Laura v. State
Mississippi Supreme Court
Error to De Soto circuit court. Miller, J. The plaintiff in error, a slave, was indicted in the court below for conspiracy and plotting, with two other slaves, the murder of John D. Watkins, and was convicted and sentenced to death. The record contained a copy of the indictment, but it was not referred to as the one upon which the conviction was had, nor did it identify the indictment as a copy of the one returned into court by the grand jury that indicted the prisoner.
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Error to De Soto circuit court. Miller, J. The plaintiff in error, a slave, was indicted in the court below for conspiracy and plotting, with two other slaves, the murder of John D. Watkins, and was convicted and sentenced to death. The record contained a copy of the indictment, but it was not referred to as the one upon which the conviction was had, nor did it identify the indictment as a copy of the one returned into court by the grand jury that indicted the prisoner. A motion was made for a new trial but refused by the court below, and the prisoner sued out this writ of error.
1Opinion of the Court
SMITH, C. J.:
This was a conviction in the circuit court of De Soto upon an indictment framed under the statute concerning slaves, free ne-groes, and mulattoes. Hutch. Dig., 520.
The following objections are taken to the judgment of the court below, to wit:
1. The record does not show that the indictment on which the prisoner was tried and convicted, was returned into court by the grand jury.
2. The court erred in not quashing the indictment.
*7013. The court erred in not granting a new trial; and
4. That the court improperly overruled the motion in arrest of judgment.
The second objection is untenable…
2Cited by6 opinions
- Faraga v. StateMississippi Supreme Court · 1987
- Moore v. StateMississippi Supreme Court · 1974
- McCormick v. StateMississippi Supreme Court · 1979
- King v. StateMississippi Supreme Court · 1920
- Hague v. StateMississippi Supreme Court · 1872
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