This afternoon the trial of the territory…
source date: 1890
availability: public-domain

This afternoon the trial of the territory vs. Walter Birchfield took place. The defend- ant with four others was charged with flourish- ing and firing a pistol at Hachita on the 25th of December last. Defendant’s counsel objected to the indictment on the ground that four or five persons could not be guilty of firing the same pistol at the same time, and if they fired the same weapon at different times or fired different pistols at the same time this would constitute separate crimes for which each should be indicted separately. The court held the point well taken. The district attorney then dismissed as to all but Walter Birchfield. The jury returned a verdict of guilty and assessed the punishment at $50 fine for which Birchfield felt quite thankful.