 The Eagle
Bryan, Texas Monday, October 15, 1928 pg 1 NEGRO FROM HOUSTON IS BEING TRIED WHITE WOMAN SAID TO HAVE BEEN ATTACKED BY HOUSTON NEGRO BOY (By Associated Press) Gainesville, Oct. 15 - Arrested in Houston Saturday, Silas Jarman, 19. negro, today is charged with criminally attacking Mrs. A. R. Hassnpflug, 23, who lived at Elm Grove community near here. Charges were filed here but officers refused to say where the negro is being held, although he was known to be brought to Denton yesterday.  The Waxahachie Daily Light Waxahachie, Texas Wednesday, October 31, 1928 pg 1 Officers Witnesses In Criminal Assault Case Houston, Tex., Oct. 31 - Five Houston officers have been summoned as witnesses in the trial of Silas Jarman, Houston negro, charged with assaulting a white woman at Gainesville several weeks ago. Trial will be held at Sherman November 12 on a change of venue, due to intense feelings at Gainesville. Officers summoned are Detective Sergeant Peyton, Detectives Whatley and Broussard, who made the arrest, and Finger Print Experts Wilkins and Whittington. Corsicana Daily Sun Corsicana, Texas Monday, November 12, 1928 pg 13 Alleged Assaulter of White Woman is On Trial Sherman Sherman, Nov. 12 - (AP) - Brought into the courtroom under heavy guard, Silas Jarman, negro, went on trial here today on a charge of robbery with firearms. Jarman also faces two charges of statutory assault of an alleged attack on a white woman. Suspending the Jarman trial at 10:45 a.m. to hear pleas of guilty in other cases, District Silas Hare said questioning of veniremen would begin at 1 p.m. The Amarillo Globe-Time Amarillo, Texas Tuesday, November 13, 1928 pg 6 TEN JURORS NAMED FOR NEGRO'S TRIAL (By the Associated Press) Sherman, Tex., Nov. 13 - Ten jurors had been selected when court recessed late Monday in the trail of Silas Jarman, alias Eugene Hines, negro, charged with robbery with firearms. The case was transferred from Cooke county. The venire drawn was exhausted and the judge ordered that additional veniremen be summoned for Tuesday morning. Those chosen thus far are: J. E . Armstrong, farmer Luella; W. L. Earthman, merchant; D. H. Hamilton, merchant; F. J. Dorna, barber; all of Sherman: Harry T. Cowell, banker; F. E. Floyd, farmer; Roy E. Fitch, merchant; F. H. Gaines, plumber, all of Whitesboro, and W. S. Kinnard, farmer Gunter. Lubbock Morning Avalanche Lubbock, Texas Tuesday, November 27, 1928 pg 10 MOTION OVERRULED Jarman New Trial Refused By Sherman Judge Sherman, Nov. 26 - (AP) - Motion for a new trial for Silas Jarman, negro, convicted and given the death penalty in district court here on a charge of robbery with a deadly weapon was overruled by Judge Silas Hare today. The Brownsville Herald Brownsville, Texas Wednesday April 17, 1929 pg 10 CRIMINAL APPEALS COURT Austin, April 17 - (AP) - Appellant's motion for rehearing overruled: Silas Jarman, alias Eugene Hines, Grayson. . . Corsicana Semi-Weekly Light Corsicana, Texas Friday, April 26, 1929 pg 3 WIFE OF SHERIFF DRIVES CAR WITH ALLEGED SLAYERS Abilene, April 25. - (AP) - With Mrs. J. A. Vaughan, wife of Grayson county sheriff, driving the automobile, Deputies Frank Totter and Bill Goode left here today for Sherman with Dennie Dixon and Robert Mason charged with the murder of W. L. Echols, city marshal of Van Alstyne on March 21. Mason and Dixon, arrested near Coleman after Elgie Leslie, filling station operator, had been mortally wounded by robbers on March 23 were brought to Abilene for safe keeping. They are to be placed on trial May 6 at Sherman and later will be taken to Coleman to be tried for murdering Leslie. Mrs.Vaughan volunteered to drive the party when it became necessary for her husband and another Grayson county deputy to take Silas Jarman, Cooke county negro, under death sentence for assaulting a woman at Gainesville, to the Huntsville prison. Jarman's execution is set for May 24. Waco Tribune-Herald Waco, Texas Thursday, May 23, 1929 pg 1 Silas Jarman Must Die In The Electric Chair Governor Refuses to Commute Negro's Sentence Austin, May 22 - (AP) - Silas Jarman, negro, convicted in Grayson county for robbery with a deadly weapon, will be electrocuted at Huntsville early Friday. Governor Dan Moody today approved the report of the board of pardons in refusing an application for commutation of the death sentence of life imprisonment. The negro attacked Mrs. A. R. Hassenpflug in Cooke county while she was driving him to a cotton field on her husband's farm. The Waco News-Tribune Waco, Texas Tuesday, April 23. 