The Juror Who Ate Himself into Jail
A Seattle juror’s hunger at the Occidental Hotel led to an invalidated trial, a stern rebuke from the bench, and three months in the county jail.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
In the case of the Territory vs. James, indicted for assault and battery on trial in the District Court, W. H. Bow, one of the jurors, asked permission of the officer in charge to step outside for a moment after the jury had retired to deliberate. Probably thinking there was no harm in so doing, Mr. Bow stepped over to the Occidental Hotel and had supper. This action, of course, invalidated the verdict, and Judge Lewis instructed the jury to render whatever verdict they chose, as on account of the informality it would necessarily be set aside; the jury accordingly brought in a verdict of not guilty. Moreover, it was intimated that a fine of $300 and three months’ imprisonment would be imposed on the offending juror. As we intimated in our last issue, W. H. Bow, the recalcitrant juror, was yesterday fined $300 and one month’s imprisonment in the county jail for contempt of court.
“Probably thinking there was no harm in so doing, Mr. Bow stepped over to the Occidental Hotel and had supper. This action, of course, invalidated the verdict.”
Jury sequestration remains a rigorous process, though modern courts are more forgiving of mid-deliberation meals than Judge Lewis was in 1877. The Occidental Hotel, once a hub of Seattle civic and social life, stood at the corner of First and Washington, a site that has seen the city's center of gravity shift multiple times over the last century and a half.
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