Rankin v. State
Supreme Court of the United States
In error to the Supreme Court of Tennessee; the case being this: An indictment had been found in one of the State courts of Tennessee, at August Term, 1865, against a certain Rankin, and ten other persons named in the-indictment, charging them with the murder of one Thornhill, on the first of June pr&ceding.
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In error to the Supreme Court of Tennessee; the case being this: An indictment had been found in one of the State courts of Tennessee, at August Term, 1865, against a certain Rankin, and ten other persons named in the-indictment, charging them with the murder of one Thornhill, on the first of June pr&ceding. The defendant, in August Term, 1866, pleaded that on the day mentioned in the indictment he was in the military service of the United States, in the military district of East Tennessee, being first lieutenant of company B of the 9th Tennessee Cavalry, and bound to obey all lawful orders…
1Opinion of the CourtJustice Bradley
The difficulty with the case, as brought before us, is that the judgment was not a final one in the case. This court, under the 25th section of the Judiciary Act, can only take cognizance of final judgments of the State courts. And although the court has been liberal in its construction of the statute as to what judgments are final, yet the judgment in this case cannot be deemed such by any reasonable stretch of construction. It is a rule in criminal law in favorem, vitce, in capital cases, that when a special plea in bar is found against the prisoner, either upon issue tried by a jury, -or…
2Cited by7 opinions
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- United States v. Ronald Dennis YoungCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · 1976
- Polakow's Realty Experts, Inc. v. AlabamaSupreme Court of the United States · 1943
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