Getting Jury Drunk Solved Court Action
(This story was in the Nevada City Nugget's "100 Years of Nevada County" edition published May 18, 1951.)
ludicrous trial in the early annals of Nevada County court history involves William M. Stewart of Nevada City, who later rose to national prominence as U.S. Senator from Nevada. William Watt, who later became an influential citizen of Grass Valley, had located a set of mining claims in Boston Ravine, which were disputed by a combination claiming the entire ravine. Attorney a. B. Dibble represented the combination and it was believed impossible to win a mining case from him in Grass Valley. Watt and Stewart won a change of venue to Rough and Ready with the court room a small area partitioned from Si Brown's saloon. Both litigating parties agreed that all liquor imbibed by the court, jury, parties, lawyers and spectators should be charged as costs.
The case before the bar of justice proceeded apace with frequent excursions before the bar of Bacchus. When the defendant's main witness was scheduled to appear on the stand, it appeared obvious that his staggeringly drunken condition would probably prevent his testifying within a week's time. The justice recessed court until evening. When court reconvened the jury was in such a condition the plaintiffs wanted to adjourn until morning. Stewart (right) argued that if adjournment occurred the verdict would be good for nothing. The judge, ignorant in law, accepted Stewart's interpretation, and refused to adjourn. The trial continued with the jurymen drinking to their heart's content. When Dibble attempted to speak before them some of the jurymen told him to "dry up."
Sunrise found the jury members scattered around town in all stages of drunkenness and without agreement on a verdict. Costs of the trial totaled $1,400 of which $1,200 was for liquor from Brown's bar. The plaintiffs were unable to pay the costs and Watt kept his Boston Ravine claims to get his start in Nevada County.