1929 pg 1 Sentenced to Chair Negro Convicted of Robbery With Deadly Weapons to Die May 24 Sherman, April 22 - (AP) - Silas Jarman, negro, was sentenced today by Judge R. M. Carter to die in the electric chair at Huntsville May 24. Jarman was convicted on charges of robbery with deadly weapons of Mrs. A. R. Hassenplug of Valley View, Cooke county. The Eagle Bryan, Texas Friday, May 24, 1929 pg 1 "MOTHER" CRY OF NEGRO WHO FACES DEATH GOES TO ELECTRIC CHAIR STATING JUSTICE WAS DENIED HIM (By Associated Press) Huntsville, May 24 - Silas Jarman, aged 17, negro went to his death in the electric chair at the state prison here today with the cry "Mother" on his lips. Jarman was sentenced to death for an attack on Mrs. R.A. Hassenpflug of Cooke county Oct. 8. The negro declared he did not get justice in his trail. The Vernon Daily Record Vernon, Texas Friday, May 24, 1929 pg 12 NEGRO DIES IN ELECTRIC CHAIR CONFESSES TO ATTACK BUT CLAIMS HE DID NOT INTEND TO DO IT. Huntsville, Texas, May 23. - (AP) - Admitting his guilt and claiming he "did not intend to do it," Silas Jarman, 17, negro, marched to the electric chair and his death in the penitentiary here today. He was dead at 12:18 a.m. "I'm going down," the negro exclaimed as he seated himself in the death chair. "I hit the lady and took the car. It was not my intention to do it." He was speaking of his brutal attack on Mrs. R.A. Hassenpflug in Cook County, Oct. 8, for which he was convicted. Without any unusual display of emotion, the negro bade good bye to other occupants of death row. Marshall Ratliff, under the death penalty for slaying a bank clerk in the Santa Claus robbery of a Cisco bank, played "When The Roll Is Called Up Yonder," as Jarman walked to and through the dim green door of the execution room. Jarman was the third man for whom Ratliff had played the hymn as he walked to his death. Corsicana Daily Sun Corsicana, Texas Friday, May 24, 1929 pg 12 NEGRO ASSAULTER PAYS PENALTY IN ELECTRIC CHAIR (continued from Page 1) third man for whom Ratliff had played the hymn as he walked to his death. THINKS OF MOTHER As the final hours of life ticked away Jarman thought of his mother. To newspapermen who came to his cell, he talked in rambling fashion, mentioning his mother frequently. "Mother, don't worry about me," he told reporters. I'm going on to rest. My heart is right, and I am sorry that I committed the crime." The negro declared that he did not get justice in his trial. "I signed the confession without knowing it," he said, "I didn't plead guilty, but I might as well have. I didn't attack the lady though." His eyes wondered around the death chamber, and he resumed his rambling conversation in a firm voice. "Well, I got to die," he said, "But I don't think it is right to send a man to the chair. I don't believe in capital punishment." Pleads To Others "But I ain't dead yet. A fellow ain't dead until he is dead and you tell Governor Moody that I sent him a plea that the other seven men in the death row be given life imprisonment." In the death chamber, Jarman spoke to Detective George Peyton of Houston and then made a short talk, saying he hoped all assembled there would have "good luck." Then he said: "I'm going down now. I didn't attack the lady. I didn't rob her. I hit her on the head and took the car. I had no intention of doing it but I am going down anyway." "Anything else?" Captain R. E. Allen asked. Jarman's eyes swept the small room until they came to Detective Peyton. "Tell my mother not to worry," he said. "I will, Silas." Peyton said. Then he died. Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas. 112 Tex. Crim. 239 (Tex. Crim. App. 1929) JARMAN, ALIAS, v. STATE SILAS JARMAN ALIAS EUGENE HINES v. THE STATE. No. 12412. Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas. Delivered March 20, 1929. Rehearing denied April 17, 1929. 1. — Robbery with Deadly Weapon — Change of Venue — Bill of Exception — Qualification Controls.
