Press enter after choosing selection

Wants To Be Hung

Wants To Be Hung image
Parent Issue
Day
4
Month
January
Year
1878
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

Oído reporta a peculiar íllustration ot the saving, " When a woman says slie won't, she mm't." ín May, 1875, a Mrs. Víctor, of Cleveland, was convicted in the Oommon Pleas Court of Cuyahoga countv of poisoning her brotner, and was genteneed to be hanged on the 20lh of August following. Before the day of execution arrived she became msane, and the Governor respited her till the 20th of November, at which time, Blie being still insane, he commuted her sentence to imprisonment for hfe, and she was accordingly confmed in the penitentiary. ín January, 1876, having recovered her reason, she refused to assent to the coinmutation of her sentence, and insisted upon either bemg hung or released. Finally she procured from the Franlilin Court of Common Pleas a writ of habeas corpus agaiust the Warden of the penitentiary, claiming that she was entitled to be set at hberty. Tlie court held that she was "in lawan escaped prisoner," and ordered that "she be delivered to the Sheriff of Cuy ahoga county, to be furtber dealt with by the Court of Common Pleasóf that county according to law. " Tlie Warden flled a petition in error to reverse the decisión of the Franklin court and have the prisoner remanded back to the penitentiary. The case went before the Snpreme Court, and that conrt decided that the Governor has power to commute tho sentence of a lunatie without his or her consent, and that as som as the commutation is made ! the new penalty becomes the one fixed by law, and the original penalty eannot be restore d. In the language of the decisión, "Commutation is not a conditional pardon, but a substitution of a lowor for a higher grade of punishment, and is presumed to be for the convict's benefit." therefore "it cannot be defeated or invalidated by the convict's rejection or refusal of it when restored to reason." The judgment of the lower court was reversed, and the prisoner was remanded to the custody of the

Article

Subjects
Old News
Michigan Argus