Arizona republican., 1915-11-14
RECORD OF MEETING
 0F PARDON BOARD
why Sentences of Leonard and Tom
 m Were Commuted.

Ing ot the board of pardons all { paroles, though they have been mao { known to the public in a gener; { way, they have not yet been ore sented in detail. Accordingly. ii } following record is offered In th matter Of the application of w. W ! hermeen for communication of hi { sentence of death to life imprison : ment:
 $ The board has before it numerou ; letters questioning the sanity of sai hermeen, and a letter dated Novem per 9th, 1915, from pr. w. G. Ran 2 del, prison physician of the Arizon; ! state prison, stating it to be hi oplhlon that the applicant. w W hefmeen, is insane at this time. an, stating that he unhesitatingly pro nounces him insane as a phvsiciar Of the said applicant, Kermeen. aid. ed by information received as tt kermeen's previous life Further, Superintendent Sims. hay. ing appeared before the baord this day and stated that he was con
 Vlnced fully in his mind that the
 said applicant, Kermeen, is now in
 sane.
 therefore, it is hereby ordered that
 the said Superintendent Sims be and
 IS hereby requested to have tha mat
 ter ot the sanity of the said appli-
 cant kermeen, fully investigated and Judiciiilly determined under para
 graph l446 of the penal code of Ari-
 |ona, and the law providing for such 1 investigations
 It is hereby further ordered that l a reptleve of the execution of the
 sentence against the said applicant. i kermeen, until the 10th day of De cemher 1915. to enable the matter Of his sanity to be legally determined
 as the law provides, is hereby unapi- mously recommended by the board It IS further ordered that Chair
 man Trott be and is hereby in structed to deliver copy of the foregoing order to Superintendent
 Sims.
 In the matter of the application
 of Atha NJ. Leonard. Serial No 425S and John Tomlin Serial No. 4257 for a communication of their sentences ot death to life imprisonment:
 The board has fully and carefully considered the application of the above named petitioners. as well as all letters and papers filed before the board in their behalf. and all other papers filed with the board for it's consideration in the hearing of said application.
 Ha@ing thus carefully considered sad application and all matters touching upon the case, the board unanimously finds from the evidence m the case in conjunction with all other papers before the board that the deceased, H. s. Peterson. was I faithful and efficient officer: that his good reputation was unimpeached: that further, we are fully con Vlnced that the deceased, H. s. Pet erson, never at any time. mistreated any member of the family of the petitioner. Leonard, nor committed any impropriety against any mem Der thereof
 The supreme court of the state was divided in opinion in rendering its decision in this case The peti- uoners at the time of the offenSe were young in years Leonard being but nineteen years of age, and Tom lin being but twenty-one years of age, and consequently very immature in judgment
 The board has encountered mary perplexities in this case and in con sidering the case in all it's details and viewing it from every stand point it realizes that a murder was committed. that the killing of the deceased was without Justification. and that it was murder in the first deggree, but not that kind of a mur- der which in our opinion calls for the inflietion of the extreme penalty of the law,-the death sentence; therefore. it believes it to be it's solemn duty to recommend that the death penalty be not inflicted upon these petitioners. and that the sen tence be committed to life imprison- i ment, one of the two penalties which l the law prescribed for the commits l sion of murder in the first degree.
 Therefore, it is hereby ordered 1 that the board hereby recommends l to the Hon. George w. P. Hunt, gov ernor of the state of Arizona, that 1 the death sentence pronounced against | the said petitioners. Atha M Leon ard and John Tomlin be committed to life imprisonment in the Arizona state prison.
 It is further ordered that Chair man Trott be and is hereby instruct ed to deliver a copy of this order lO HUH. AIeOISe w. guy ernor of the state of Arizona.
 In the matter of the application of William Faltin, Serial No. S935, for . communication of his sentence of death to life Imprisonment:
 The record in this case is quite ex- tensive, consisting Of two bound vol umes, which the board has fully ex- amined and has given many hours to it's consideration. The evidence in this case convinces us beyond any doubt in our minds that the offense charged was committed by the peti toner in this case. We further be- ieve that it was murder in the first 1egree; also that II was committed without justification or excuse after nature deliberation, and preparation therefore.
 The jury, after rully considering he evidence in the case, believing t to be in their judgment that kind )f muFder which calls for the in of ha