Jones v. The State Of Ga.

• Decision Date: 31 January 1860
• Citation: 29 Ga. 594
• Parties: Thomas Jones, plaintiff in error. vs. The State of Georgia, defendant in error.
• Court: Georgia Supreme Court

29 Ga. 594

Thomas Jones, plaintiff in error. vs. The State of Georgia, defendant in error.

Supreme Court of the State of Georgia

JANUARY TERM, 1860.

Murder, in Richmond Superior Court. Tried before Judge Holt, at May Term, 1859.

The plaintiff in error, Thomas Jones, was indicted for the murder of William Osborne. At the trial, the following testimony was submitted on the part of the State:

Owen Gilfoyle, sworn: Was employed by the Augusta and Savannah Railroad Company last Christmas; saw the difficulty between the defendant and deceased, whose name was William Osborne; it took place in Kahr's bar-room which is opposite the Savannah depot, in the city of Augusta, county of Richmond, State of Georgia; it was on the 25th of December, 1858, between ten and eleven o'clock in the morning. Went with William Osborne, the deceased, to the barroom; when we arrived there defendant and some one else, were making some noise behind the blinds. I was on the other side of the blinds, in the bar-room; the first I saw of the defendant he came from behind the blinds with Barney Willis and some other man, whose name I do not know. As soon as defendant saw the deceased, he walked towards where deceased was, who was talking with George Carl, and said two or three times he could whip the deceased; I did not hear Osborne make any reply. Then Jones drew what I think was a knife, and struck the deceased; he drew it from some part of his clothes, as I did not see it in his hands before that time; I call the knife a dirk knife; after giving the stroke upon the shoulder, on the left side, Carl and Houston took hold of defendant; when they did so, Osborne made a stroke at Jones; can't say whether he struck him or not. Carl and Houston then put Jones out of the door; there may have been some others that assisted them in doing so. A young man by the name of Criss, who staid with Kahr, then pushed the door to; there was considerable noise outside for some two or three minutes; Jones then came pushing to the door again; the young man pushed the door against defendant; after a little while Jones pushed the doorin; he had the knife in his hand; Osborne was standing by the counter; defendant cut him again about five inches from the navel, on the left hand side; defendant backed then, and Barney Willis and some one else took hold of him. Osborne walked out of the door in the store part of the house, and some one asked him to go up stairs to see if he was hurt; saw no more; saw Willis and the other man throw defendant on the floor and take the knife out of his hand. I was standing some three or four yards from the parties when it occurred; could not see all things in the house, but saw all I testified to. Did not hear Osborne say anything to Jones; he made the stroke at him which I testified to. Osborne was sober; saw Osborne afterwards up stairs on the bed; saw the wounds; he lived until three or four o\'clock next morning. I sat up with him all that night; he died between three and four o\'clock on the morning of the 26th. Saw the wound on the shoulder-blade; it did not look more than skin deep to me. The wound on the loin was a pretty large one, his intestines came out through it; don\'t know if they were cut; the doctor put them back.

Cross.—Mr. Jones looked to me as pretty tight; he didn't look very drunk; he seemed to be able to go where he desired; he staggered about considerably; was not much acquainted with him to know if he was devoid of sense or not, and could not say when he was very drunk. Could not swear he had a knife until he (Jones) came back the second time; I saw what I thought was a knife the first time; am sure I saw it the second time. If Osborne said anything to defendant, I did not hear him.

Osborne was standing at the counter when defendant approached him; am certain that defendant struck the first blow. Defendant was out about two or three minutes after he was put out. Did not see any effort made to get Osborne out, did not hear Osborne say he would stay there. They got Jones down before they got his knife away; did not see him try to cut his friends; two persons had hold of him;he tried his best to keep the knife. Did not see Osborne take hold of Jones when he returned; he did not have hold of Jones when defendant cut him. Osborne and myself worked together, and had been acquainted a good while; went with the deceased there that morning. Osborne took two drinks that day; we were there about five minutes; could not tell what the fuss behind the screen was about. James Rooney sat up with the deceased a part of the night, and Andy Benny also sat up with him that night.

Direct.—George Houston went away from here; don't know when. Barney Willis, saw him on the day of the mayor's ejection; have not seen him since. Last I heard of Houston he was in Macon.

