Campbell

The plaintiff in error was indicted for and convicted of the crime of murder in the first degree in the killing of one Gus Nelson on the Kuskokwim river, in the territory of Alaska, and within the jurisdiction of the court below. His punishment was fixed by the jury and by the judgment of the court at life imprisonment.

The evidence shows that the deceased was killed near an Indian village, that the evidence against the plaintiff in error was mainly circumstantial, and that much of the testimony against him consisted of that of Eskimo Indians. The court was held at Iditarod. The trial was commenced September 20, 1912, ending with the return and entry of the verdict of the jury 7 days later, after deliberating 48 hours. Three times they returned into court for further instructions; on the third occasion the foreman saying that the jury was unable to agree. The court, however, directed them to consider the case further. The jury having finally returned a verdict of guilty, one of the points urged on behalf of the plaintiff in error for a reversal of the judgment is that such verdict was coerced by the court. There is no basis in the record for such a contention, especially in view…