Johnson v. Commonwealth

At the June term, 1905, of the Circuit Court of Henrico county, the plaintiff in error, Austin Johnson, was indicted, tried and convicted of the crime of rape, alleged to have been committed by him upon the person of a female child of the age of ten years; and his punishment was fixed by the jury at death.

The prisoner moved the court to set aside the verdict and grant him a new trial on two grounds: (1) Because the ver-diet was contrary to the law and the evidence; and, (2) for after-discovered evidence. But the court overruled the motion, and pronounced judgment upon the verdict, to which…