can take from
him that right. On the strength of these
cases, the information against Pettys was
quashed, aud he was remauded to the
county jail to await the action of a grand
Jury.
A motion was then made by the prison.
er's attorney for the discharge of the de-
PENDANT, or the ground that the law passed
on January 10 fixed the number OF grand
jurors at twelve, instead OF sixteen under
the old law. The motion was overruled
and an exception noted.
Just what the outcome of the cases will
be it is difficult to tell. A grand jury will
be summoned under the new law, and in
dictments found against both Brantner
and PettYs. The point will then be
raisel that an Indictment found by a less
number of grand jurors than was re-
quired at the time of the commission of
the crime is not valid, because it depriyes
bHS NSiShuohhp L hbuutbALlldl TlRul. ne
matter will not be decided until the May
term OF court.
MKINNEY AND MILLER
were then brought into court to receive
their sentences. Amotion for a new trial
and a motion for arrest of Judgment in
the Mckinney case were overrulei. and
the Nebraska cattle thief stood up to re.
ceive his sentence. When asked If he
had anything to say why sentence should
not be passed he stated that his ATTORNEYS
were not present, and that he would like
to have them there. lie evidently had
more counsel than he knew of, for he dis
covered one and held IA short consulta-
ton with him, and then stated he had
nothing whatever to urge. He was then
sentenced to eight years in the penlten-
tiary-the same as that imposed upon his
partner Kingen.
A mo'ion for the suspens' on of the
execution of the sentence, in order TO
prosecute proceedings in error in the su-
preme court was filed, and an order sus-