White v. People

Decision Date02 November 1891
Citation139 Ill. 143,28 N.E. 1083
PartiesWHITE v. PEOPLE.
CourtIllinois Supreme Court

OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE

Error to circuit court, Christian county; J. FOUKE, Judge. Reversed.

Indictment against John White for assault with intent to commit murder. There was judgment of conviction, and defendant thereupon took this writ.

J. G. Drennan and J. E. Hogan, for plaintiff in error.

J. C. Creighton, State's Atty., and J. B. Ricks, for the People.

MAGRUDER, C. J.

This is an indictment in the circuit court of Christian county against the plaintiff in error for assault with intent to commit murder upon the person of one W. A. Jordan by shooting him. He was found guilty by the jury, and sentenced to three years in the penitentiary. The material facts are as follows: On March 24, 1890, the plaintiff in error and one Robbins appeared in the village of Assumption, in said county, where they were strangers, and had never been seen before, with a number of revolvers and knives in their possession, some of which they sold to citizens of that place at prices below cost. Robbins had 5 or 6 revolvers and 30 or 40 knives. Plaintiff in error sold a revolver to Dr. Tobey for $1. Robbins sold 3 knives, worth $3, to Byron Travis for 50 cents; and 3 knives, worth $2.15, to Hershel Travis for 50 cents. These circumstances having excited suspicion, Byron Travis called upon W. A. Jordan, the marshal of the village, between 5 and 6 o'clock in the evening, while he was at supper, and informed him of the conduct of the two strangers. As soon as he had finished his supper, Jordan telegraphed to the city marshal at Pana and the chief of police at Decatur to know if they had information of any burglaries, and was told, in reply, ‘that articles of that description had been taken over about Paris the 19th.’ Jordan then started out to arrest the two men, and summoned one Joseph Jarrell to assist him. Jordan found Robbins and plaintiff in error sitting on the side of the railroad track, a short distance from the village, about 7 o'clock in the evening of March 24th, after dark. He sat down with them, and had some conversation about hauling hay. After a few moments Robbins arose, and said, ‘I must go.’ Jordan swears that he then threw back his coat, showed his star, and said, ‘I am the marshal, and you must go down town with me.’ Plaintiff in error swears that he did not know that Jordan was the marshal, and that Jordan did not say he was an officer, nor show his badge. Robbins, who was a low, heavy-set man, and is described as being bow-legged, and walking as if crippled, replied, ‘I am not going,’ or ‘You'll not take me.’ Jordan answered, ‘You will;’ and sprang towards Robbins, who had put his hand in his pocket when the marshal told him he must go to town. Jordan says: ‘Just as I made the step, he shot me. He was standing in the middle of the track at that time. This defendant [White] stood by the side of the track outside of the rail. I noticed their pockets were heavily loaded. When the heavy-set man fired he started to run. I fired three shots at him. This defendant then sprang in the track, and started to run after him. I shot one shot at him.’ Jordan was shot in the face, eye, neck, and hand with common shot, and his left eye was put out. As the defendant ran, he threw away his coat, which was afterwards found, and in its pockets were one revolver and one knife. Another revolver lay near the coat. Both men escaped. Plaintiff in error was afterwards arrested, but Robbins has never been arrested, as we understand the evidence. Jordan says that when the two men ‘first got up they both started off, and when I spoke they both whirled around, and this gentleman here [White] pushed his hands in his pockets.’ Plaintiff in error swears that he started to run before the first shot was fired, but Jordan swears that four shots had been fired before plaintiff in error began to run. When Jarrell and Jordan started out they separated, and went in different directions, so that, when the shooting occurred, Jarrell was too far off to see what occurred, as it was quite dark at the time. After Jordan stated that the men must go to town with him, there is no evidence that plaintiff in error did anything before he ran away, unless it be that, when first spoken to after he arose from the ground, he whirled around, and put his hands in his pockets. Plaintiff in error did not say that he would not go with the officer; the refusal to go was uttered by Robbins. Plaintiff in error fired no shot; the shot which injured Jordan was fired by Robbins. Jordan says: ‘This defendant [White] did not make any demonstrations or say a word, except he had his hands in his coat-pockets.’ Upon the trial below a witness named Southwick testified that he was a hardware merchant in Flora, Clay county, Ill.; that he saw plaintiff in error in Flora, in company with two others, on the 19th, 20th, and 21st days of March, 1890; that the plaintiff in error, and those with him, were strangers; that the store of witness was burglarized on the night of March 21st, and from 12 to 15 revolvers, about 100 knives, and 100 cartridges were stolen therefrom; that the property taken was worth from $75 to $100; that the witness saw plaintiff in error in Flora across the street from his store on the morning after the burglary. Southwick identified one of the revolvers as his, and swore that the other goods were of the same kind as those stolen from him, but could not swear positively that all had been taken from his...

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22 cases
  • People v. Payne
    • United States
    • Illinois Supreme Court
    • February 15, 1935
    ...the conspiracy. dconsequence of the execution of the conspiracy. McMahon v. People, 189 Ill. 222, 59 N. E. 584;White v. People, 139 Ill. 143, 28 N. E. 1083,32 Am. St. Rep. 196;Spies v. People, 122 Ill. 1, 226, 12 N. E. 865,17 N. E. 898,3 Am. St. Rep. 320;Hanna v. People, 86 Ill. 243; 1 Whar......
  • People v. Kessler
    • United States
    • United States Appellate Court of Illinois
    • May 15, 1973
    ...96 Ill. 73; People v. Basile (1934), 356 Ill. 171, 190 N.E. 307; People v. Faught (1931), 343 Ill. 312, 175 N.E. 446; White v. People (1891), 139 Ill. 143, 28 N.E. 1083. We think this is a more reasonable approach to the law of accountability but one which we cannot adopt in contravention o......
  • The State v. Porter
    • United States
    • Missouri Supreme Court
    • December 23, 1918
    ... ... In ... response to the call, he and Mills went down to the ... intersection of the alleys where they saw a negro woman and ... two white men. The woman asked appellant to stand there until ... she could reach her home near at hand. He offered to ... accompany her, but she said this ... doctrine: Reg. v. Caton, 12 Cox (C. C.), 624; ... Woolweaver v. State, 50 Ohio St. 277, 40 Am. St ... 667, 34 N.E. 352; White v. People, 139 Ill. 143, 32 ... Am. St. 196, 28 N.E. 1083; State v. Hildreth, 9 Ired ... Law 440, 51 Am. Dec. 369; Connaughty v. State, ... 1 Wis. 159, 60 ... ...
  • State v. Porter
    • United States
    • Missouri Supreme Court
    • December 4, 1917
    ...S. W. 1003, 73 Am. St. Rep. 965, loc. cit. 968; State v. Hayes, 105 Mo. 76, 16 S. W. 514, 24 Am. St. Rep. 360; White v. People, 139 Ill. 143, 28 N. E. 1083, 32 Am. St. Rep. 196, loc. cit. As to what actually took place, and the order and sequence of events at the time Carpenter met his deat......
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