Mississippi (State of) vs. W. M. McDonald, Jr.
Scope and Contents
This collection consists of the court record of W. M. McDonald, Jr.'s indictment, trial, judgment, and sentence. In February 1927, McDonald was indicted on seven counts of embezzlement and false entry while he was employed as cashier at the Bank of Utica. The trial took place in the Circuit Court of Hinds County, Mississippi, Second District. One of the chief witnesses for the prosecution was D. C. Simmons, President of the Bank of Utica. Additional testimony for the prosecution was given by G. W. Newson, E. D. Fondren, L. E. Brown, W. Q. Sharp, D. D. Ewing, Mrs. Bessie Smith, W. Gray Ellis, W. A. Rogers, A. K. Godbold, Amos R. Johnson, John A. R. Goodwin, and Owen Williams.
The defense called for testimony the defendant, W. M. McDonald, Jr., along with W. M. McDonald, Sr., George S. Yerger, Mrs. F. R. Price, C. Y. Higgenbotham, E. M. Broom, E. Reed, Mrs. Neva Reed, Mrs. J. G. Leach, Thomas Keith, Mrs. Percy Hudson, Miss Adelle Fisher, and Miss Clarice Carroll.
The trial records show that McDonald claimed it was Simmons who told him to make false entries in order to balance the bank's accounting books.
The jury found McDonald guilty and the judge sentenced him to four years of hard labor at the state penitentiary. McDonald appealed his conviction on February 16, 1927, but the appeal was dismissed on September 26 of the same year.
Dates
- 1927
Conditions Governing Access
Noncirculating; available for research.
Conditions Governing Use
This collection may be protected from unauthorized copying by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code).
Biographical / Historical
W.M. McDonald was born in 1899 but his date of death is unknown. In 1916, he graduated from high school in Utica, Mississippi. He began to work for the Bank of Utica in 1916 but left to work for the Planter's Bank in Clarksdale, Mississippi, and later the Merchants Bank in Jackson, Mississippi; Oachita National Bank in Monroe, Louisiana; and the First National Bank in Vicksburg, Mississippi. McDonald returned to the Bank of Utica in 1919 as cashier. He was convicted of embezzlement in 1927 and sentenced to four years of hard labor in the Mississippi State Penitentiary.
Extent
1 Folder (1 item)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Court record of indictment and trial of W.M. McDonald, Jr., convicted of embezzlement while employed as a cashier at the Bank of Utica in Utica, Mississippi.
- Crime -- Mississippi. Subject Source: Local sources
- Criminal justice, Administration of. Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Criminal records -- Mississippi Subject Source: Local sources
- Embezzlement. Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Hinds County (Miss.). Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Legal case and case notes. Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Records (Documents). Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Records and briefs. Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Trial transcripts. Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Title
- State of Mississippi vs. W. M. McDonald, Jr.
- Status
- Completed
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the Historical Manuscripts and Photographs Repository
118 College Drive - 5148
Hattiesburg MS 39406-0001
601.266.4345
