A Courtroom Killing: One Lawyer Attacks Another

    On March 18, 1922, attorney Robert Stemmons appeared in court at Mount Vernon to seek a parole for one of his clients, Lavanus Jackson, who'd recently been sentenced to jail on an illegal liquor charge. J. B. Tillman, another Lawrence County attorney, had played a part in Jackson's arrest, and he was present in court as well. During arguments, Stemmons strongly criticized Tillman for the part he had taken in Jackson's arrest.
    After hearing the arguments, the judge denied Jackson's request for a parole. Tillman then asked for and was granted permission to explain his part in Jackson's arrest. After some preliminary remarks, the sixty-year-old Tillman remarked in reference to the thirty-year-old Stemmons that "young lawyers sometimes let their ambition get away with them and say too much" and that it was "a good thing for young lawyers to be called down."
    Strongly resenting the remarks, Stemmons, who was seated across the courtroom from Tillman, sprang from his chair, ran across the room, and struck Tillman. The two men went into a clinch and fell to the floor. While they were still struggling, Jackson came over and started kicking Tillman in the head. A deputy sheriff, aided by several other men, quickly separated the combatants, but Tillman did not rise after the fight had been broken up. Seriously injured, he was rushed to a local hospital, where he died the next day.
    Even before Tillman died, Stemmons, Jackson, and the latter's brother, who had taken some small part in the assault, were arrested. After Tillman died, all three were charged with first-degree murder. The cases against the three men were subsequently severed, and Stemmons was ultimately tried in January 1923 on a reduced charge of manslaughter. He was convicted and fined $500. However, Stemmons appealed the verdict, and the Missouri Supreme Court ruled in his favor in June 1924. The justices found that Tillman had died as a direct consequence of Jackson kicking him in the head and that Stemmons had not conspired with his client nor said anything whatsoever to encourage Jackson in the attack. Therefore, he could not be found guilty of any level of intentional homicide.
    Meanwhile, Lavanus Jackson was also found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to ten years in prison. He was paroled after serving slightly over half of his sentence. Apparently all charges were dropped against his brother, or else he got off with a very light sentence.
    I want to thank my friend Tom Carver for calling this incident to my attention and for providing much of the information on which the story above is based.