THE TRUCK MURDER CASE APPEAL

 

Chief Justice A. Parker.

John Truck.

Cortland Evening Standard, Saturday, Feb. 15, 1902.

THE TRUCK MURDER CASE

Argued Before the Court of Appeals on Thursday and Friday.

J. H. McCrahon of Syracuse Appeared for John Truck and H. L. Bronson of Cortland for The People—The Alleged Error in the Trial of the Case Gone over in Detail—Attorney McCrahon Criticizes Judge Sewell and Attorneys Hyatt and Miller who Defended Truck—Pertinent Questions by the Court of Appeals—Able Argument by Mr. Bronson—Decision Reserved.

   The case of The People vs. John Truck was argued before the court of appeals at Albany on Thursday and Friday afternoons, Feb. 13 and 14. This case has been prominently before the people of Cortland county for nearly three years past and the final decision of this court of last resort will be awaited with the keenest interest.

CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE CASE.

   As is well remembered by many Frank W. Miller, a bachelor about 40 years of age, was living alone upon his farm in a lonely district among the hills in the town of Virgil, this county, prior to March 14, 1899. He was last seen alive at about 6 o'clock on the evening of that day by his mother, Mrs. Elizabeth A. Miller, when he left her home, which was the nearest house to his own and about a half mile distant from it. At about 11 o'clock that night hla house was discovered to be on fire by another neighbor, John S. Patten. The alarm was given and other neighbors were summoned, but without means for fighting the fire they were powerless to save the house, which was a small wooden structure a story and a half high. While they were standing about the blazing building they saw upon the floor of Miller's sleeping room an object which was subsequently identified as the body of Frank W. Miller. By means of poles, a rake and a fork they were able to draw it from the building before it had become so far consumed as to prevent identification.

   At about the same time it was discovered that one of Miller's horses and a wagon were missing from his barn. Just before the fire was discovered that night other parties met and recognized as Miller's this horse and wagon with a single occupant being driven rapidly away from the Miller house.

   On March 16, two days later, John Truck was arrested near Cardiff, in Onondaga county, having upon his person a suit of clothes and an overcoat which were subsequently identified as being Miller's, wearing Miller's watch and having in his possession the horse and wagon taken from the Miller house. Other property identified as Miller's was also found at Truck's house in Homer.

   John Truck had been a resident of Homer for several years. Prior to that he had lived in Cortland, in Virgil, near the Miller house and there he had known Miller, in Preble, Tully, and in Christian Hollow near Cardiff where he was arrested. He was a farm laborer and a thresher, having had charge of a steam engine in threshing time. He had served a term in Auburn state prison for stealing and killing a cow in Christian Hollow some years before. He was known to have been at Miller's house and in its vicinity for two days prior to the fire. He had told several of the people in that vicinity that he was looking for a horse. On the day before the fire Miller had told his mother and one or two others that Truck had been at his house till late the previous night. Truck explained the fact that he had Miller's horse and wagon in his possession by saying that he had bought them of Miller for $75 on the evening before the fire. He was not able to give a satisfactory explanation as to where he got the money. He said he left Miller's house between 9 and 10 o'clock that night driving his newly purchased horse and claimed that the last thing Miller had said to him as he was departing was that he must now go in and fill a lantern in which the oil was running low.

   Truck was charged with murder in the first degree, and was indicted by the grand jury of Cortland county on May 20, 1899. The trial of the case began on Feb. 23, 1900, before Judge Albert H. Sewell, and was continued until March 10, when the Jury brought in a verdict of guilty as charged in the indictment. On the following day, March 17, Truck was sentenced to electrocution. He was taken to Auburn prison the following day where he has since continued to occupy one of the condemned cells.

   Upon the trial the prosecution was conducted by District Attorney Edwin Duffey, who had associated with him Attorneys O. U. Kellogg and H. A. Dickinson. The defendant had been unable to secure counsel and Edward W. Hyatt of Homer had been assigned by the court to defend him. Mr. Hyatt associated with himself as counsel Attorney Nathan L. Miller.

   As the counsel for the defense declined to proceed further with the case, on application of Defendant Truck, an order was granted by Judge Sewell, the justice presiding at the trial, substituting John H. McCrahon of Syracuse for Edward W. Hyatt as counsel for the defendant and on April 21, 1900, notice of appeal from the judgment of conviction was served upon the district attorney and upon the clerk of the court,

   Fearing that there might be a technical illegality in Judge Sewell's order substituting Attorney McCrahon as counsel for the defendant since Judge Sewell at the time of issuing the order was temporarily in Brooklyn, outside of his judicial district, performing special service under appointment of the governor, Attorney McCrahon on Jan. 28. 1902, secured from Judge Mattice an order vacating the order of Judge Sewell and newly substituting Attorney McCrahon tor Attorney Hyatt as of the date of the former order.

