People v. Corbishly

• Decision Date: 07 December 1927
• Docket Number: No. 17987.,17987.
• Parties: PEOPLE v. CORBISHLY et al.
• Court: Illinois Supreme Court

327 Ill. 312

158 N.E. 732

PEOPLE

v.CORBISHLY et al.

No. 17987.

Supreme Court of Illinois.

Oct. 22, 1927.

Rehearing Denied Dec. 7, 1927.

Error to Circuit Court, Franklin County; Julius C. Kern, Judge.

Henry Corbishly and others were convicted of assault with intent to murder, and they bring error.

Affirmed in part, and in part reversed and remanded.William H. Holly, of Chicago, for plaintiffs in error.

Oscar E. Carlstrom, Atty. Gen., Roy C. Martin, State's Atty., of Benton, and Merrill F. Wehmhoff, of Springfield (Rufus Neely, of Marion, and R. E. Smith, of Benton, of counsel), for the People.

DUNCAN, J.

Plaintiffs in error Henry Corbishly, Frank Corbishly, Stanley Paurez, Ignatz Simmich (alias Tempo Simmich), Mike Karadich (indicted as Mike Krodach), Steve Meanavich, and Eddie Maliski were jointly indicted and tried with Charley Corbishly, Martin Simmich, Pete Blazin, Matt Crneavich, William Bartash, and Marion Sojat, in the circuit court of Franklin county, for an assault with intent to murder Delbert B. Cobb. All of the defendants pleaded not guilty. Karadich first filed a verified special plea, in which he alleged that his name is Mike Karadich; that he had always been so called and known; and that he was not then, and had never been, called or known by the name of Mike Krodach. To that plea the people filed a replication, in which it is alleged that said defendant is and was called and known as well by the name of Mike Krodach as by the name of Mike Karadich. The jury returned a verdict finding plaintiffs in error and Martin Simmich guilty as charged and the other defendants not guilty. A motion for new trial was filed by plaintiffs in error and Simmich, which was sustained as to Simmich, and the case was later dismissed as to him. The motion was overruled as to plaintiffs in error (herein called defendants), and judgment and sentence were entered on the verdict that they be imprisoned in the penitentiary for an indeterminate term, except Eddie Maliski, who was sentenced to the Illinois State Reformatory. This is a writ of error for a review of the record.

The assault on the prosecuting witness occurred about 10 o'clock of the night of August 11, 1925, at a meeting of Miners' Union No. 992, in Liberty Hall, in the city of Zeigler, in Franklin county. The members of this union were employed at the Joe Leiter mine in Zeigler, known as mine No. 1, and the defendants are all members of that union. Several days prior to the assault a dispute arose at the mine concerning the weighing of the coal, and the men at work there had either walked out or had been called out on a strike by Henry Corbishly, the president of the local. Some of the miners who desired to continue work had taken the matter up with the district officers-Alonzo Fox, district president, and Delbert B. Cobb, district vice president.The dispute had been referred to the district officers of the union. Fox had, under his authority, referred the investigation of the trouble to Cobb. Cobb made the investigation at the direction of Fox by hearing evidence about a week, which was offered by the company and the miners. Cobb decided that under the evidence the strike was in violation of the miners' contract with the operators of the mine, and that Henry Corbishly, president of the local, Steve Meanavich, pit committeeman, and other officers of the local union should be deposed as such officers, as the terms of the miners' contract provided for their deposal in case of their violation of the contract with the operators. Accordingly Fox caused the usual notice to be posted for a meeting of the local in Zeigler on August 11, 1925, for the purpose of electing new officers and putting the mine to work. On that afternoon some of the members of the union who desired the mine reopened went to the homes of Fox and Cobb at West Frankfort and asked them to come to the meeting at Zeigler that night and put the mine in operation. When Henry Corbishly learned of their departure for West Frankfort to see the district officers, he went to see the chief of police of Zeigler, Charles Center, and asked him to attend the meeting. Pursuant to the call for the meeting at the hall between 800 and 1,000 men assembled there about 8 o'clock that evening. The district officers at West Frankfort, President Fox, Vice President Cobb, and Hezzie Hindman, and David Babbington, members of the executive board, also attended the meeting and arrived at the hall about 8 or 8:30 o'clock. Previous to their arrival the members of the local had elected as temporary chairman Frank Skivinski. Matt Crneavich, the regular secretary, had not been deposed and was acting as secretary of the meeting.

