April 1904
State of Mississippi vs James “Jim” Whitt
Case #1773
Judge – J.A. Boothe
Prosecution – W.A. Roane
Jim Whitt was arraigned on April 28, 1904 for the murder of O.R. “Buster” Thomason. He pleaded not guilty.
Due to Whitt’s lack of funds or support, he was unable to hire an attorney until roughly a week before trial. The attorney was Leland L. Pearson from Batesville. Pearson was apparently reluctant to take the case, but out of pity for Whitt’s circumstances agreed. He began Whitt’s defense by requesting a continuance until the next term. Pearson filed a rather lengthy and detailed affidavit. The argument was that Whitt had been unable to secure an attorney or conduct any investigation into his case. Furthermore, Whitt was in need to speak to his brother. His brother had traveled from Tennessee and spoke to several people in the Strayhorn community. The information that he collected was argued to be vital to Whitt’s defense. Unfortunately, Whitt’s brother had returned to Tennessee and due to lack of funds could not return until later in the year.
However, Judge J.A. Boothe denied the request for a continuance.
After failing to move the court to grant a continuance, Pearson filed a motion for a change of venue based on the belief that the public sentiment was very strong against Whitt. Several witnesses were then called to testify whether they felt Whitt could get a fair trial in Tate County. Former Sheriff B.B. Brooks testified about his reasons for moving Whitt to Batesville. Under oath, the former sheriff stated that he was “advised by people from Strayhorn and the court“. Brooks had contacted Judge Boothe after Thomason was killed and informed the judge of hearing rumors of violence against Whitt. As a result, Judge Boothe told Brooks, “not take any chances“. Pearson also questioned Sheriff J.M. Poag and other members of the community hoping to prove that his client was indeed a hated man.
After hearing all the testimony, Judge Boothe ruled against the change of venue and Sheriff Poag was ordered to draw a special venire (jury list) of 50 potential jurors. When the judge ruled against the requested motions, Leland Pearson withdrew from the case. Obviously, Pearson must have felt like he could not win. As a result, the court appointed S.W. Jones, George Lindsey, and W.J. East to be Whitt’s attorneys.
When the new attorneys took over Whitt’s case, the trio immediately filed for a continuance. One of the multitude of reasons stated in the motion was that a witness could not be located named Wat Luckett. Mr. Luckett had allegedly witnessed the killing of Buster Thomason. In addition, Whitt had also obtained the names of two other witnesses that could help in his defense. Apparently, these two additional witnesses were not available at this time. Upon reviewing the brief submitted, the court overruled the motion for a continuance.
Whitt’s attorneys were not finished. They quickly moved the court to quash and set aside the jury list. The allegation set forth in this motion basically indicated that J.H. Thomason manipulated the jury list and placed the names that he wanted to serve on the jury without regard for the law. The defense counsel went as far as to call the circuit clerk to testify to how the jury was selected and drawn. Upon hearing this testimony, Judge Boothe apparently felt that there was enough evidence without going any further to quash the jury pool (venire) and directed the clerk to issue a special venire to the sheriff to summon 30 men to appear for jury service.
W.J. East continued to spend the morning entering multiple motions including one to quash the grand jury on the same grounds as mentioned earlier. He also made a motion to quash the indictment. Of course, Judge Boothe overruled those requests. East was relentless and continued to file motions including one asking for an extra day to review the jury list. Judge Boothe ultimately answered with “I would like to go on with this case, gentlemen” to which the case finally proceeded.
May 5, 1904
Jury sworn and trial of Jim Whitt officially began…
The state began the trial by calling Buster Thomason’s friends – Henry Wilson and Charlie Rochelle. The two told basically the same story of what happened on Christmas Eve when Jim Whitt shot Buster. According to the Wilson and Rochelle, the three men were approximately one mile from Buster’s home heading to a Christmas tree festival when they ran into Jim Whitt walking along with his gun. They asked Whitt to join them, but he declined. Instead, Whitt asked Charlie Rochelle for his knife. Rochelle gave Whitt his knife back and rode on past him.
The trouble began when Whitt and Buster met.
According to Wilson, Whitt stopped Buster and said, “hold on, Buster, they tell me we like to have had a fight this morning, how about it?”
