Looney v. Commonwealth

The plaintiff in error, Harvey D. Looney, was found guilty of murder in the first degree, and, in accordance with the verdict of the jury, was sentenced to death by the circuit court of Craig county. The case is before us on a writ of error to that judgment.

The prisoner, when put upon trial, moved the court for a change of venue under section 1036 of the Code, the grounds for the motion being that the county of Craig is a small mountainous county sparsely settled, and that in the town of New Castle, the county seat and scene of the homicide, and throughout the entire county great prejudice…