El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1916-05-27
KINN0NS GIVEN
LIBERTY BY JURY.
Corona Man is Acquitted of
Murder in His Trial at
Carrizozo.

Narflzozo. y H., May 27-John 7.
i-i1nmons is not guilty of the murder
OF Napoleon B. Brown. according 10
me verdict which was returned by the
jury last night at 7:3O. The case had
been on trial here in the district court
since Monday morning brought to
! Lincoln county from Torrance county.
under the defendants motion for a
change OF venue.
The, The killing Of y B. Brown. for
opposite the Varney siding. on me N
Estso d Southwestern system about
% mlleS north Of Carrizozo. The kill
ing OF Brown by Kimmons was not ne
MED by the defence. the pee and
Iheory Of the defendant being self
ueLehce- The killing was on the after
room OF April l3, 1915. and the indict-
Iuent was returned at Estancia on No
Kember j.. 1915 The preliminary
nearing was conducted by this court
instead OF the justice Of the peace. and
sum OF $4,000 He had been under
bond until last night, when the Jury
acquitted him and he walked ont Of
the court room free man. His wife
vas one or the Two eye witnesses TO
the Killing was one of the Witnesses
Tor the defence and was sitting inside
the rail- with the defendant when the
jury brought in the verdict
NAAe OF trreGr Interest.
The case has been one OF the great
est interest TO the citizens of this sec
ucn, quite large number o. people
az Corona attending the sessions regu-
larry Judge W W GstewoOd
o. Roswell. was retained by
Mrs Georgia Brown, widow of the
deceased. TO assist H b Ham
itOn, district attorney, in the prosecu-
ton Of the case The defence was
conducted by Col George " Prichard.
Of Santa Fe- The trial was commenced
Monday morning, Judge Edward L
Aedler presiding The jury was Sc
Iected from Jhe regular panel, the
state using only one of its six pe-emp-
tory challenges the defence rour Of
its T.
The state rested its case IN chief
on Tuesday morning, and ali the evil
dence was concluded Wednesday night
The session OF Tuesday night was the
only night session held THURSDAY was
devoted 10 arguments and the instruc-
tons Of the court Hamilton and
Prichard spoke Thursday morning.
Gatewood closing for the state IN the
afternoon.
Goes TO Jury Thursday.
Il was o'clock Thursday afternoon
when the court concluded instructions
and the jury retired for delIberation.
When court was convened Friday
morning no agreement had been
reached by the jury. but the foreman
reported he believed il would be pos
At $3.50 in the afternoon no verdict
had been agreed upon and judge Ned
Ter summoned the jury into court and
delivered then the Instructions known
as Shotgun" instructions. in which
ne directed that the minority should
20 over 10 the opinion Of the majority
returning the verdict represented by
tne opinion OF the ma Ority- This is a
Iorm Of instruction but little used in
New Mexico, though il has been up
held by the state supreme court 1t
H a
been upheld by the United States su-
preme court 1t is unofficially re- o
ported that on the first few ballots 4
the vote was seven to five, later nine
menL
The Jurors.
The jury was composed OF the fol-
lowing mem VI a Palmer. foreman, /
r E. Berry. Jose Torres Y Chavez. 4
Pablo Salas. J. C.. Robinson, B r GOff. 4
5regonio wilson, b J. Bonnel, Manuel =
Gonzales D. 3. Humphrey. Peter y I
SkoW- G. T. McQulllen- Mrs Georgia Z
Brown was in the court room when the (,
jury brought in the verdict
The state in is case in chief. in
r. A Marble. T. W Allen
C. N Bruno. Mrs. Georgia Brown Al
len was an eye witness to the killing.
The defence then int Oduced George
Clemens a W Colbaw, J. l. Jones,
5 b Everett, L f Kiser. A. J. Imhoff,
IN an effort 70 impeach the testimony
OF T. W Allen. J. NJ Kimmons, a
brother Of the defendant. testified as
u the land line. which is said TO have
been the basis Of the controversy out
or which the killing grew. J. T Kim Z
mons and his wife both testified A
j. Imhoff and c ". Groves testified |
as to maps Of the ground where the |
killing occurred. and which were I
drawn by R A Marble. surveyor Of
Torrance
Defence Has Many Witnesses.
The defence introduced also the fol-
lowing witnesses George Clements,
T. Z. Kelly. c L Fletcher. : 3 Ever
EFT, J. l. Jones. J. ". oliver. ] 3. I
5reenhaW. T. r. Haggard. B. 2 Adams
y alter Beaver. The last three named /
testified as to the bad character of the
The state then introduced the fol-
lowing who testified in rebuttal: D.
q Mills Joe Melugin. Joe Winingham.
, !, rs Georgia Brown: J. r Glenn. Mrs.
Allen, Jesse Rice, George Spence. R.
l. Millingham- r A. Marble The fol-
lowing testified as TO the good char
acter Of the deceased John Gist. Joe
Alelugin, Juan Gallegos. Pedro Lucero.
VIII Crabtree Joe Simpson Frank !
r. Z p. Warden. In sure
9uttal the following testified: Nessrs.
Groves, oliver, Imhoff, Haggard.
Contempt Case Filed.
A case OF contempt has grown out
of this trial Of i,immOns. Joe Melu-
gin and Mrs ElVa K Melugin. both {
witnesses for the state, have filed an !
affidavit setting forth that BENJAMIN
r. Adams. witness for the defence. Z
ried 70 talk 10 them with reference
10 the case. in the corridor Of the court
house at CarrizozO. about ( o'clock in
n the afternoon Of May 90 when all
.hree persons were here as witnesses J
md under the directions of the court
Tot TO discuss the case at all. with
lnyOne. The court has cited Adams
% appear in court on Saturday. June
}, and show cause why he should nor
De fined for contempt Of court
NAJ. VI. c. BENNETT IS /