Buster responded, “No, there ain’t nothing to it – you have been a little mad at me, but I haven’t got a thing in the world against you.”
Whitt demanded, “you get down and tell me about it.”
As Buster was getting down off his mule, Whitt raised his gun and shot hitting Buster in the left arm. Buster turned around holding his arm and walked off, but Whitt shot him again in the back.
Apparently earlier that morning at Mr. Scroggins’ home, Buster and Whitt had a rather heated argument. Henry Wilson and Charlie Rochelle both testified that the cause of this particular argument was due to comments that Buster made about Whitt’s wife. According to Wilson, Whitt even said later in the day that he wanted to put two shots in Buster before night.
Mrs. Belle Brown (formerly Belle Clayton) was called to testify because Belle and her father, S.T. Clayton had witnessed the shooting. Unfortunately, S.T. Clayton had passed away in February 1904. Belle recalled that they were traveling south about 30 yards from the shooting heading directly towards the scene. She stated that 3 boys were riding together in the road. Belle noticed that one man got down off his mule and about the time he got down – the first shot was fired. The man stopped and grabbed his arm, ran off, and another man stepped around the mule to shoot again. Belle was certain that the man who was shot had his back to the other man. As they got closer, the man shooting (James Whitt) turned around, unbreeched his gun, put two shells in and met S.T. and Belle Clayton on the road. Upon meeting the Clayton’s, Belle said that Whitt said, “Good evening, Mr. Clayton” and walked off. Interestingly, Belle testified that she did not see anyone else around besides Henry Wilson, Charlie Rochelle, Buster Thomason, and James Whitt.
After hearing Belle Clayton’s testimony, the state called Jim Whitt’s father-in-law, J.J. Morris. He stated that Whitt had asked to borrow his gun that morning at breakfast to go on a hunt. Of course, Mr. Morris allowed Whitt to take the gun. Unfortunately, Whitt used the gun to kill Buster Thomason that night.
Mr. Morris testified that Alex Nelson and Bill Scroggins had told about the argument between Whitt and Buster. After hearing about the trouble, Mr. Morris said he was concerned especially when Whitt came home around dinner that day. After Whitt left, Mr. Morris found his daughter crying which prompted him to go out to look for Jim Whitt. He found Whitt at Mr. Kizer’s home and told Whitt to come home because Louisa, Whitt’s wife, was upset. Whitt then told Mr. Morris that, “Buster has got to take back what he said. He has talked about your family and Mr. Kizer’s family.” This prompted the attorney to ask about Louisa and Jim’s marriage. Morris felt that the couple got along reasonably well during their time together. However, Mr. Morris did not want Louisa to visit Jim in jail because she had told her father that Whitt had a living wife in Alabama… (This bombshell was not explained any further – the defense obviously objected to the statement by Mr. Morris and there is no mention of it again…)
Other witnesses testified to hearing Whitt say that Buster had been talking about his folks and he couldn’t stand it. Whitt even told his brother-in-law that he was going to kill Buster before the sun went down. However, the defense through cross-examination tried to paint a different picture of Buster Thomason. Mr. East, one of Whitt’s attorney, asked the various witnesses about Buster telling multiple people that he had been having a good time with all the women on Chigger Ridge – which included Jim’s wife and other young ladies. The defense was determined to attack the character of Buster Thomason. With each witness called, the question was repeatedly asked about Buster breaking up a marriage and at another time a girl at the altar. It was clear that the defense wanted to portray Buster Thomason as a womanizer that had destroyed at least one marriage. However, the district attorney objected to every question that mentioned a particular woman. Witness after witness was asked questions like, “Did Buster Thomason fool a woman and backed out of marrying her”; “Did Buster Thomason cause the separation between Ernest McIver and his wife?”; Did you ever hear of Buster Thomason remark about Mrs. McIver?” and on and on.
