Smith v. State

• Decision Date: 18 December 1889
• Citation: 12 S.W. 1104
• Parties: SMITH <I>v.</I> STATE.
• Court: Texas Court of Appeals

12 S.W. 1104

SMITH

v. STATE.

Court of Appeals of Texas.

December 18, 1889.

Appeal from district court, Lamar county E. D. McCLELLAN, Judge.

This conviction was in the first degree, for the murder of Andrew Shearon, the death penalty being assessed against the appellant. The proof shows that the deceased was the proprietor of a saloon situated on the east side of South Main street, near the Texas & Pacific Railroad depot, in the city of Paris, the said depot being about three-quarters of a mile distant from the public square. Early on the morning of May 18, 1888, his dead body was found in bed in his room in the rear of and adjoining the saloon. His skull had been crushed with a blunt instrument of some description, but the instrument, after careful search, could not be found. The premises showed no indications of having been opened by force. The front door was closed, with the key on the inside, but the back door was open or slightly ajar. It was shown that one Newt. Harris, now deceased, was discharged from employment in the said saloon a few weeks before the murder, and that his discharge engendered unfriendly feeling between him and the deceased, and that deceased had expressed fears of trouble with said Harris, and requested the city marshal to keep a watch on him. It was also shown that the defendant, who is a negro, was in a manner the body servant of Harris, and that they were often seen together immediately before and after the murder. Deceased had two partners interested with him in the saloon, one of whom was Dr. Miller, a resident of the Indian Territory.

George W. Wells testified for the state that he was general manager of the cotton compress, which was situated about 500 feet distant from Shearon's saloon, and near the railroad depot. At the time of and for two weeks after the murder of Shearon the defendant worked as one of the hands at the compress. The witness did not know where he went to at the end of the said two weeks, when the compress stopped running and the hands were discharged. Newt. Harris had worked in Shearon's saloon as bar-keeper, but was discharged a short time before the murder.

William Smith testified for the state, in substance, that at the time of the murder he was an officer and lived about one and a quarter miles north-east from Paris. A few days after the murder the defendant was sent into the country with a horse by Mr. Hunt. Mr. Hunt requested witness, who was going in the direction of the place to which the defendant was to take the horse, to point out the place to defendant. En route the witness asked the defendant where he lived. He replied that he lived near the Texas & Pacific depot. Witness asked him if "that was not a pretty hard neighborhood." He replied that it was; that a bad killing had recently occurred there; that he and another colored man saw Andrew Shearon 10 or 15 minutes before he was killed, and that a large white man was present. He refused to tell who the large white man was, but "turned it off" by saying that he was a railroad man. Newt. Harris was a very large and powerful white man.

J. R. Fletcher testified for the state that he was bar-keeper at the White Elephant Saloon, in Paris, at the time Shearon was murdered. Newt. Harris and defendant came into that saloon early on the morning after the murder, and took a drink, Harris treating. They then went into the rear apartment of the saloon. The witness saw them often together, before and after the killing.

Alice White was the next witness for the state. She testified that at the time of the murder of Shearon she lived on the place of Mr. A. R. Craigo, about a mile and a quarter from the railroad depot, and she did not then know the defendant. About a month or more after the murder she moved to the house of her mother, who lived near the said depot, and became the mistress of the defendant, with whom she lived and slept for three or four months; her mother occupying the same house. One night, about three weeks before his arrest, the defendant awakened the witness by calling the name of Newt. Harris. He was calling Harris in his sleep. The witness awakened him, and asked him what he meant by calling Newt. Harris' name. He replied: "Damn you, shut up! You have got too much mouth." Witness, however, insisted upon being told, and he finally said to witness: "Newt. Harris and I killed Andrew Shearon for his money." He would tell witness no more. A week or two afterwards a negro named Fred Boren came to the witness near the depot hotel, and asked if she knew "Comanche Jim," the defendant's pseudonym. Witness at first did not reply, but the negro displayed so great an anxiety to see the defendant that she finally told him where to find him. A few minutes later she saw the defendant and Boren engaged in an apparent serious conversation. After Boren left she asked defendant what he and Boren had to talk about so seriously. He replied that witness had too much mouth, and then told her that they had discussed the Shearon murder, and that he would have to leave Paris, as he was afraid somebody would swear a lie on him and break his neck. The witness and defendant came to an amicable separation a short time before the arrest of the former. Witness did not voluntarily appear against the defendant. She was taken by an officer to the court-house, and was then sworn to tell the county officials what she knew. She told them what she has testified on this trial, and was then placed in jail, as a means of extorting more from her, but, after she convinced the officials that she knew no more, she was released.

Lucinda Jones, the mother of the preceding witness, testified for the state, in substance, that she slept in the same room occupied by the defendant and her said daughter, who, though not married, lived together as husband and wife for several months after the murder. The muttering of the defendant in his sleep attracted the attention of the witness one night. He used Shearon's name in his mutterings, and witness asked him what was the matter with him. He replied: "That man Shearon is bothering me." He and Alice were both asleep. Alice did not live at or near the depot at the time of the murder.

Harrison Polk testified for the state that he went with defendant into Shearon's saloon for a glass of beer two or three days before the murder. From the saloon they went to the depot platform, and while standing there talking they observed Shearon standing in his front door. Pointing to Shearon, the defendant said: "Yonder is a damned son of a bitch I am going to do up. He has not treated me right." On the morning after the murder the witness met the defendant on Clarksville street, when the defendant said to him: "I did that damned son of a bitch up last night." Witness replied: "Don't tell me about it, for if I am called upon I will tell it." Several months afterwards defendant asked witness if he had ever divulged his statement on Clarksville street. The witness told him that he had not, and defendant said that he was going to leave Paris, as he was afraid of arrest for the murder of Shearon. The first person to whom witness related these facts was Officer Polk Burris, who was engaged in working up the case. Burris told the witness to keep his knowledge to himself until he was called upon to testify in regard to it.

Tom Miller testified for the state that some time after the death of Newt. Harris he had a conversation with defendant about the killing of Shearon, in the course of which the defendant said: "The man who killed Andrew Shearon is dead; you are behind the excitement."

Smith Gordon testified for the state that subsequent to the murder of Shearon he met the defendant in the Indian Nation, on which occasion the defendant told him that he was afraid to go back to Paris, as a serious charge was pending there against him. He did not tell witness what the charge was, nor did the witness hear of Shearon's murder until after he got back to Paris.

John Crow testified for the state that he was foreman of the 'Frisco yards at the time of the murder of Shearon. He went to Lapita, Indian Territory, on June 13, 1888, and on his arrival at that point met the defendant. He did not know how long the defendant had then been in Lapita. State closed.

Of the witnesses for the defense who impugned the reputation of the state's witness Alice White for truth and veracity, all...