The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1903-09-11
NORTH DAKOTA NEWS
ITEMS OF A WEEK FROM VARIOUS
PARTS OF THE STATE.
John Rooney, Convicted Of Murder q
Fargo, Appeals to United States
Supreme court-FIax Danf-
aged by Wit.

When the legislature last winner
changed the law for the execution@pf
criminals, providing that they should
be hanged at the state penitentiAry
after six months imprisonment, l1t-
stead of being hanged in the counties
where their crimes were committsn,
it gave a chance for life to JOIN
Rooney, now under sentence OF death
pronounced by Judge Pollock Of Cess
county. The record in the case was
forwarded to the clerk of the UnitaA
States supreme court at Washingtnn,
and supersedeas has been issue9
which respites Rooney until the ssIs
preme court of the United States shaA
pass on his case and say whetheT%oE
not he shall hang. Rooney was gen
fenced to be executed in October, sbaNH
as the case cannot be heard by: TIL
time. it will probably be seyeTs
months yet before he is executed. M
he is hanged at all. Rooney was con
victed under the old law providing fg
the punishment of murder. BefoR
his conviction, however, the leg1st&
ture passed law repeating the oiN
and providing that all murdefeIE
should be hanged at the state penk
tentiary by the warden, after an I'M
prisonment of not less than six montnA
When the law was passed and befoTS
the official copies were promulgateQi
Judge Pollock sentenced Rooney to pe
hanged. but failed to set the date faT
enough from the time OF sentence G
comply with the latter provision Q
the law. When it was discovered the{
an error had been made, Rooney We
taken back to Fargo and resentenc6g
to be hanged in October.
In the meantime, however, RooneyA
attorney, w. S. Stambaugh, filed az
appeal to the supreme court OF the
state from the death sentence, on ths
| ground that the new law was ex pOst
| facto and that an attempt was hetnE
| made to punish the defendant under 9
| law not in existence at the time 01
| the commission of his crime; and that
| the six months of imprisonment hav
| ing been added by the new law 1t I'm
| posed greater penalty than the Law
| in force at the time of the commission
of the crime For these reasons
| Rooney's attorney sought to have tns
| sentence set aside. sss
The supreme court, in an opinion
| written by Judge Cochrane, affirmed
the sentence of the lower court aIlf
Iasaids that the senteaae sof death mus
stand. Attorney Stambaugh has per
| fected an appeal to the supreme court
of the United States, based upon the
same points upon which he appealed
to the state supreme court. s.
1t is asserted that the upper court
has interferred in one or two cases
from other states where an ex pos1
facto law was attacked. The supreme
court Of this state says the new Law
is not eX post facto, and that the pro
vision for six months Imprisonment,
| is mitigation of the severity of the
sentence rather than an increase Of it
| The United States officials have ar
rested Poe Neary, Northern Pacific
trainman. with headquarters at Dick
inson. He was taken before United
States commissioner at Fargo and hel6
under $4,000 bonds on the charge o1
transmitting obscene matter through
the mails. 1t appears that Neary is
agent for a certain proprietary medi
cine and his advance circulars are re
/ 1o3 1li so IL