State v. Hennessy

29 Nev. 320
CourtNevada Supreme Court
DecidedApril 15, 1907
DocketNo. 1697
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 29 Nev. 320 (State v. Hennessy) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Nevada 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. Hennessy, 29 Nev. 320 (Neb. 1907).

Opinion

By the Court,

Norcross, J.:

The. appellant was convicted of manslaughter in the Third Judicial Dietrict Court in and for the County of Nye, under an indictment charging him with the murder of one Frank Ganahl on or about the 27th day of January, 1906, at the Town of Clifford, in said county, and upon such conviction was sentenced to serve a term of five years and nine months in the state prison. From the judgment of conviction, and from an order denying his motion for a new trial, the defendant has appealed.

Upon the trial the defendant admitted the killing of Ganahl, but set up as a justification therefor that it was done in the defense of his own person and that of one Max Elftman. In order to better understand some of the assignments of error hereinafter considered, it will be advantageous to refer to certain facts disclosed by the testimony, and also to quote extracts from the testimony of certain witnesses for the state and on behalf of the defendant describing the immediate facts and circumstances of the killipg.

It appears from the testimony that, shortly prior to the killing of Ganahl, an association of miners was effected at Clifford for the purpose of establishing a scale of wages for the district, which association was local in its nature, and not affiliated with the Western Federation of Miners. Of this association one George A. Cole was made the presiding officer. The evidence discloses that there was considerable friction in the district growing out of this organization. The relationship existing between defendant (Hennessy), Max Elftman, upon whose lease the killing occurred, and certain of their friends, upon the one hand] and George A. Cole, Frank Ganahl, the deceased, and certain of their friends, upon the other, is testified to by certain witnesses as being, at the time of the killing, and prior thereto, anything but friendly. There is testimony to the effect that at the time the organic zation of miners was effected in the district the defendant [330]*330was not notified of the meeting and a purpose manifested by Cole, G-anahl, and others to exclude the defendant therefrom, although defendant testified that he was at the time, and for many years prior thereto had been, a member of the Western Federation of Miners. One witness for the defendant testified to a number of threats of personal violence and death having been made by Frank Ganahl, George Cole, and one Walter J. Fancher against the defendant, which threats were communicated- to him. There was also testimony of threats of personal violence having been made by the same parties against one Antone Bosse, an Italian employee of Max Elftman who was suspected of working for less than the established scale. A witness by the name of John Cahill testified that upon the morning of the killing he notified the defendant and several others, whom he testified he thought 'were peaceful citizens, that he had heard Ganahl, Cole, Fancher, and two others talking of going to where the Italian was working and doing him some violence; that the witness Cahill, the defendant, and two or three others went over to where it was expected the trouble would occur, but arrived there before the other parties. Of those who went to the Elftman lease with the witness Cahill, it appears that all had left the ground excepting the defendant before the arrival of Cole, Ganahl, and Fancher, who appeared upon the scene about the hour of 10 o'clock in the forenoon.

There is some difference in certain important particulars in the testimony of witnesses for the state and those for the defendant relative to the immediate circumstances leading up to the killing, and for the purpose of illustrating this difference we quote from the testimony of one of the principal witnesses for the state and one for the defendant.

The witness George A. Cole testified, upon the part of the state, as follows: "At about 10 o'clock that morning, Ganahl, Fancher, and myself arrived at what is known as the 'Elftman lease.' I spoke to the Italian Bosse, who was working in a cleared away space at the edge of the shaft; evidently going to set up a windlass frame, and said: 'Hello, Antone.’ He answered, 'Hello, George,’ andlasked, 'Antone, what wages are you receiving?’ He replied, 'This man [331]*331[pointing to Mr. Elftman, who was evidently his employer], he says I am getting five dollars a day.’ I answered: 'Very well, Antone, but don’t work for less than the union scale.’ He replied: 'George, I aint working for less than the union scale. I am not a scab.’ I replied: 'Very well, Antone, but don’t do it, or you will make a scab of yourself, and we will have to treat you as one.’ With that I turned to leave. Elftman in the meantime was standing perhaps two paces from me, a little to my left, and Ganahl also at my left, forming a sort of an angle, the three of us, with Bosse again to my right. I turned to my right, intending to go back to work. Elftman called, saying — my back at this time was turned to all present — Elftman called, saying, 'Say, what do you mean when you say you would treat a man like a scab,’ in a very irritable, angry tone of voice. I replied that when a man is treated like a scab his name is posted in all the union camps of the country as a man who would work for less than union wages, and he is thereby embarrassed in the way of securing work, socially and otherwise. He then says, in a much more irritable manner: 'What is your definition of a scab?’ I replied that my definition of a scab was that he was the dirtiest son of a bitch that lived. He then answered, saying, 'I consider a union man a dirtier son of a bitch than any scab,’ at the same time advancing towards me, and raising his left hand as though to strike, and his right hand towards his right hip. The next I saw was Ganahl seizing his hands. He seized Elftman’s right hand with his left, and Elftman’s left hand with his right, and was directly between me and Elftman. The next I saw was Hennessy with a pistol at Ganahl’s back, and then heard the shot. Elftman stepped back, and Ganahl fell forward to the ground. I turned towards Hennessy, and two shots were fired. The next I knew I was holding my hand, my hat was off my head, and I was holding my hand with the left-. Then I saw Mr. Hennessy still with the gun in his hand pointing towards myself and Mr. Pancher, he advancing closer to me than he was at the time of the shooting. Hennessy said to Fancher: 'Stand back!’”

Max Elftman, a witness for the defendant, testified’relative [332]*332to the difficulty as follows: " Before the shooting commenced, Mr. Hennessy, Antone, the man that was working for me, and myself were present — Antone Bosse. We three were upon the Elftman lease. Three men came up there. I didn’t know at the time who they were, but I afterwards learned that it was a man by the name of Fancher, and Cole and Ganahl. Gamahl came up first, and then Cole, and then Fancher. None of them spoke to me or Mr. Hennessy. Mr. Cole spoke to the Italian. When they came up there, the Italian was throwing rock away from the top of the shaft to one side. I had just come out of the shaft, standing at the edge of it. Cole asked the Italian what wages he was getting. He replied: 'Five dollars a day.’ Cole said: 'You want to be God damned sure that you are, or we will treat you as a scab and run you out of camp.’ To that the Italian replied: 'I am getting five dollars a day.’ Then I attracted Cole’s attention by asking him what he meant by treating a man as a scab, and Cole said he would be blacklisted throughout the United States, so that he wouldn’t be able to get any work anywhere.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
29 Nev. 320, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-hennessy-nev-1907.