Where on a trial for murder, appellant complains by bill of exception that no order was entered directing the removal of the defendant on the change of venue to the proper county, and the bill is qualified by the trial court as follows: "That the court, upon hearing, found that the matters set forth in the motion are untrue," the qualification controls, and disposes of the question. 2. — Same — Charge of Court — On Issue Not Raised — Properly Refused. Where the evidence fails to raise the issue that the robbery was committed before the exhibition of a deadly weapon, but it is undisputed that appellant attacked the injured party with the steel-yard before he deprived her of the possession of the automobile, a special charge presenting such issue as a defense was properly refused. ON REHEARING. 3. — Same — Evidence — Motion to Exclude — Properly Denied. There was no error in the refusal of the court to exclude all the state's testimony showing an assault by the defendant upon prosecuting witness, after the taking of her automobile by appellant. The rule that when several crimes are intermixed and blended with one another or so connected as to form an indivisible criminal transaction so that proof of one cannot be made without showing the other, all may be proven, is deemed applicable. See Underhill's Crim. Ev. (3d Ed.) Sec. 152; Claxton v. State, 4 S.W.2d 542 and Branch's P. C. Sec. 2347. *240240 Appeal from the District Court of Grayson County, on a change of venue from Cook County. Tried below before the Hon. Silas Hare, Judge. Appeal from a conviction for robbery with a deadly weapon, penalty assessed at death. The opinion states the case. CHRISTIAN, JUDGE. — The offense is robbery with a deadly weapon; the punishment, death. The case was tried in Grayson County on a change of venue from Cook County, the venue having been changed on the motion of the court. Appellant, a negro, was picking cotton on the farm of A. R. Hassenpflug. Mr. Hassenpflug was away from home on the occasion of the assault. His wife, who was a frail woman weighing about 104 pounds, was at the house asleep and appellant was working in the field. About 11:15 a. m., appellant came to the house and requested Mrs. Hassenpflug to take him over to the field where the good cotton was. Appellant's manner and demeanor made her uneasy and she sought for something that might be used to defend herself, but being unable to find anything concluded that it was better to comply with appellant's request. The cotton scales, consisting of a round piece of iron with a hook at both ends and an iron 8-pound "pea and steel-yard," were placed in the back of the automobile by appellant. He also placed a half-gallon fruit jar of water in the car. On the way to the field appellant became impudent. He inquired as to the whereabouts of Mrs. Hassenpflug's husband and finally reached down and turned off the switch of the automobile. He endeavored to place his arms around Mrs. Hassenpflug. She attempted to get out of the car and appellant grabbed her by the hair and pulled her back. She screamed and appellant advised her that he would kill her if she didn't hush. He asked her to have sexual intercourse with him. He beat her with his fists and told her that he had been "itching to get hold of those pretty white women riding around in big cars." He said that the car was his now. He exhibited the 8-pound steel-yard and struck her over the head with it. She became unconscious for a while. She shortly regained consciousness and he struck her three more blows on the head with the steel-yard severely injuring her. He attempted to tear *241241 off her clothes. He then struck her on the head with the fruit jar. He cut her bloomers with a piece of glass from the fruit jar. He exhibited his private parts and attempted to have intercourse with her. She kicked and fought him, finally kicking him from the car. He got into the car again, and throwing her down sat on her chest. His clothes were still unbuttoned and his private parts exposed. He struck her on the pelvis bone with the steel-yard. He choked her and cut her tongue with a piece of the glass from the broken fruit jar. He stated that he was going to leave with the car; that she could not talk and that nobody would ever catch him. She became unconscious and did not regain consciousness until about