State v. Haworth

68 P. 155, 24 Utah 398
CourtUtah Supreme Court
DecidedMarch 17, 1902
DocketNo. 1282
StatusPublished
Cited by43 cases

This text of 68 P. 155 (State v. Haworth) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Utah Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Haworth, 68 P. 155, 24 Utah 398 (Utah 1902).

Opinion

BASKIN, J.

It is alleged in the information, upon which the defendant was convicted of murder in the first degree and sentenced to be shot, “that the said Nathan E. Ha-worth on the twenty-eighth day of March, A. D. 1899, at the county of Davis, State of Utah, did unlawfully, willfully, fe-loniously, and of his deliberately premeditated malice aforethought, make an assault in and upon one Thomas Sandall, and a certain gun, which then and there was loaded with gunpowder and leaden gunshot, and by him, the said Nathan E. Haworth, then and there had and held in his hands, he, the said Nathan E. Haworth, did then and there unlawfully, willfully, feloniously, and of his deliberately premeditated malice aforethought, shoot off and discharge at, against, and upon the body of the said Thomas Sandall, and thereby, and by thus striking the said Thomas Sandall with the said leaden gunshot, inflicted in and upon the face and left side of his head one mortal wound, of which said mortal wound he, the said Thomas Sandall, then and there instantly died. And so the said Nathan F. Haworth did, in manner and form aforesaid, feloniously, unlawfully, willfully, and of his deliberately premeditated malice aforethought, kill and murder the said Thomas Sandall, contrary to the provisions of the statutes of the State of Utah in such case made and provided, and against the peace and dignity of the State of Utah.”

1. The appelant contends that the information does not charge him with murder in the first degree. In the case of State v. Campbell, 24 Utah 103, 66 Pac. 771, we recently held! that an information like the foregoing one charged mur[404]*404der 1 in the first degree; and it was so held in the case of People v. Davis, 8 Utah 412, 32 Pac. 670. That case, on appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States, was affirmed in 151 U. S. 262, 14 Sup. Ct. 328, 38 L. Ed. 153. We entertain no doubt as to the correctness of these decisions. This contention of the appellant is therefore untenable.

2. The defendant made a motion .for a change of venue on the alleged ground “that the people of Davis county are so prejudiced against him that he can not obtain a fair and impartial trial in said county.” The motion was overruled, and this action of the trial court is assigned as error. Twenty-two affidavits of citizens of said county, and the affidavit of A. J. Weber, one of defendant’s attorneys, were read in support of the motion. The two following affidavits, in substance, are the same as the others made by citizens of said county in support of said motion, to-wit: “Edward E. Munn, being first duly sworn, deposes and says: That he is a resident of Davis county, Utah, and resides at South Hooper. That he is acquainted in Davis county, Utah, and has lived in said county forty years, generally. That the people of Davis county are greatly prejudiced against the defendant in the above-entitled cause, and that there is a general belief that defendant is guilty. That said belief is widespread; that the defendant in said cause can not obtain a fair and impartial trial in Davis county, by reason of the bias and prejudice of the people of said county against said defendant.” “J. W. Att, being first duly sworn, deposes and says: That I am well acquainted in Davis county. Since the arrest of defendant on the charge of murder, I have been in all parts of Davis county, Utah, and have talked with many residents of said county about the defendant, and about the criminal charge against him. _ That the bias and prejudice of the people of Davis county against Nathan E. Haworth, said defendant, is such that a fair and impartial trial could not be obtained by the defendant in Davis county. That the case has been gen[405]*405erally discussed by the people of Davis county. That many newspaper articles have been published, and the same read by the people. That the deceased, Thomas Sandall, was well known and popular, and that the defendant is unknown and friendless in Davis county. That at the time of the preliminary examination at Farmington there was the greatest excitement, and prejudice against the defendant was everywhere in said county manifested. That the same bias and prejudice still exists, and that inflammatory and sensational newspaper articles, in which it is alleged that the defendant confessed himself guilty to Sheriff Abbott and Hon. E. P. Ellison, have intensified the bias and prejudice against the defendant.” The affidavit of A. J. Weber sets out newspaper articles published by the Salt Lake Herald giving an account of the- alleged crime, inquest, arrest of the defendant, preliminary examination, and alleged confession of the defendant. On behalf of the State, fifty-two counter affidavits by citizens of Davis county were read. In one of them, L. E. Abbott, sheriff of said county, deposed as follows: “That I arrested the defendant, placed him in the county jail, and that ever since his arrest he has been in my custody. That I escorted the defendant into the said courthouse twice, and out of the same twice, on the day of said preliminary examination, and each time upon which the defendant passed in and out of said courthouse the spectators aforesaid stood near by and looked at the defendant, but in no way or manner did they, or either or any of them, manifest or exhibit any feeling of prejudice or of hatred or ill-will against the defendant. During all the day of said preliminary hearing I conversed with numerous persons, residents of Davis county, who were present at said hearing, concerning the defendant, and in no single instance did I hear any person express or manifest in any way feelings of hostility, hatred, prejudice, or ill-will against the defendant. Since the arrest and incarceration of the defendant as aforesaid, I have traveled many times throughout Davis county, [406]*406and in various towns and cities thereof, and conversed with numerous persons residing in various parts of said county concerning the defendant; and I have never in any single instance heard a resident of Davis county express or intimate any feeling of hostility, hatred, prejudice, or ill-will against the defendant. In fact, nearly every inquiry which has been propounded.to me concerning the defendant by residents of Davis county- — and there have been many such inquiries — has been, in effect, to ask me if the defendant could be convicted, and what proof there is of his guilt.” The other counter affidavits, in import, are the same as the foregoing. The defendant’s attorneys objected to the reading of the counter affidavits on the ground that they had not been served with ■copies, of had an opportunity to examine them. This objection is sufficiently answered by the fact that the case was called for trial and the motion made on the morning of May 2 26th, and the affidavits in favor of the motion were not served on the State’s attorney until the twenty-fourth of that month; that the affidavits objected to were simply in rebuttal of those read by the defense, and the attorneys for the defendant failed to make a request for time to procure additional affidavits, but, without doing so, submitted the motion to the court for decision. Section 4802 of the Criminal Code (Eev. St., p.

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Bluebook (online)
68 P. 155, 24 Utah 398, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-haworth-utah-1902.