State v. Becton

Defendants were indicted and convicted in the Criminal Court of Memphis for the offense of robbing from the persom. The jury returned a verdict simply of guilty as charged, and the Judge proceeded to pronounce sentence of death, from which there is an appeal to this court.

The sentence and finding on which it is based is under the act of 1865, ch. 5, sec. 6, providing that “whoever shall feloniously rob another, or steal from his person, shall, on conviction thereof, suffer death by banging: provided, the jury before whom the offender is tried and convicted may, if they think proper, commute…