A couple of News paper articles about law in Cochise county.
The first one was a week or so ago about a shooting in the nearby town of McNeal. Now town here in Az has somewhat of a different meaning than most places. Its one general store a tire repair shop and a saloon.
The story is a lot more complicated than the article suggest as there was a long hatred between the three parties involved. One of the interesting things is that he kilt them both with a .22 pistol.
The second article kinda explains the historical way people herabouts think about law enforcement.
By Jonathon Shacat
Herald/Review
BISBEE A jury acquitted Darryl Chenowth of murdering two men near his home in McNeal at the conclusion of a trial Wednesday in Cochise County Superior Court.
Chenowth, 52, was charged with first-
degree murder of Thomas Rand, 44, and Leonardo Rivera, 20, on Jan. 11. Jurors were also allowed to consider lesser included offenses of second-degree murder and manslaughter.
The jury of seven men and five women deliberated for only a few hours on Wednesday before reaching the verdicts of not guilty on each count.
The defendant told law enforcement officials that Riveraçâ€â€Ã‚´ pit bull terrier was causing problems for his cattle and horses. He said he warned Rivera that he would shoot the dog if it kept doing so.
On the night of Jan. 11, Chenowth said, he fatally shot the dog when it tried to bite him. He said Rivera threatened that he would to burn down his house with him inside.
Rand and Rivera confronted him. He said he shot them with a pistol in self-defense when Rand hit him in the leg with a stick and when he thought Rivera was going to strike him.
During closing arguments on Wednesday, James Glanville, deputy county attorney, said Chenowth was not justified in shooting them. He pointed out both victims died from wounds to their back.
He said Rand was shot in the abdomen and in the back of the neck, and Rivera was shot in the arm and in the back.
But, defense attorney Clarence Jenkins said Rivera was not shot éÃ*’½quare in the back. He argued his client was afraid of what Rand and Rivera would do to him. He pointed out Rand was drunk at the time.
Jurors started deliberating around noon Wednesday. After lunch, they requested another opportunity to watch a video of Chenowthçâ€â€Ã‚´ interview with law enforcement officials from Jan. 12 and to listen to recordings of his phone calls to Cochise County Sheriffçâ€â€Ã‚´ Office dispatchers and 911 from Jan. 10 and 11.
Those items were played for them in court between about 3 p.m. and about 4 p.m. They returned to the jury room for about half an hour, and then announced they had made their decision.
After the trial, Ken Sugden, who was the juryçâ€â€Ã‚´ foreman, explained to the Herald/Review that members of the panel reviewed the evidence and they felt this outcome was appropriate.
He said some main factors in this case were the significant amount of stress that Chenowth experienced during the incident, and the way a person under attack can react automatically without any real thought.
By Richard Bauer
In 1881, Cochise County needed a justice of the peace for the area that includes Millville. Jim Burnett was elected to that post. The history of the mining and milling towns of Cochise county all reflect the influence of characters like Jim Burnett. Stories about 笛ustice Jim abound.
Instead of a salary, the justices got a percentage of fines taken in by their office. When Jim made out his first quarterly report, the county supervisors felt that he was asking for too much and cut the amount drastically. This greatly angered Jim, and he promptly informed supervisors that the justice court would look after itself. From that time on, Jim kept both the fines and fees for himself, ignoring the county completely.
He armed himself with a revolver and shotgun, issued and served his own warrants, and there were no appeals to his court. His decisions were immediate and enforced by the business end of a gun. Burnett would conduct his court wherever it was convenient, on streets, in fields, in saloons or gambling halls, at any time or place for any reason; and justice was dispensed immediately.
After a shooting, Burnett hastily assembled a coronerçâ€â€Ã‚´ jury and under his strict supervision, they found that the man who was shot was careless because he stood in front of a gun about to be fired and he promptly fined the other man $100 for the reckless handling of a firearm.
Another time, Justice Jim observed a man arguing with another man who had a wagon full of firewood. The man in the street told Jim one of his stolen horses was in the wagon-mançâ€â€Ã‚´ team. Burnett told the man to take his horse and then told the man in the wagon. çš„ fine you nine cords of wood to be delivered to Girdçâ€â€Ã‚´ Mill. Records verify that the wood in the wagon measured nine cords almost to the stick.
One Sunday, Curly Bill Brocius and his gang stormed into a church during services and when the congregation saw these heavily armed men, they quickly left. The gang threw some money in the collection plate and forced the preacher to sing, pray, and dance. After about an hour, they tired of this sport and left him unharmed.
The next morning, Curly Bill was sitting in a chair in front of the local hotel half asleep when he felt a double barrel shotgun jab him under the ear and the hammers being cocked. It was Justice Jim. æ»´ear Ye, Hear Ye, court is now in session. I fine you $50, Curly Bill Brocius, for the disruption of church services on the Sabbath. Curly Bill promptly paid up and took it good naturedly, saying it was the only time he ever paid a fine he truly deserved.
Jim Burnett had a ranch on the San Pedro River near Hereford. About a mile south was William C. Greeneçâ€â€Ã‚´ ranch. Burnett and Greene disliked each other. Greene was into farming, ranching, and mining, and was a very wealthy man. Greene placed a small dam on the river just south his ranch for irrigation purposes. Burnett had large vegetable gardens on his ranch, and Greeneçâ€â€Ã‚´ dam cut down on the water supply. On the night of June 24, 1897, the dam was blown up and the water released. On the afternoon of June 27, Greeneçâ€â€Ã‚´ daughter, Ella and her friend, Katie Corcoran received permission to go wading in their favorite shallow pool on the river, but the swimming hole had become enlarged and deepened with the blasting of the dam and the sudden onslaught of water. When Ella and Katie jumped in; they went under and drowned.
Greene was wild with grief over the loss of his daughter and suspected Burnett of blowing up the dam. On July 1, 1897, Greene was on Allen Street in Tombstone when he accidentally ran into Justice Jim. He pulled out his revolver and fired three shots, killing Jim instantly. Greene was arrested and immediately released on bail. In the subsequent circus-like trial in Tombstone, Greene was acquitted. He had friends by the legion and there was no way any court in the county would have convicted him. It was never established that Burnett was behind the destruction of the dam.
Burnett is buried in Tombstone City Cemetery off West Allen Street.
Richard Bauer is a retired commercial pilot and businessman. He is a docent of Natural and Cultural History for the Friends of the San Pedro River, and is a resident of Tombstone.
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Originally Posted by lacal