Surprisingly, Jim Whitt took the stand in his own defense. He began his testimony by giving a detailed description of where he had been since December 25, 1903. Being in Batesville all that time, Jim said that no family had been able to visit him. Whitt was asked about his relationship with his wife, he said, “they got along splendidly“. His wife had written him letters and seemed like she was alright. According to Whitt, the trouble with Buster had begun on the Sunday before Christmas 1903. Whitt’s story was that Buster had come over to Mr. Morris’ house to visit. Whitt and Buster were talking when Buster spoke some words that Whitt did not like. Buster had made some remarks about Mr. Kizer’s daughter and implicated Whitt’s wife, Louisa. Buster told Whitt “that he had a good time with all the girls up and down that ridge.” Whitt was very angry, but was not able to say anything to Buster at that time. He did not see Buster again until Christmas eve.
Whitt’s version of the fuss at Mr. Scroggins’ house on Christmas eve is slightly different than previous testimony. He asserted that Alex Nelson, Charlie Rochelle, Henry Wilson, Buster Thomason, and Bill Scroggins were all by the barn. Whitt decided at that time to speak to Buster about the remarks that he had made the week before by saying “I would be glad if you wouldn’t make such remarks about the women on that road because I married one of them and I thought she was a nice lady.”
Buster responded with, “the very idea, you must be jealous.” Whitt said that Buster kept on until the two began fighting. Whitt said he gave Charlie Rochelle his knife because the group thought he was going to cut Buster.
According to his testimony, Whitt admitted to drinking a good bit throughout the day, but denied ever being drunk. In detailing how Buster was killed, Whitt said he was walking home to Mr. Morris’ house when he saw Charlie, Henry, and Buster coming towards him. Whitt’s exact words were “they came up abreast like“, but Charlie stopped and gave his knife back. Buster stopped next and said, “we had a fuss this morning and we’ve got to settle it.” Whitt said that Buster got off his mule and attempted to get his gun because Buster had his hand in his pocket. Fearing for his life, Whitt shot Buster as quick as he could because he knew Buster generally carried a pistol.
After Jim Whitt’s testimony, the case was handed over to the jury.
The next day, May 6, 1904, the jury returned with a guilty verdict – murder in the first degree. James “Jim” Whitt was sentenced to hang on June 10, 1904. However, the defense quickly filed a motion to set aside the verdict to which Judge J.B. Boothe overruled.
When the defense attorneys failed to get a new trial for Whitt, they appealed to the Mississippi Supreme Court on May 20, 1904. This action allowed Jim Whitt to remain in the Panola County jail until the appeal could be heard, effectively keeping him from the gallows.
The case of James Whitt v. State of Mississippi was finally argued and decided in the Mississippi Supreme Court in February 1905. W.J. East, S.W. Jones, and G.W. Lindsey argued that James Whitt was “erroneously denied a continuation by the court“. The case was featured in the ebook, “Cases Argued and Decided in Supreme Court of Mississippi, Volume 85”. The decision taken directly from this book is as follows:
The supreme court, on appeal in a criminal case, in passing upon the action of the trial court in denying a continuance, is confined to the record and cannot consider a certified copy of a subpoena issued for a witness nor an affidavit averring that he was present in court during the trial of the case, such papers not having been of record in court below at the time of trial.
C.J. Whitfield delivered the opinion of the court. The second application for a continuance should have been granted on the showing made by this record. The attorney-general, realizing this, has had filed here a certified copy of the original subpoena by Wat Luckett, showing that the subpoena was issued and executed May 4th, and an affidavit of the sheriff to the effect that the witness was present in court during the whole trial. But these papers were obtained after the adjournment of the court, and are not a part of this record, and cannot be looked to by us. If the original subpoena was on file when this application was made, the witness was in attendance, it would have been easy to show these facts in answer to the application; but no showing was made, so far as the record discloses. The twenty-sixth section of article three of the constitution, and the decisions thereunder, make reversal imperative. Reversed and remanded.
The Vicksburg Evening Post; Vicksburg, Mississippi – Wednesday, February 1, 1905 reported this decision in simpler terms: In the case of Whitt vs. State, a death sentence case, the court held that the lower court erred in not granting a continuance asked for on the ground of absence of witnesses. As a result of this decision, Jim Whitt was granted a new trial.
After the Mississippi Supreme Court decision, Jim Whitt was brought back to the Tate County jail in April 1905 for the spring term of the Tate County Circuit Court. Obviously, we know the outcome of this move back to Tate County.
Until next time: The 1905 Trial of James “Jim” Whitt … you don’t want to miss it!