Watts v. Commonwealth

• Decision Date: 15 December 1922
• Citation: 197 Ky. 101,245 S.W. 884
• Parties: WATTS v. COMMONWEALTH.
• Court: Kentucky Court of Appeals

245 S.W. 884

197 Ky. 101

WATTS v. COMMONWEALTH.

Court of Appeals of Kentucky.

December 15, 1922

Appeal from Circuit Court, Breathitt County.

William Penn Watts was convicted of murder, and he appeals. Reversed and new trial ordered.

John D Carroll, of Frankfort, Riddell & Shumate, of Irvine, and C A. Back, of Jackson, for appellant.

Charles I. Dawson, Atty. Gen., and Thos. B. McGregor, Asst. Atty Gen., for the Commonwealth.

CLAY J.

Appellant, William Penn Watts, who was jointly indicted with Bud Noble, Soldier Noble, Beecher Noble, Tom Porter, Sam Grigsby, Hagins Noble, Luther Noble, and Lewis Watts, for the murder of Maggie Allen, was found guilty, and his punishment fixed at death.

The facts are as follows: About a week before the homicide in question, Hargis Noble, Willie Noble, Alton Grigsby, and Isaac Watts were convicted of the murder of Joe Napier, and sentenced to the penitentiary, the first three for life and Isaac Watts for a term of two years. Hargis Noble is a son of Bud Noble and a brother of Soldier and Beecher Noble. Willie Noble is a nephew of Bud and Luther Noble. Isaac Watts is a brother of appellant. After their conviction, Hargis Noble, Willie Noble, Alton Grigsby, and Isaac Watts were confined in the Breathitt county jail; but a day or two before Maggie Allen was killed, Hargis Noble and Willie Noble were removed to the Clark county jail for safe-keeping. Appellant and his codefendants, with the exception of Hagins Noble, who lives on Grapevine, in Perry county, live on Lost Creek, about 18 miles from Jackson, and all of them were in Jackson as spectators or witnesses during the trial of their relatives for the murder of Joe Napier.

On the day before Maggie Allen was killed, appellant, Bud Noble, Beecher Noble, and Tom Porter, and perhaps others indicted with him, were at the home of Honeysuckle Noble, at an "infare" given in honor of the latter's son, who had just been married. About 3 o'clock in the afternoon Bud and Beecher Noble employed appellant and Tom Porter to go to the home of Bud Noble's brother on Grapevine in Perry county to get a rifle, saying that they had arranged with the jailer to have their relatives released, and wanted the rifle for their use. A little after 1 the next morning, a crowd of from 6 to 10 persons appeared at the Breathitt county jail and knocked on the door of the jailer's residence. When the jailer, A. A. Allen, appeared, he was told by the men that they had a prisoner to put in jail. After calling to his son Oscar to bring the keys, the men were admitted, and immediately went up the steps. Several shots were fired, and in the melée Maggie Allen and Albert Roberts, the deputy jailer, were mortally wounded, while Mrs. Oscar Allen received wounds from which she subsequently recovered.

Of the men who made the assault on the jail, the jailer recognized Bud Noble, Tom Porter and Lewis Watts. Oscar Allen recognized Soldier Noble, and in her dying declaration, Maggie Allen claims to have recognized Bud and Beecher Noble. There was also found a hat which several parties identified as belonging to Bud Noble, and a pistol which had been dropped or thrown into the jailyard. About 2 o'clock on the same morning, appellant, Tom Porter, and Hagins Noble appeared at the home of Duvall Back. One of them stated that his name was Noble and that he lived on Lost Creek. Another stated that his name was Watkins. One represented that he lived in Winchester, and another that he lived in Beattyville. While one of the defendants was out of the room with Mr. Back, Mrs. Back, who was in bed, heard the other two defendants whispering and one of them said something about a hat and a pistol being lost.

Appellant and Tom Porter both admit that they were at the infare, and that Bud Noble employed them to go to the home of his brother Alfred and get the rifle, and that appellant rode a mule belonging to Bud Noble, and Tom Porter rode a mule belonging to Kale Noble. When they reached the home of Dock Davidson on Grapevine, Hagins Noble, the son of Alfred Noble, joined them. They then went to Alfred Noble's, a distance of about 1 1/2 miles and secured a gun. Bud Noble had instructed them to bring the gun to his house and, if he was not there, to meet him at the mouth of Quicksand, which was about three miles above Jackson. According to their testimony, appellant, Tom Porter, and Hagins Noble left Alfred Noble's about 4 o'clock in the afternoon. Their first stop was at Dock Davidson's, where Hagins Noble changed his clothes. Their next stop was at the home of appellant's father, Hiram Watts. They reached there about 9 o'clock at night, ate their supper, and sat around about an hour. After leaving there, they secured another mule and went to the home of Bud Noble. Bud was gone, and, after eating some more supper, they stopped at a place on Smith's Branch, where they had a shooting match with some one. They then came to the mouth of Quicksand, but, not finding Bud Noble, they stopped at the home of Duvall Back to get warm. After staying there for some time, they turned and went back towards home stopping at Hargis Salley's for about two hours and also at Sam Grigsby's, where they ate breakfast. From there they returned to their home. Tom Porter testified that while engaged in the shooting affray before reaching Duvall Back's, he dropped his hat and gun, and that while in Duvall Back's house, he whispered to the boys and told them, "I like to have lost my hat and gun up there."

The indictment contained several counts. In the first count all of the defendants were charged with murder by shooting and wounding Maggie Allen. In the nine succeeding counts each of the defendants was charged as principal and all of his codefendants as aiders and abettors. The eleventh count charged that each and all of the defendants entered into a conspiracy with each other, and others to the grand jury unknown, to murder Maggie Allen, and while said conspiracy was in full force and effect Bud Noble, Soldier Noble, or Beecher Noble, or some one or more of the defendants, or of the conspirators unknown to the grand jury, unlawfully willfully, feloniously, and with malice aforethought shot and wounded Maggie Allen, from which shooting and wounding she died within a year and a day...