Diderick Kahr, sworn: Heard the evidence of Owen Gilfoyle; it was my brother's bar-room. I stayed there at that time, and saw the difficulty; it was on the 25th December last, about ten o'clock in the morning. I walked to my brother's bar-room, which was opposite the Waynesboro ticket office; When I got there I saw some friends there, Myers and Jacob Sanchas, and some others. I stayed a little while. I saw Tom Jones, Barney Willis, William Day and some others come towards the bar-room; saw Tom Jones was very drunk; they came in and there was loud talking. Saw Sanchas and Mr. Coker standing before the bar at that time; Sanchas asked Tom Jones to take a drink with him, Jones declined. Barney Willis came in and said defendant should not drink any more, that he had had enough, that if he got any more he would throw it out again. Jones, Willis and the others walked towards the store and sat down. Jones was talking loudly; did not notice what he said. I then saw Owen Gilfoyle and William Osborne come over; I met them in the front store, and when they came in I told them "Christmas gift." They went to the bar-room to get a drink or segar, I don't know which. I walked around, saw Jones and the others go to the door which leads to the store; saw Jones stop at once and say, as I supposed to Osborne, "Ican whip you." He then took out his knife; it appeared to me to be a dirk; drew it out with the case, went towards Osborne and made a lick at him with it; the case was on it at the time. It seemed to me that Osborne defended that lick; don\'t think that it hurt him at that time; saw that George Carl was between them; saw Osborne strike at Jones on the left side; am not certain whether he struck him; it seemed to me he struck him on the left side. Saw Carl push Jones back through the bar-room door into the store. I went towards Osborne and told him, Bill, go out of the side door leading into the entry, keep out of the fuss, don\'t have no fuss here. He gave me to understand he was not going out; he said, I think, that he did not want to have a fuss there. I turned round to the door which leads to the front store to shut the door; at the same time Jones had come back; I caught Jones between the door as I was shutting it. I let go the door and went round the counter; Jones went right up to Osborne. When I was around the counter I saw Osborne have hold of Jones pushing him back; he had one hand on the throat and the other on the arm of defendant. I saw Tom Jones stab at Osborne at the same time with what appeared the same dirk; saw him stab Osborne on the side, the place described by Mr. Gilfoyle. I then saw Willis and another person whom I did not know, take the knife away from defendant after parting them. Jones told me after they took the knife away from him, that he was a friend to Jake Clarkson, and that he had imposed on him, meaning, as I supposed, Osborne. I then saw Willis and the others take Tom Jones off. Saw Osborne\'s clothes cut, and blood coming through it; the cut was on the side. It seemed to me that Jones knew Osborne. A very short time had elapsed between the time that Jones was taken out and returned. Osborne was pushing defendant back when I saw them from behind the counter; I suppose it was to defend himself. Willis took Jones\'s knife away; they had to scufflle to take itaway; they seemed to have him on the floor to take the knife away.

Cross.—I tried to persuade Osborne to go out; he gave me to understand that he was not going out, but he said something else, but I was in such a hurry that I did not understand what he said. Jones's friends were trying to get him away; Jones was very drunk; he staggered about. Am acquainted with Jones; he seems when he is drunk to be out of his mind. I saw Tom Jones have a knife in his hand; was afraid he would cut me, I therefore left the door, knowing that he would do so when drunk. Did not notice whether his friends were cautious or not when they disarmed him. Barney Willis did say he was foolish, and he should drink no more; this was before Osborne came; the loud talking behind the blinds was the effort of Jones's friends to take him off; it was then they met Osborne and Gilfoyle. When I saw them from behind the counter, Osborne had advanced a short distance from the place where I saw him as I went behind the counter; he was pushing him when the lick was given. Osborne was the largest man, and weighed about 180 or 200 pounds, defendant about 125 pounds; think that lick was given to deceased in the loin, whilst he was pushing defendant some four or five feet; he had defendant by the throat and right arm. Defendant when sober, was upright and gentlemanly in his conduct. (When intoxicated on that occasion, were his acts such as if he knew what he was about? Objected to. Objection sustained.) Heard Jones talk; he talked loud; he said a heap of things which I did not notice. The impression made upon my mind from what he said was that he was too drunk to know what he was doing.

Direct.—When Jones came back, Osborne was standing in the bar-room, somewhere in front of the counter; he went right towards Osborne, and I went behind the...