Ross v. State

Ross was indicted for arson, in burning an outhouse or crib upon the farm of the prosecutor. The only evidence connecting the accused with the burning was that of some tracks made in a sand-bed thirty feet from the house burnt. The weather was very dry, and the ground in other places was, in consequence of the drought, so hard that the tracks could not be followed. When the tracks were made, no distinct impression was left, the sand running in the track and partially filling it. While the witnesses testified strongly to their belief that the tracks found were those of the accused, still it…