Famous Smith v. United States

Citations

• 151 U.S. 50
• 14 S. Ct. 234
• 38 L. Ed. 67
• 1894 U.S. LEXIS 2029

Syllabus

<p>A Cherbkee Indian being indicted in the Circuit Court of the United States for the Western District of Arkansas for the murder of a white man, it was set up in defence that the murdered'man was also an Indian, and that the court was therefore without jurisdiction. .The evidence for the defence showed that the murdered man was generally recognized as an Indian, that his reputed father was .so -recognized, and that lie .himself was enrolled, and had participated in the payment of bread money to the Ghcrokees. To offset this the government showed that he had not been permitted to vote at a Cherokee election, but it also appeared that he had not been in the district long enough to vote. Held,</p> <p>(1) That the burden was on. the prosecution to prove that' hp was a white man;</p> <p>(2) That the testimony offered by the government had no legitimate ' •' tendency to prove that.the murdered man was not an Indian.</p>