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Divorce Rates in Stearns County (1872-3).

Donald T. Winder (1894-1968).

Cyrus Brady McCune (1850-1920).

Judge Frank W. Lyon (1856-1921).

Patrick Fitzpatrick (1857-1908).

Judge William A. Kerr (1867-1919).

Ferdinand Barta (1857-1928).

Viewing Criminal Law & Crime Category (18) found:

Douglas A. Hedin: "The Emergence of a Criminal Defendant's Right to Testify at Trial in Minnesota" (2011).

Until 1868, a defendant in a criminal trial in Minnesota could not testify in his own defense. Like other states, Minnesota adhered to the common law rule that barred a criminal defendant from testifying because he had an "interest" in the outcome of the trial. The parallel common law prohibition against civil parties from testifying was never followed in Minnesota. On March 6, 1868, the Minnesota Legislature amended the witness competency law to permit a criminal defendant to testify if he chose.

This article describes how the supreme court, during the territorial era and after statehood, strictly applied the common law bar, the reform movement that influenced the state legislature to liberalize the witness competency law, and subsequent court interpretations of that legislation. It concludes with an explanation of why defendants in the Dakota War trials in the autumn of 1862 were permitted to speak at length, explain their behavior, refute witnesses and offer alibis to the military commission.

Excerpts from three decisions of the Minnesota Supreme Court and the transcripts of eleven Dakota War trials are posted in an Appendix.

Hastings H. Hart: "The Jail System of Minnesota" (1885).

In 1885 the Board of Corrections and Charities submitted its First Biennial Report to the Legislature. It was compiled and written by Hastings Hornell Hart, the secretary of the Board. After his appointment in 1883, Hart inspected each of Minnesota's 55 jails and even toured public facilities in other states. He set forth his findings and recommendations in "The Jail System of Minnesota" that was intended to shock the Board and Legislature into reforming the jail system. A superb writer, he skillfully wove anecdotes into his descriptions of county jails to demonstrate their deficiencies:

"In the Nobles county jail is a cell with a ring in the floor. The sheriff explained that when a violent insane man was disposed to break windows or do other damage he was handcuffed to that ring so that he could do no harm."

We can assume from subsequent events that Hart never forgot his tour of Minnesota county jails in 1883 and 1884. He continued to write blunt accounts of individual county facilities for the Board's biennial reports, thereby building such a substantial record of jail mismanagement and neglect that intervention by the state legislature to change the entire system became difficult to resist. His efforts were rewarded in April 1893 when the legislature enacted a massive jail reform act that incorporated many of the recommendations he made in the 1885 report that follows.

Before he was appointed secretary of the Board, Hart had been a Congregational pastor in Worthington, Minnesota. His decision to leave the ministry for a position in the newly-established Board of Corrections and Charities places him within the penal reform movement of the late Nineteenth Century. He may also have been influenced by the Social Gospel movement, an important force in Protestantism in post-bellum America.

Hart was secretary for 15 years and developed a national reputation in penology. He left the Board in 1898 to become superintendent of the Illinois Children's Home and Aid Society. Later, when employed by the Russell Sage Foundation, he published many articles and books on juvenile delinquency and prison reform. He died in 1932 at age eighty-one.

Hart's report on the conditions of Minnesota jails in 1883-1884 is the first of three reports by him posted on the MLHP. The second is "The County Jails, 1888-1890" (MLHP, 2012) (first published, 1891), and the third is "The County Jails, 1892-1894" (MLHP, 2012)(first published, 1895). To appreciate his accomplishments and understand the transformation of the county jail system that occurred between 1883 and 1894, they should be read in chronological order.

Hastings H. Hart: "The County Jails, 1888-1890" (1891).

In 1891, the State Board of Corrections and Charities published its Fourth Biennial Report to the Legislature, covering the years 1888-1890. As usual, it included a report from its meticulous, reform-minded secretary, Hastings Hornell Hart, on the conditions of each jail he had inspected during this period. Hart's descriptions were short, candid and fair. He quoted inmates on the quality of their meals, grand jury recommendations and even listed the exact dimensions of cells in some facilities, as for example, Stearns County's:

"The jail has been reconstructed. The old cells have been taken out and a new cage has been put in, consisting of three steel cells, three iron cells and a middle corridor. The cells are each 6½x8x7 feet. The front of each cell is of open lattice work, except about 18 inches wide. The rear of each steel cell is of solid jail plate, with a solid door. The rear of each iron cell is of open lattice work. In the centre corridor is a bath tub and water closet."

But he could not resist adding, "The water closet seat is of cast iron--good for nothing--was broken before being put in."

Taken together, Hart's biennial reports document the failures of county-run jails over a period of ten years. By accumulating examples of design deficiency, bad construction, and negligent management of county jails over time, Hart built a powerful case for state intervention. While he did not explicitly advocate new legislation in the following report, it is evident that he continued to believe that system-wide change was necessary. This occurred two years later, when a jail reform act was enacted. After reading Hart's biennial reports, it cannot be doubted that he was the inspiration if not one of the drafters of the reform legislation.