four o'clock in the afternoon. Appellant had gone taking the car and some articles of clothing from the house with him. He was found in possession of the stolen automobile and some of the clothes. He had a wound in his hand caused by the breaking of the fruit jar. There was blood on his clothing and on the automobile. He was positively identified by Mrs. Hassenpflug. Other witnesses testified to the fact that appellant had gone to the Hassenpflug place on the morning of the assault to pick cotton and to having seen him in the car with Mrs. Hassenpflug going in the direction of her husband's farm. The description of the steel-yard used by appellant in committing the robbery shows beyond question that it was a deadly weapon. Appellant offered no testimony except on the question of his age at the time the offense was committed. Appellant's grandmother testified that he was under 17 years of age on the date of the commission of the offense. His father testified that he was more than 17 years of age at said time. Appellant's grandmother was impeached. Appellant had theretofore given testimony in the juvenile court of Harris County to the effect that he was born October 31, 1910. The offense was committed on October 8, 1928. Bill of exception Number 1 embodies a motion to dismiss the case, it being averred that no order had been entered directing that appellant be transferred from Cook County to Grayson County, and that he had never been delivered into the custody of the sheriff of Grayson County by the district court of Cook County. The court qualified the bill of exception as follows: "That the court, upon hearing, found that the matters set forth in the motion are untrue." It is not necessary to express an opinion as to the effect of a failure to enter an order directing the removal of a defendant on a change of venue to the proper county, as provided for in Article 573 C. C. P. The qualification quoted disposes of the question. *242242 Appellant requested the court to charge the jury as follows: "If you believe from the evidence that the robbery, if any, was committed and complete before the use of a deadly weapon, if any, upon Mrs. A. R. Hassenpflug, then you cannot assess a death penalty in this case, should you find the defendant guilty." The court properly refused to give this charge. The evidence fails to raise the issue that the robbery was committed before the exhibition of a deadly weapon. It is undisputed that appellant attacked the injured party with the steel-yard before he deprived her of the possession of the automobile. We have carefully examined every contention made by appellant and fail to find reversible error. The judgment is affirmed. Affirmed. The foregoing opinion of the Commission of Appeals has been examined by the Judges of the Court of Criminal Appeals and approved by the Court. ON MOTION FOR REHEARING. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MORROW, PRESIDING JUDGE. — In the motion for rehearing complaint is made of the failure of the court to discuss and sustain the contention of the appellant embraced in his Bill of Exceptions No. 5 which reveals the refusal to give a special charge reading as follows: "Now comes the defendant in the above numbered and entitled cause and moves the Court to exclude all testimony introduced by the State's evidence showing an assault by the defendant upon prosecuting witness, after said automobile alleged to have been taken from her was in the possession and control of the defendant." The evidence reveals but a single transaction, and in refusing to give the special charge above quoted the court was not in error. The rule that where several crimes are intermixed and blended with one another or so connected as to form an indivisible criminal transaction so that the proof of one cannot be made without showing the other all may be proved, is deemed applicable. See Underhill's Crim. Evidence, 3rd Ed., Sec. 152, and cases collated in note 52, p. 195, embracing many of the decisions of this court. See also Claxton v. State,4 S.W.2d 542, and cases collated in Branch's Ann. Tex. P. C., Sec. 2347. The motion is overruled. Source: casetext.com FELONY Susan Hawkins © 2024 If you find any of Grayson CountyTXGenWeb links inoperable, please send me a message. |