The trial of "Indian Joe" : race and justice in the nineteenth-century West / Clare V. McKanna, Jr.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

McKanna, Clare V., Jr., 1935-2012.

Series:

Law in the American West ; v. 7.

Law in the American West ; v. 7

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Gabriel, José, "Indian Joe", 1832-1893--Trials, litigation, etc.

Gabriel, José.

Gabriel, José, "Indian Joe", 1832-1893.

Trials (Murder)--California--San Diego County.

Trials (Murder).

Discrimination in criminal justice administration--California--San Diego County--History--19th century.

Discrimination in criminal justice administration.

Judicial error--California--San Diego County.

Judicial error.

History.

California--San Diego County.

Genre:

Trials, litigation, etc.

Trial and arbitral proceedings.

Physical Description:

xii, 155 pages : illustrations ; 21 cm.

Place of Publication:

Lincoln : University of Nebraska Press, [2003]

Summary:

On the night of 16 October 1892, a double homicide occurred on Otay Mesa in San Diego County near the Mexican border. The two victims were an elderly couple, John and Wilhelmina Geyser, who lived on a farm on the edge of the mesa. Within minutes of discovering the crime, neighbors subdued and tied up the alleged killer, Jose Gabriel, a sixty-year-old itinerant Native American handyman from El Rosario, California, who worked for the couple. Since Gabriel was apprehended at the scene, most presumed his guilt. The local press, prosecutors, witnesses, and jurors called him by the epithet "Indian Joe." The sensational murder trial of Gabriel highlights the legal injustices committed against Native Americans in the nineteenth century. During this time, California Native Americans could not vote or serve on juries, so from the outset Gabriel was unlikely to receive a fair trial. No motive for murder was established, and the evidence against Gabriel was inconclusive. Nonetheless, the case went forward. Drawing on court testimony and newspaper accounts, Clare V. McKanna Jr. traces the murder trial: the handling of the case by the prosecution, the defense, the jury, and the judge; an examination of the crime scene; and the imaging of "Indian Joe." Through his considerable research, McKanna sheds light on a dark time in the American legal system.

Contents:

Prologue: Murder on Otay Mesa 1

1. The Prosecution 13

2. The Defense 37

3. The Judge and Jury 56

4. The Crime Scene 74

5. The Illusion of "Indian Joe" 94

6. The Scales of Justice 111

Epilogue: Gabriel's Fate 123

Appendix Trial Exhibits 131.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [133]-149) and index.

ISBN:

0803232284

OCLC:

51867855