Evening capital news. (Boise, Idaho) 1901-1927, 1912-11-25
NEGRO MUST PAY
PENALTY after
HAVING I TRIALS
Remarkable Fight Made to
Save Life Of Man Without
Means to Employ an At
torney.

been tried for murder seven times. SEN
fenced to death six time sand having
spent nearly eight years In prison
pending his trials, Burrell Oates,
negro. will be hanged this week at the
Waxahachie prison to pay the penalty
for the murder Of Sol AronoH in Dali
las on the night of Nov. 20, 1904. This
will bring to an end the most remark
able case in the criminal court history
OF Texas and probably Of the whole
United States. AS an illustration OF
the possibilities offered by the criminal
court practice in vogue in this country.
to delay the course Of justice by re-
course to legal bubbles over mere
technicalities, the case has probably no
equal in American court history.
Sol Aronoff, the victim of the crime,
and his wife kept a small grocery
store near the railroad tracks In this
city. On the night OF the murder Bur-
rell Oates, Holly Vann and Frank Nc
Cue, the latter two white men, entered
Aronoff's store and held up the pro-
prietor. While they were robbing the
man, Mrs. Aronoff entered the store
and fired at the men. The robbers
fired several shots and one Of these
killed Aronoff. A few days after the
murder the three men were arrested
and charged with the murder OF
Aronoff. Vann was convicted of muir
der and hanged for his crime. McCue
became states evidence and escaped
punishment
Oates had no funds to employ an
attorney and when his trial came up
In the Dallas court, the judge appoint
ed A. S. Basket, a young lawyer,
against the latter's protests, to defend
y negro. Ever since that time Bas-
kett has been In sole charge of the de-
Tense and the fight he made for his
client has attracted wide attention
and will go down in the history Of
criminal Jurisprudence as one OF the
most remarkable examples Of forensic
skill and perseverance.
The first trial Of Oates resulted in
his conviction and sentence to death.
An appeal was taken to the court Of
criminal appeals and the case was re-
manded for a new trial on April IL,
1905, on account Of an irregularity in
drawing the names Of jurors.
At the second trial Oates was again
convicted and sentenced to death.
Again an appeal was taken and on May
9, 1906, the criminal court Of appeals
granted new trial because the trial
Judge had failed to instruct the jury
in his charge that II the wife shot her
husband by mistake the prisoner was
not guilty OF murder.
Oates was again tried and convicted,
but on May Is, 1907, the case was re-
versed by the court Of criminal ap-
hot he fVf0 a
Judge did not properly define murder
in his charge to the jury. After an
other trial the case again came before
the court Of criminal appeals on June
%, 1909. and a question as to the le-
gality of the appointment of the trial
judge was the ground for setting aside
the verdict and again remanding tho
case for a new trial. The fifth trial
of the case resulted in no verdict as
to penalty, one juror standing out for
life imprisonment, while the others de-
, manded the death penalty.
Owing to the strong feeling against
Oates In this county the authorities
considered II advisable to remove him
to some place of safety. For q time he
was kept in the Cleburne jail and then
he was taken to the Ellis county jail In
Waxahachie. where he IL now awaiting
his execution.
When the Oates case came up for it,
sixth trial In this county. Judge Rob-
ert B. Seay OF the criminal district
court Of Dallas county, acting upon
his own motion, transferred the case
to Ellis county. The sixth trial again
resulted IN the conviction Of the pris-
oner aid a sentence Of death. Once