Pierce v. United States (160 U.S. 355)

George Pierce and John Pierce were convicted of murder, and they bring error. Affirmed.

The plaintiffs in error were indicted for the murder on January 15, 1895, in the Cherokee Nation, in the Indian country, of one William Vandeveer, a white man, and not an Indian. There were two counts in the indictment. The first charged the murder to have been committed with a gun, and the second charged it to have been committed 'with a certain blunt instrument.' The jury found both defendants guilty of murder as charged in the first count, and they were accordingly both sentenced to death.

Submitted on record for plaintiffs in error.

Asst. Atty. Gen. Whitney, for the United States.

Mr. Justice BROWN delivered the opinion of the court.