Godau v. State
Supreme Court of Alabama
Appeal from Mobile City Court. Heard before Hon. O J. Semmes. Mary E. Godau was convicted of murder and she appeals. The lower court erred in refusing to grant the application of the defendant for a change of venne in view of the testimony and the newspaper articles written at the time of the commission of the alleged offense and the court will review it here, without any presumptions favorable to the finding of the lower court.
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Appeal from Mobile City Court. Heard before Hon. O J. Semmes. Mary E. Godau was convicted of murder and she appeals. The lower court erred in refusing to grant the application of the defendant for a change of venne in view of the testimony and the newspaper articles written at the time of the commission of the alleged offense and the court will review it here, without any presumptions favorable to the finding of the lower court. The affidavits filed by the state did not deny the truth of defendant’s affidavits but only stated that the affiant did not believe that there was any such prejudice…
1Opinion of the Court
de GRAFFENRIED, J.
In the present case the defendant, Mary T. Godau, was indicted for murder in the first degree. She was tried for and convicted of that offense and was sentenced to imprisonment in the penitentiary for life.(1) She was indicted for the murder of her son-in-law, who was, at the time of his death, a member of the police force of the city of Mobile and also a member of three fraternal organizations of that city who insured the lives of their members. The body of the dead policeman was found in a pond near his home. It was dressed in his uniform, but bullet holes through his head…
2Cases cited11 opinions
- Pope v. StateSupreme Court of Alabama · 1911
- Long v. StateSupreme Court of Alabama · 1888
- Cochran v. MillerSupreme Court of Alabama · 1883
- Seams v. StateSupreme Court of Alabama · 1887
- Birdsong v. StateSupreme Court of Alabama · 1872
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3Cited by66 opinions
- Anderson v. StateCourt of Criminal Appeals of Alabama · 1978
- Johnson v. StateSupreme Court of Alabama · 1941
- Jones v. StateSupreme Court of Alabama · 1913
- Batson v. State Ex Rel. DavisSupreme Court of Alabama · 1927
- Reedy v. StateSupreme Court of Alabama · 1945
61 more not listed; retrieve them via the Exa API.