People's voice. [volume] (Wellington, Sumner County, Kansas) 1890-1917, 1895-08-22
Isaac q. Reeds Appeal.
DailEMail.

the murder of Isaac Hopper on May
q, 1892. The prosecution was con
Quoted by W. W. Schwinn assisted by
J. T. Herrick, County Attorney
Carver, and John c. Pollock of Win
deld. Reed was defended by Elliott
& Woods assisted by c. J. Peckham Of
Winfield and J. V. Beekman of Ar.
kansas City.
The preliminary hearing was held
Joy Squire W. E. Cox, commencing
June 10, 1892, the writer being the
lirst EitnesS called. Cox bound Reed
over to district court without bail.
A writ of habeas corpus was then
sued out in the supreme court and he
was admitted to bail, but never was
able to give bond until after the first
trial, which was held at Winfield in
January 1893. After this case wa
submitted to the jury at that time,
one Of the jurors was taken sick and
was never afterwards able to come
into court. Eventually the jury was
discharged. The case was tried again
at the April 1893 term of the Cowley
county district court and the jury
found Reed guilty of murder in the
second degree and he was sentenced
to the penitentiary for twelve years.
He took an appeal to the supreme
court and the judgment Of the dis
trict court was reversed and the case
sent back for a new trial.
The third trial of the case was had
in September 1894. At this time Mrs.
Hopper, the widow of his victim, was
present and testified as witness for
Reed. Her crOss-examination by Mr..
SChwinn resulted in several senSa-
tiouS. This trial was hotly and acri-
mOniOuSly fought from beginning to
end. 1t resulted in a verdict of
guilty of murder in the first degree.
The only punishment that could be
pronounced upon such verdict was a
sentence of death.
Reed Immediately made his ar
engagements for taking another appeal
to the supreme court. All his proper
ty and means had been exhausted
long ago. He had made heavy drains
upon the resources Of his father and
friends. The trial had been a long
one. The record which must be
made in order to appeal his case to
the supreme court again would cost
more than eight hundred dollars. By
superhuman efforts Reeds friends
raised the necessary amount Of mon
ey and deposited IL in Winfield
bank. As Iced must go to the peni-
Tertiary in the meantime, it was 50
arranged that his attorneys could
draw this money from the bank upon
presentation of a certificate from the
court stenographer that the record
for the supreme court was completed
and ready for presentation to the
court for its Authorization and GER
tifcate. Being thus insured of his
conversation the official stenogra-
pher went to work and made the rec
ord which took several weeks time.
This record was finally completed and
he made the required certificate to
enable the attorneys to draw the
money from the bank.
Armed with this certificate c. J.
Peckham Of Winfield drew this mon
ey, more than $500, from the bank.
But he appropriated every dollar Of il
to his own use! Never dollar Of it
was paid to the stenOgrapher!
Finally a time came when the
record must be authenticated by the
court or it would sbe forever too late.
If the stenographer refused to turn
over the record it would at once be-
come useless old rubbish on his
hands. So an arrangement was made
by which the record was submitted to
the court for its action and was then
returned to the stenographer to be
held by him until he received his pay
therefor. And thus the situation
stands to this day.
In the meantime Reed had gone to
the penitentiary. He had arrange
ments made to apply for release on
bail during tire perdency Of his appeal
in the supreme court and for the CIV
ing Of the bond required. Conse-
quently he did not expect to remain
in tue penitentiary any length Of
time. Upon his arrival he cOmmuni-
Gated these facts to the warden. In
accordance with the rules of the peni-
Tertiary he was sent to the coal mines.
Time wore on and as the prospects of
his early release faded away he was
transferred to the kitchen and put to
peeling potatoes.
For months and months after his
imprisonment Reed was in absolute
ignorance of the great wrong that had
been done him by his attorney. He
kept wondering why he heard moth.