Life and bloody career of the executed criminal, James Copeland, the great Southern land piratePitts, J. R. S. (James Robert Soda)
History
Life and bloody career of the executed criminal, James Copeland, the great Southern land pirate
Pitts, J. R. S. (James Robert Soda)
Copeland, James, 1823-1857; Criminals -- Gulf States -- Biography
In substance, here follows an extract from the Clerk’s replies: “I find
by the Clerk’s indorsement, that in the November term, 1858, the Grand
Jury found bills for four cases of libel against J. R. S. Pitts, and
four indictments were framed accordingly in the same term. They are
found docketed, numbers 61, 62, 63 and 64, to be prosecuted severally
by G. Y. Overall, C. F. Moulton, G. A. Cleaveland and S. S. Shoemake.
There are four appearance bonds for six hundred dollars each, dated
January 25, 1859. The writ of arrest is dated January 15, 1859. But the
indictments are all missing. There is nothing here on file or on record
showing any action of either the Governor of Alabama or the Governor of
Mississippi with respect to the processes for arrest. The case number
64 has entirely disappeared, and no trace left to account for the same.
In the February term, 1859, the trial of J. R. S. Pitts commenced on
the 23d, continued through the 24th, and on the 25th was given to the
jury, who on the 2d day of March rendered a verdict imposing a penalty
of fifty dollars, to which finding the Court further ‘ordered that
the defendant be imprisoned in the common jail of the county for the
space of three months, and on the non-payment of the fine and costs
that he be further imprisoned until discharged according to law.’ The
case tried must have been that of Overall, 61, the papers of which
have entirely disappeared, as I cannot find them on file. The two
remaining cases, numbers 62 and 63, were continued from term to term
until February 28, 1863, when a forfeiture of bond was taken against
the defendant and his sureties, Colin McRae and James H. Daughdrill,
and then continued through several terms to 21st of March, 1864, when
judgment final was entered, and execution issued, which execution was
ordered to be returned by the Commissioners of Revenue on the payment
of all costs, the costs being paid by said Daughdrill said execution
was returned. The matter remained in this condition until January,
1867, when the defendant and his sureties were finally released by the
Commissioners of Revenue.
“The names of the Petit Jury who tried the case are Wm. B. Hayden,
James B. Post, George Mason, George M. Brower, Edward Guesnard, John R.
McBurney, W. H. Marchan, Henry T. Eatman, Walter L. Young, Benjamin F.
Hunt, John A. Bevell and Wm. H. Vincent. The only witnesses I can find
any record of are the prosecutors for themselves. The attorneys for the
prosecution were R. B. Armstead, solicitor, and Anderson & Boyle, while
Manning and Walker appeared to have conducted the defense.
“Imperfect as this history of the case is, it has cost me much search
and labor to collect from the disconnected, confused and garbled
materials left me for reference. The whole affair is a myth.”
COMMENTS ON THE RECORDS.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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