Hart's report on the conditions on Minnesota jails in 1888-1890 is the second of three reports by him posted on the MLHP. The first is "The Jail System of Minnesota" (MLHP, 2012) (first published, 1885); and the last is "The County Jails, 1892-1894" (MLHP, 2012) (first published, 1895). To appreciate his accomplishments and understand the transformation of the county jail system that occurred between 1883 and 1894, they should be read in chronological order.

Hastings H. Hart: "The County Jails, 1892-1894" (1895).

In April 1893, the state legislature passed a law that transformed control and management of the county jail, an important segment of the criminal justice system. Because the elected county board was frequently reluctant to use public funds for necessary repairs and upkeep of the jail, the reform act restricted county commissioners' operating authority over the jail while requiring them to fund the sheriff's jail budget; it increased the responsibilities of jail keepers while imposing penalties on them for violating their new duties; it empowered the State Board of Corrections and Charities to review new jail remodeling and construction projects; and it authorized district court judges to condemn jails and even approve the hiring of additional personnel by the sheriff.

For a decade, many of these changes had been advocated by Hastings Hornell Hart, the secretary of the State Board of Corrections and Charities. It is, therefore, tempting to view the 1893 jail reform legislation as "The Triumph of Hastings Hart" but he likely would have credited Governor Clough, a receptive legislature and a supportive Board of Corrections and Charities for the result. Nevertheless, he is the rare reformer who saw many of his ideas become law.

Hart's report about the condition of particular county jails and the immediate effects of the reform legislation is part of the Sixth Biennial Report to the Legislature by the State Board of Corrections and Charities, issued in 1895. It is vintage Hart: blunt, precise, thorough, at times sharp and other times complimentary, but always well-written.

Hart's report on the conditions of Minnesota jails in 1892-1894 is the last of three reports by him posted on the MLHP. The first is "The Jail System of Minnesota" (MLHP, 2012) (first published, 1885); and the second is "The County Jails, 1888-1890" (MLHP, 2012) (first published, 1891). To appreciate his accomplishments and understand the transformation of the county jail system that occurred between 1883 and 1894, they should be read in chronological order.

Magdalene R. Sparrow: "Legal History and Law Enforcement in Big Stone County." (1981)

Big Stone County was established by the legislature on February 20, 1862. In 1981, Magdalene R. Sparrow published a history of the county. She included a short chapter on lawyers who had practiced in the county, several of whom practiced more than a half-century. She also related several anecdotes about law enforcement, the most entertaining being about the apprehension in the fall of 1879 of "two members of Doc Middleton's gang" who were wanted for bank robbery, horse stealing, and kidnapping.

Patrick B. Nolan: "The Waseca County Horse Thief Detective Society." (1971)

Vigilantes, popularly thought to be a phenomenon of the far western frontier, were active in several communities Minnesota and other states in the Midwest in the nineteenth century, long after the frontier had passed. Vigilance committees emerged to combat acts of lawlessness that could not be controlled by the county sheriff whose office was not adequately funded or staffed. They were formal organizations with members, officers, and governing charters.

One such organization was the Waseca County Horse Thief Detective Society, which was formed in 1862 to fight horse rustling. It was dissolved in 1880. It operated under a written constitution, its members paid dues and elected officers, and it even held meetings in the county court house.

It is the subject of the following article by Patrick B. Nolan, who received his Ph.D. in history from the University of Minnesota in 1971. This article was a chapter in Dr. Nolan's thesis, which was published as a book by Garland Publishing company in 1987.

James Redman: "The Killing and Transfiguration of Harry Morris." (2001)

In mid-August 1931, a gangland-style murder was committed on a two-lane road south of Red Wing, Minnesota. The victim was Harry Morris, a career bank robber, well known to police in St. Paul and Minneapolis. The killer was never apprehended, though he almost certainly was James Allen Camden, a bootlegger loosely affiliated with the Capone gang. Camden had testified in Chicago before a grand jury which indicted Al Capone. Capone learned of Camden's betrayal through sources inside the grand jury whom he had bribed. Camden was aware that Capone was plotting to silence him. Why Camden came to murder Morris to avoid Capone is told in this article by James Redman. It appeared first in "The Great River Review."

Lincoln Steffens: "The Shame of Minneapolis." (1903)

In January 1903, "McClure's Magazine" carried an exposé by Lincoln Steffens, a young journalist, of the corrupt reign of Minneapolis Mayor Albert Alonzo ("Doc") Ames. Steffens described how theft, gambling and prostitution flourished during the Ames administration in 1901-2. In a scoop, he published pages from an account book kept by swindlers called the "Big Mitt Ledger," which listed payoffs to public officials.

Steffens opened his article with a startling assertion: "Whenever anything extraordinary is done in American municipal politics, whether for good or for evil, you can trace it almost invariably to one man." On one hand he referred to "Doc" Ames, but on the other he had in mind Hovey C. Clarke, a local businessman, who became the fearless foreman of a grand jury that investigated the corruption, and led to prosecutions and convictions of several officials and gangsters.

