The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1898-06-15
THE MUSGRAVE CASE.
The last Appearance of a most
Celebrated Case.

history Of the greatest legal Battle
that the county has ever had-Three
times has IL been before the Supreme
Court-The Counsel who will take
part in the ease tais time-The state
is at great disadvantage and will
not be able to make out very strong
case
II. ,as> :. sha Safe against Da-
yid MasgTave charged With the muir
der OF mis- wife, Emaline MusgraYe,
on the night of December ID, 1894,
came up to day in the circuit court
on its second trial and will occupy
nearly the whole Of the June session.
This noted case is familiar to al
most every citizen of the county,
many Of whom watched with inter
est the trial of it at the june term
in 1885 At that time he was con
victed of murder in the first degree
with the recommendation that he
receive life sentence in the peni-
Tertiary. Musgraye's counsel. who
had taken numerous exceptions to
the ruling OF Judge Hagans on the
admission of certain testimony Of
fered by the state. the refusal TO ad-
NIT other testimony offered by them
in behalf of the prisoner and the in
structions to the jury, appealed the
case to the Supreme Court of APP
peals. That body in April, 1896,
rendered an opinion affirming the
the finding of the low er
court. The court was then petition
cd to rehear the case and upon the
second hearing again affirmed the
lower court. Finally after persis-
tent efforts upon the part of Mus
graves counsel the Supreme Court
again reopened the case and upon
it's third hearing granted him a new
trial. This opinion was rendered
about the first Of January, but too
late to prepare for the second trial
of it at the February term and it
now now comes on to be again heard.
Messrs. Lazzelle d Stewart, the
prosecuting attorneys, will alone
represent the State in the second
trial. The defendant will be repre-
sented by Judge Okey johnson, Geo.
G. Sturgiss, Moreland d Glasscock,
Charles Goodwin and L. V. Keck.
The state officials go into the trial
seriously handicapped, but they will
try their utmost to bring about
conviction. Several important wit
nesses for the state have died since
the first trial. others have gotten out
of the jurisdiction of the court and
will not come back to testify. Then
too, popular opinion, which at the
first trial was inhamed against the
defendant, has mellowed down so
much, indeed, that, little interest is
manifested in the trial which began
to day. The most fatal knockout of
the prosecuting attorneys is the de
cision of the Supreme Court grant
ing Musgrave a new trial. In this
decision they hold that much Of the
strongest testimony before given
was illegal, particularly that given
by the expert witnesses and by the
coroners' jurors, who were permitted
to testify that the wounds on the
neck resembled finger marks. With
all these obstacles it is the general
opinion that the prosecuting attor-
neys will experience the greatest diff
ficulty in procuring conviction of
murder in the first degree, if, indeed,
they secure any kind of a conviction
Many of the leading citizens of the
county with whom the New DoMIN-
ION reporter has talked believe that it
would be wisdom on the part of the
prosecuting attorneys to enter
nolle prosequi in the case rather
to incur the expense to the county,
when there is so little probability of
con yiction. The other business be-
fore the court will be blocked.
The defense will put forth every
effort to clear Mnsgrave, and the
able array of counsel insures a
strong defense. Judge Johnson, who
will actively participate in the de-
Tense, was not engaged i'll the case
during its first trial, but looked af
ter the matter before the Supreme
Court. All of the others had hand
in the case during its first hearing.
The first blood in the case was
drawn by the state this morning.
The defense wanted the case taken
up at once and tried and the state
asked that it be postponed until to
morrow as they had not had time to
get their witnesses together and find
out how many of them were lacking
and make other needed preparations
for the trial. The judge after hear
ing the argument laid the case over
until tomorrow with the understand
ing that it was then to be tried.