Motes v. United States

Citations

• 178 U.S. 458
• 20 S. Ct. 993
• 44 L. Ed. 1150
• 1900 U.S. LEXIS 1694

Syllabus

<p>By theTtevised Statutes of the United States it is provided: “§ 5508. If two or more persons conspire to injure, oppress, threaten or intimidate any citizen in the free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege secured to him by the Constitution or laws of the United States, or because of his having so exercised the same; or if two or more persons go in disguise on the highway, or on the premises of another, with intent to prevent or hinder his free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege so secured, they shall be fined not more than five thousand dollars and imprisoned not more than ten years; and shall, moreover, be thereafter ineligible to any office or place of honor, profit or trust created by the Constitution or laws of the United States. § 5509. If in the act of violating any provision in either of the two preceding sections, any other felony or misdemeanor be committed, the offender shall be punished for the same with such punishment as is attached to such felony or misdemeanor by the laws of the State in'which the offence is committed.” Several persons were indicted under the above provisions in the Circuit Court of the United States for the Northern District of Alabama for the crime of murder committed in execution of a conspiracy to injure, oppress, threaten and intimidate one Thompson because of his having informed the United States authorities of violation's by the conspirators of the laws of the United States relating to distilling. In Alabama murder in the first degree is punishable by death or imprisonment for life at the discretion of the jury. At the preliminary trial before a United States commissioner, Taylor, one of the accused, testified and his evidence was put in writing and signed by him. It was sufficient, if accepted, to establish the guilt of all the defendants. The accused had opportunity to cross-examine him. At the final trial in the Circuit Court, Taylor, who had pleaded guilty, was called as a witness for the Governm