People v. Doss
| Decision Date | 16 November 1943 |
| Docket Number | No. 27389.,27389. |
| Citation | 51 N.E.2d 517,384 Ill. 400 |
| Parties | PEOPLE v. DOSS. |
| Court | Illinois Supreme Court |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Error to Appellate Court, Third District, on error to Circuit Court, Piatt County; James V. Bartley, Judge.
William A. Doss was convicted of criminal libel, which was affirmed by the Appellate Court, 318 Ill.App. 387, 48 N.E.2d 213, and he brings error.
Affirmed.A. M. Fitzgerald and Walter T. Day, both of Springfield, for plaintiff in error.
George F. Barrett, Atty. Gen., and Oliver D. Mann, Sp. State's Atty., of Danville, for the People.
January 15, 1942, the grand jury of Piatt county returned into the circuit court of said county an indictment against the plaintiff in error, William A. Doss, charging him with criminal libel fully set forth in the said indictment.
After motion to quash was denied, the defendant pleaded not guilty. Motion to set aside the verdict and grant a new trial was denied and the judgment of conviction and sentence followed. The cause was improperly brought to this court on writ of error and transferred to the Appellate Court for the Third District, because there was no question involved which would give this court jurisdiction and because the crime alleged was a misdemeanor. The Appellate Court affirmed the judgment and sentence of the circuit court. The plaintiff in error now brings the case to this court by writ of error seeking to reverse the judgment of the Appellate Court.
The October grand jury for Piatt county was inpaneled on October 6, 1941. On November 10, 1941, the grand jury filed a petition in the circuit court of that county asking for a special prosecutor because they believed the State's Attorney might be called as a witness before that body. On December 15, 1941, the court appointed Oliver D. Mann, an attorney from Danville, Illinois, as a special prosecutor.
The indictment returned on January 15, 1942, charged the defendant with unlawfully and maliciously contriving and intending to vilify and defame Carl I. Glasgow, State's Attorney of Piatt county, and to bring him into public scandal and disgrace by printing and publishing in a certain publication, called The Liberty Press on April 24, 1941, in the city of Monticello, Illinois, a certain false, scandalous, malicious and defamatory libel. The indictment contained two counts. Count 1 contained the following alleged libelous matter:
‘Yes, in my judgment Carl Glasgow (meaning Carl I. Glasgow) would have a hard time, a very hard time indeed,-to save his State's Attorney commission in not being taken from him (meaning Carl I. Glasgow), if he (meaning Carl I. Glasgow) were prosecuted for these and various acts of malfeasance in office (meaning thereby to charge that the said Carl I. Glasgow had been guilty of conduct unbecoming a member of the legal profession to such an extent that his license to practice law could be taken from him by the Supreme Court of the State of Illinois) but he (meaning Carl I. Glasgow) need not worry, I'll give him (meaning Carl I. Glasgow) no such direct trouble-I'll do mine locally and all in the open,-and right thru ‘Liberty’ so if I am wrong on my facts or actions, I am liable for damages and ready to go to jail, but I think the public is honest and fair, and it will stand by me now, it begins to see things!; I know I have tackled a gigantic machine, tis a big one, it goes all over Piatt county and even over into other counties for their help,-but I'm watching those angles too!'
Count 2 contained the following alleged libelous matter: ‘I propose now to send a statement of this situation to the office of the Governor and Attorney General of Illinois and to the President and Secretary of the State Bar Association and to N. E. Hutson, as President of the Piatt County Bar Association-if that sort of a lieing and deceitful man (meaning Carl I. Glasgow and meaning thereby to charge that the said Carl I. Glasgow was untruthful, a liar and a cheat) can fill the State's Attorney's chair of this County-then, indeed, is the life, liberty and property of every person in jeopardy who happens to refuse to swear allegiance to the ‘Monticello Bar Gang Attorneys'.’
The plaintiff in error filed a motion to quash the indictment consisting of sixteen pages. Much of the space was devoted to entirely extraneous matters. The defendant filed petitions for change of venue from two of the judges of sixth circuit and the third one disqualified himself for personal reasons. Thereupon the three judges of the sixth circuit petitioned this court to appoint an outside judge to hear the case. On March 11, 1942, we appointed Judge James V. Bartley of Joliet to preside in the trial of said cause in the circuit court of Piatt county. The motion to quash was then considered and denied.
The chief witness for the State was Carl I. Glasgow, the State's Attorney of Piatt county. He identified the various issues of The Liberty Press containing the alleged libelous matters. When they...
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Rockwell v. Morris
...Neiman v. McWilliams, Mag.Ct., 22 N.Y.S.2d 571, reversed on other grounds People v. McWilliams, Sp.Sess., 31 N.Y.S.2d 37; People v. Doss, 384 Ill. 400, 51 N.E.2d 517). Once again, there is precedent closer in time and closer to home. In Feiner v. People of State of New York, 340 U.S. 315, 7......
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... ... 28351.Supreme Court of Illinois.Jan. 17, 1945.Rehearing Denied March 19, 1945 ... [59 N.E.2d 822]Error to Circuit Court, Piatt County; W. S. Bodman, Judge.Walter Silvia was convicted of assault with intent to commit rape, and he brings error.Affirmed.Dwight H. Doss, of Monticello, and B. L. Kirk, of Champaign, for plaintiff in error.George F. Barrett, Atty. Gen., and Carl I. Glasgow, State's Atty., of Monticello, for the People.WILSON, Justice.An indictment consisting of three counts was returned in the circuit court of Piatt county against the defendant, ... ...
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United States v. Lindsley, 8627.
...and defamatory libel.1 On appeal the judgment and sentence was affirmed, People v. Doss, 318 Ill.App. 387, 48 N.E.2d 213 and 384 Ill. 400, 51 N.E.2d 517. March 29, 1944, certiorari was denied by the United States Supreme Court, 64 S.Ct. 788. On April 21, 1944, appellant petitioned the Distr......
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...this the trial court was within its discretion in determining that a special prosecutor need not be appointed. Compare People v. Doss, 384 Ill. 400, 51 N.E.2d 517 (1943); People v. Northup, 184 Ill.App. 638 (1914); People ex rel. Barrett v. Bd. of Comm'rs., 11 Ill.App.3d 666, 297 N.E.2d 307......