State v. Edwards

Citations

• 15 S.D. 383
• 89 N.W. 1011
• 1902 S.D. LEXIS 19

Syllabus

<p>During the progress of a trial, defendant published in his newspaper the following article: “A Family Affair. * * * T'he trial judge and the sheriff are well-known popocrats. Caddy, the prisoner, belongs to the same party. The five witnesses for the defendant, who have been indicted for perjury, are all popocrats. The defendant’s lawyer is a lifelong democrat; and last, but by no means least, our informant says that every man out of the special venire of 24 is also a prominent pop or democrat. The only republican in the entire push is the prosecuting attorney. Such a political color to the affair seems strange, and the selection of that sort of a venire seems rotten.” Held, that such publication was not calculated to influence, embarrass, or obstruct the court in the due administration of justice, and defendant was not guilty of contempt of court in publishing the article.</p>