   Early in January notice was served on District Attorney T. H. Dowd who has succeeded District Attorney Duffey on Jan. 13, 1902. Attorney McCrahon would appear before Judge Sewell at Norwich to move for a new trial of the case upon the ground of newly discovered evidence. District Attorney Dowd was present at Norwich on the date named to oppose the motion, but Mr. McCrahon did not appear there at all. Subsequently Attorney McCrahon secured without its being argued at all an order from Judge Sewell denying his motion for a new trial. Attorney McCrahon then filed a notice of appeal from that order, and both the appeal from the judgment of conviction and the appeal from the order denying the motion for a new trial came up together for argument before the court of appeals on Thursday, Feb. 14.

THE COURT OF APPEALS.

   For the better information of many of our readers who may not be familiar with the facts it may be stated that the court of appeals consists of a chief justice and eight associate justices. The chief justice and six associate justices are upon the bench every working day between the hours of 2 and 6 P. M. The chief justice sits continuously. The six associate justices sit for three weeks and are each in his turn then off one week, being relieved in rotation by the two other associate justices. The rooms devoted to the court of appeals occupy a considerable portion of the third floor front (east side) of the capitol building. The court of appeals chamber itself is at the southeast corner and is considered in all its appointments, its decorations and its carvings the most ornate and beautiful courtroom in the world. Adjoining the chamber to the north are the working rooms of the court. There is a general conference room and a separate and fully equipped room for each of the nine justices. Each justice has his own complete law library, though upon the floor above is the general law library of the court of appeals to which free access may always be had by any one needing its use.

   In the general conference room is a large round table surrounded by seven chairs. Though the sittings of the court occupy only the four hours of the afternoon the rest of the day is devoted by the court to work about this round table in discussing the cases previously heard. Here the decisions are reached, and then after the conclusions upon the cases have been fully outlined by the full court one of the associate justices is in each case selected to write the opinion. As all of the eight associate justices have one week in four off the bench, that week is in each instance devoted by the justices thus relieved to preparing the opinions assigned to them, while the others are hearing new cases. Last year the court of appeals succeeded in passing upon over 800 cases.

TRUCK CASE CALLED.

   The Truck case was the second upon the calendar for Thursday afternoon, but it was 5:05 P. M. before Chief Justice Parker made the brief announcement: "Case 388, People against Truck." There were then upon the bench Chief Justice Parker and Associate Justices Cullen of Brooklyn, Bartlett of New York, Gray of Albany, O'Brian of Watertown, Haight of Buffalo and Werner of Rochester. There were at that time in the court room from Cortland District Attorney T. H. Dowd, Attorney H. L. Bronson who was to argue the case for the prosecution and respondent, former District Attorney Edwin Duffey, who originally tried the case for the prosecution, Assemblyman H. A. Dickerson, who had been associated with Mr. Duffey in the trial, and Edward Blodgett of The STANDARD. Considering that Chief Justice Parker and clerk of the Court Of Appeals Henry W. Shankland were both former Cortland boys there was quite a Cortland Contingent present.

THE SUPPLEMENTARY BRIEF.

   At 5:08 Attorney McCrahon for the defendant and appellant began to speak. He concluded his argument at about two minutes before 6 o'clock, the hour for adjournment. 

   As a preliminary Mr. McCrahon stated that he had submitted a supplementary brief as to his appeal from the order of Judge Sewell denying the motion for a new trial, but he thought it contained all the facts which he desired to bring before the court and he did not know that he cared to elaborate them  any. This brief contains references to the affidavits of John H. McCrahon, of Orville Pickert of Freetown, Walter B. Cherry, Daniel F. Matthews, Lewis May, Anna F. Kennedy and Otis D. Patrick, clerk of Cortland county. These affidavits contain the alleged new evidence upon which a new trial was asked from judge Sewell.

   The affidavit of John H. McCrahon refers to the wreck of the Lackawanna night express at Preble some years ago and alleges that an attempt was made by the district attorney assisted by a representative of the railroad company to connect Truck with that wreck—the district attorney for the purpose of inferentially showing another criminal act on the part of Truck, and the railroad company to shift from itself responsibility for a wreck due to carelessness on the part of one of its employees and to fix that responsibility on an outside party. Deponent claims that Judge Sewell admitted improper evidence concerning this upon the trial and also misdirected the jury in matters of law. He also alleges collusion between the witness Tompkins and the district attorney, by which the former, who was a prisoner in jail under indictment for assault, was promised immunity if he would swear to certain facts concerning Truck who was at the time his fellow prisoner.

   The affidavit of Orville Pickert alleges that he was a prisoner in jail at the same time and that he was approached by the

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   [The copy of these pages is difficult and labor intensive. Many corrections are needed on each line. See original news pages below and accept our apologies—CC editor.]