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Sterling P. White v. John Cody

December 21, 1884 - May 9, 1885

Petitioned on February 25, 1885

Filed before the Fourth Judicial District Court of Washington Territory, Spokane County (Cheney, Washington)

Case ID: hc.case.wa.0126

Case Summary

On December 21st, 1884, Sterling P. White (alias Bud White), shot Amos Light Bearden, resulting in Bearden died two days later from the gunshot wound. On December 25th of the same year, White was found guilty of killing Bearden by a Coroner's Jury. Sterling White filed a writ of habeas corpus on February 2nd, 1885, claiming that he was being unlawfully held because he had never committed a crime, he was never charged with a crime, he was never given a fixed bail, that he was wounded and being in jail was dangerous to his health, and that J. W. Carpenter had unlawfully acted as Justice of the Peace, prosecuting attorney and deputy sheriff in his case. In April of 1885, White was found guilty, convicted of manslaughter, and sentenced to two years hard labor in a penitentiary by Judge George Turner. Additionally, his writ of habeas corpus was dismissed.

Case Information

Petition type(s)

  • Carceral

Petition subtype(s)

  • Manslaughter

Sites of significance

Outcome

Writ dismissed

Fate of bound party

Remained in custody

Case Citation

Spokane County Government, Clerk, Territorial Case Files, 1879-1889, No. 1537

Source material(s)

Case File

Case document transcriptions

Length of case file

Between 151 and 200 pages

Related petitions

Repository(s)

State

  • Washington

People

  • Hyde, S.C. (respondent attorney)
  • White, Sterling P. (Bud White) (petitioner)
  • White, Sterling P. (Bud White) (bound party)
  • Smallwood, W. H. (petitioner attorney)
  • Benson, E. F. (petitioner attorney)
  • Cody, John (respondent)
  • Cody, John (holding party)
  • Carpenter, J. W. (authority ordering detention)
  • Carpenter, J. W. (justice of the peace)
  • Turner, George M. (judge)

  • Additional parties

    Short, J. R. (witness)

    Feuerbach, Kate W. (clerk)

    Strobach, R. (deputy)

    Cody, John (sheriff)

    McRodes (deputy)

    Rhodes, William (witness)

    William, Wells (witness)

    Cole, Josiah (witness)

    Friedlander, John N. (deputy)

    Stookey, Allen (witness)

    Hine, Franklin (witness)

    Gentry, Samuel (witness)

    Harold, Perry (witness)

    Stookey, Alfred (witness)

    Spencer, F. M. (witness)

    Hart, J. H. (witness)

    Ring, W. G. (witness)

    Strambaugh, J. (witness)

    Stephey, Eva (witness)

    Warren, Elmer (witness)

    Wynhoff, Hubert (witness)

    Mayer, John D. (witness)

    Stookey, Alfred (witness)

    White, James (witness)

    Stephey, D. E. (witness)

    Sherman, George W. (witness)

    Jump, John (witness)

    Tufts, Frank (witness)

    White, C. B. (witness)

    Williams, J. E. (witness)

    Welch, R. C. (witness)

    Trussel, Dayton (witness)

    Short, S. L. (witness)

    Emerson, Allen (witness)

    Condon, William (witness)

    Bearden, Amos Light (victim)

    Portch, Herman (witness)

    Portch, E. A. (witness)

    Bearden, Henry S. (witness)

    Bearden, Frank (witness)

    Warren, H. F. (juror)

    Blackfan, C. T. (juror)

    Black, J. A. (juror)

    Robinson, N. (juror)

    Brindell, Chase T. (witness)

    Short, S. L. (juror)

    Rogers, O. J. (witness)

    Lyle, M. A. (witness)

    Malory, M. J. (deputy)

    Whittier, E. F. (sheriff)

    Seaman, J. S. (deputy)

    Tyler, J. J. (sheriff)

    Laughon, J. E. (Jury Foreman)

    Robertson, William (juror)

    Mahoney (deputy)

Citation

Katrina Jagodinsky, Cory Young, Andrew Varsanyi, Laura Weakly, Karin Dalziel, William Dewey, Erin Chambers, Greg Tunink. “Sterling P. White v. John Cody.” Petitioning for Freedom: Habeas Corpus in the American West, 1812-1924, University of Nebraska–Lincoln. Accessed November 21, 2024. https://petitioningforfreedom.unl.edu/cases/item/hc.case.wa.0126

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