Dr. Mark Neuzil has written an Introduction to "The Shame of Minneapolis" in which he describes the backgrounds of Steffens, S. S. McClure and his influential magazine. Steffens' sensational article, he explains, helped create a new style of reform-minded investigative reporting known as "muckraking." The author or co-author of several books, Dr. Neuzil is on the faculty of the Department of Communication and Journalism at the University of St. Thomas, where he teaches Advanced Reporting, Communication History and Environmental Communication.

Wayne E. Webb & J. I. Swedberg: "The Lawbreakers of Redwood County." (1964)

Numerous crimes committed in Redwood County from the 1860s through the 1950s are described in this article, which originally was a chapter in a history of the county published in 1964.

Two capital cases that arose in the county were appealed to the United States Supreme Court: Gut v. State (1869) and Holden v. Minnesota (1890). The complete opinions of the Court in these cases are posted in an Appendix.

Crime in Goodhue County, 1854-1877 (1878).

A history of Goodhue County published in 1878 contained short descriptions of several murders and criminal prosecutions between 1854, when the first district court session was held, and 1877.

"Justice Court in Houston County" (1882)

A history of Houston County published in 1882 repeated several anecdotes about cases tried or attempted to be tried in justice court in the 1850s.

"The Celebrated Kate Noonan Case." (1877)

On February 16, 1877, Kate Noonan shot and killed William Sidle outside the Nicollet House in Minneapolis. She was tried in June, but the jury deadlocked. When the judge dismissed the jury, Noonan was in her cell. Her attorneys sought to free her via a writ of habeas corpus on the ground that her absence from the courtroom barred a retrial. After the district court refused, she appealed to the supreme court, which heard oral argument on July 3, 1877. The next day, the "Pioneer Press" newspaper carried a lengthy account of that proceeding, one of the few we have of appellate arguments in this state in the late nineteenth century. In October the court dismissed her appeal, and she was retried in December. On December 24, 1877, the jury returned its verdict. Again, the "Pioneer Press" carried a long and colorful description of the atmosphere in the courtroom when the verdict was read.

"The Patrick Noonan Case." (1912)

This is a brief account of a murder that was committed in Fillmore County in October, 1874, but not resolved until November, 1902. It appeared in a history of the county published in 1912.

"The Celebrated Paulson Case." (1916)

Shortly after Paulson, a Scandinavian immigrant, disappeared after a night of drinking "frontier whisky" at a log inn in Douglas County, the wife of the innkeeper located the body in a small lake and collected a reward of $500. One of Paulson's compatriots was tried for his murder but acquitted. Years later, the murderer confessed on his death bed, in Canada.

This story appeared in a joint history of Douglas and Grant Counties published in 1916. Although the date of "the celebrated Paulson case" is not given, it likely occurred in the late 1850s, after the county was established by the legislature on March 6, 1858.

Samuel W. Eaton: "Murder of Warren Youmans and Others." (1883)

Samuel Eaton, a minister, farmer, newspaper editor and state representative in Rochester, wrote vignettes of five murders committed in Olmsted County between 1865 and 1880. For each, he describes the events preceding the crime, the apprehension of suspects, their court appearances, and sentences. The longest segment is about the trial and conviction of George Staley for murdering Frederick Ableitner in October 1867. His appeal was rejected by the Minnesota Supreme Court, whose opinion, Minnesota v. Staley, 14 Minn. (Gil. 75) 105 (1869), is posted in an Appendix.

Eaton's stories give us insights into some aspects of nineteenth century criminal procedure in the state. This article appeared first as a chapter in a county history published in 1883.

"Murders and Outrages Committed in Watonwan County." (1916)

Several murders committed in Watonwan County from 1872 to 1916 are described in this chapter from a joint history of Watonwan and Cottonwood Counties published in 1916. About two-thirds of the chapter is an excerpt from a first person narrative of the Northfield Bank robbery in 1876 by Cole Younger.

"The First Lawsuit in Becker County" (1907).

The first trial in Becker County, Minnesota, was held about November, 1871. Harvey Jones was prosecuted for domestic assault. He was tried before a jury, which found him guilty. He was sentenced to 30 days in jail. As Jones was being transported to jail, he received some shrewd legal advice from a fledging lawyer named W. W. Rossman. His journey ended shortly thereafter.

"The First Lawsuit in Becker County" appeared first as a chapter in a "pioneer history" of that county published in 1907.

Darwin S. Hall: "The First Lawsuit in Birch Cooley Township." (1916)

The first trial in Birch Cooley Township in Renville County was held in 1868 in the small house of Willard Drury, Justice of the Peace. John Tracy was prosecuted for cruelty to his neighbor's cattle when they strayed over the property line onto his land. He was tried before a conscientious six man jury, which rendered its verdict: guilty.....but not guilty. This story, told by Darwin S. Hall, appeared first in a history of Renville County published in 1916.