(Download) "State v. Morris Nathaniel Keaton" by Supreme Court of Minnesota * Book PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: State v. Morris Nathaniel Keaton
- Author : Supreme Court of Minnesota
- Release Date : January 08, 1960
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 63 KB
Description
Defendant appeals from a judgment of conviction of murder in the first degree. On November 20, 1958, at approximately 9 p.m. the defendant went to a liquor tavern in Minneapolis known as "South of the
Border," which was connected with the "Key Club," to meet his girl friend, Rita Toliver. Together they then approached a table
occupied by a man described as a "little fellow" and William Leroy Farrell. Defendant, according to the state's witness Henry
Bailey, asked Rita, "Is this the man?" and then struck the "little fellow" with his fist. A fight followed between the defendant
on one side and the "little fellow" and Farrell on the other side. During the altercation the defendant claims he was "beaten
up" by Farrell and the other man and his glasses were knocked off and broken. After the fight the defendant and Rita proceeded
at once to the defendant's home for the purpose, so he claims, of cleaning up. As he opened a bureau drawer to get another
pair of glasses to replace the ones broken, he happened to see a revolver which he testified he had once taken in pawn. He
took the gun, so he claims, to protect himself from another such assault since, according to his version, he intended to return
to the tavern to explain to the management how the fight started. After the killing, according to the testimony of Thomas
W. Seawell, one of the patrolmen for the Minneapolis police traffic division, an arresting officer, defendant said that "he
got the gun and went back [to the Key Club] looking for Mr. Farrell" because "he was going to even things up." When he arrived
at the club he asked the doorman if he knew who the persons were who had been in the fight but the doorman was unable to give
him that information. After waiting until 1 a.m., when the club closed, the defendant and Rita left and went to an eating
place known as "Cicero's," arriving there at about 1:30 a.m. The defendant claims that he picked up the gun from the floor
underneath the seat of his car and "took the gun with me as a precaution from it being stolen because it wasn't my gun and
I didn't want it stolen."