Liberty Hall occupies the second story of a two-story brick building which faces west. The main entrance to the hall is a door near the center of the south side of the hall. A covered stairway extends from this doorway to the sidewalk in front of the building. The hall is about 50 feet wide north and south, and from 60 to 100 feet long east and west. There is a raised stage at the east end of the hall and a small room on each side of this stage. There is also a rear stairway in the northeast corner of the hall, which leads to a library on the first floor of the building. In the north wall of the library there is a door opening on an alley on the north side of the building, which extends west to the sidewalk at the front of the building. In front of the stage there is a table for the officers, and in the center of the hall about 500 folding chairs. There are also benches along the north, west, and south walls.

On their arrival at the meeting the district officers went to the front part of the hall, near the table. The meeting was called to order, and Fox, Cobb, and Babbington made speeches advising the men to return to work and to elect new officers. The defendants Henry Corbishly, Stanley Paurez, and Steve Meanavich made speeches opposing the course recommended by the district officers. No action was taken at the meeting on the questions discussed by the speakers. It was finally declared adjourned by the acting chairman, and the miners started to leave the hall by both the front and back stairways. Fox, Cobb, and Babbington, who had been sitting near the table, started to leave the hall by the main door on the south side of the hall, Cobb being in the lead, and when they had gotten within about 10 or 12 feet of the door Paurez was heard to say something in a foreign language, but the record does not disclose the words that he used, or the person or persons whom he addressed, or give any interpretation or explanation of any of such words. Immediately after Paurez had thus spoken, a number of the miners in the hall grabbed folding chairs and other things for weapons, rushed toward Cobb, and began to assault and beat him. He was struck on the head with a blunt instrument by some person and knocked down. He was also struck with folding chairs before and after he was knocked down, and while lying on the floor was stamped and kicked by some of his attackers. The folding chairs were shown to be rather formidable weapons, weighing about 8 pounds each. Fox went to the assistance of Cobb, and in endeavoring to protect him from the assaults was himself struck with chairs-blows which were intended for Cobb. The whole attack in this part of the hall was shown by the evidence to be directed at Cobb, only, and during this attack on him a number of his attackers and others directing the attack were heard to exclaim, ‘Close the door! Don't let him out!’ ‘Kill the son-of-a-b_____!’ ‘Don't let him get away!’ ‘Get a rope and hang him!’

Just previous to the attack on Cobb, and immediately after the adjournment of the meeting, a fight was started near the stage between Bert Farthing and his son, who were in sympathy with the strikers, and Asa and Luther Wilson, who were opposers of the strike. This first fight began about the time the district officers were leaving the table near the stage and continued up to and during a portion of the time the attack was being made on Cobb. During the attack on Cobb, and while he was lying on the floor, two shots were fired in another part of the hall. By one of these shots Hezzie Hindman was struck in the thigh and slightly injured, and Mike Saravich, a strike sympathizer, was shot in the stomach and killed. When these shots were fired, the attack on Cobb immediately ceased. There is testimony to the effect that only one shot was fired. None of the witnesses for the prosecution knew who fired the shot or shots. Dan Radison, a witness for the defense, testified that Alex Hargis, one of the parties who was at the meeting at West Frankfort that afternoon, fired the shot. Hargis did not testify.

As a result of the assaults Cobb received several cut wounds on his head, some of which bled very profusely. One of these wounds was about four inches in length and extended to the skull. His body, from head to foot, was severely bruised. He had three ribs fractured and was unconscious for a part of the time he was being beaten and kicked. After the shot was fired and after his assailants had run away, he crawled to the doorway and was assisted by some of the men in getting down the stairway to the sidewalk, where he fell to his knees because of his weakened condition. He was taken to the Zeigler Hospital, near by, where the wounds on his head were treated by the doctor, and where he remained for about ten days or two weeks. The evidence shows that at the time he was assaulted he was in perfect health and weighed about 225 pounds, and that since that time, and up to the trial, he had continuously suffered from pains in the head and body caused by the wounds aforesaid.

During the fight Cobb had a ‘black-jack’ in his hand, with which he attempted to defend himself against his attackers. He testified that he took this weapon from one of his assailants. One witness for the defendants...