The Fargo forum and daily republican., 1910-04-07
RECORD SHOWS
NOAH TO BE DEAD
RECORDS IN CLERK OF COURTS
OFFICE HAVE BEEN CHANGED
MAY PLEAD FORMER
JEOPARDY.

Minot, N. D., April 7.--"Men have
died ere 1his. and worms have eaten
them, but not so with Robert S. Noah.
While Noah is ''officially dead" the
hookworm is the only one that has got
ten in its work on him.
The Noah case has already become
famous. but 1t bids fair to become still
more famous through the legal ques-
tions which will arise when the case
comes up for trial again on May IS.
AS the record now stands in the Clerk
Of District Courts office, Noah is dead.
Yet the fellow Is eating three square
meals day at the county Jail and en-
joying everything that the constitution
provides for American subjects, with
the one exception of liberty and he may
even get this in the due course Of time.
despite the fact that he pleaded guilty
to first degree murder. was sentenced
day of execution named and everything
but the actual hanging has transpired.
BY the grace OF the Supreme Court
Noah still lives; by the grace of
Knute Hagen, clerk of court, the rec
ords show that he is dead.
The facts I'm the case are that the
supreme court set aside the verdict and
gained new trial on he grounds that
the record in the case is defective.
with regard to the plea Of defendant
But since the record has been certified
to the supreme court an attempt has
been made to correct the record and
cure the defects, the record as It now
stands on the books If the clerk of
court being cured of the defects by
interlineations and additions
Here Is copy of the record as IL
now stands the VIZ rds in parenthesis
having been inserted in the record aft
er the opinion of the supreme court
had been rendered:
Court being in regular session the
defendant appears with his counsel,
Mr.. Leighton of the firm Of GreenIeaf
& Leighton, and enters (a) plea of
guilty (of murder I'm the first de-
gree as charged i'm the (criminaD in
formation (filed in this case). Plea of
guilty of murder i'm the first degree
received and ordered entered, a Jury
to be called later during this term to
determine the question of punishment.
Defendant recommitted to Cthe) GUS
tody of Cthe) sheriff without bail"
The files of the clerl: Of court show
an order from the district court di-
recting the clerk to change and cor
rect the record as shown above, and
this change i'm the record was made
on March Bird, 1910. Under the law.
when notice of appeal is filed and
until the remittor is received by the
district court clerk, the lower court has
no jurisdiction. Yet, the clerk of
i court in this case changed the record
between the time of the appeal and be-
| fore the remittor had been received
AS stated above, the verdict was set
aside on the ground of a defective or
| incomplete record. and as the record
now appears on the files of the clerk
| it is good. Under the law, execution
must take place in not less than six
months and within nine month.
after the day upon which judg.
ment was pronounced and the defend.
ant sentenced on April 14th, 1908 Thus
as the order Of the art now stands
Noah is dead
Doubtless the question of former
Jeopardy will be raised. 1t is very
likely that Attorney ID. G.. Green
leaf, for the defendant, i'll stand or
the record and plead former jeopardy
The record is good as 1t now stands
and the time has elapsed for execution
by several months.s
When the case comes for trial next
month. the procedure will be watched
with interest by the legal profession
as it will involve r ny technical lega
points The outcome is very uncertain
and it may be that Noah is just as