Coroner's Jury Inquest

IN THE JUSTICE COURT OF PRECINCT NUMBER FOUR, COCHISE COUNTY,
ARIZONA, BEFORE HONORABLE R. S. MACLAY, EX-OFFICIO CORONER.

********************************************************************

Transcript of evidence at the inquest into the cause of death of JOSE MENDEZ, held at Ferguson's Undertaking Parlors at 10 o'clock A. M. July 5th, 1916, before Hon. R. S. Maclay, ex-officio Coroner, and the Coroner's jury.

- - - - - - - - - - -

DR. CARL H. LUND, being first duly sworn, testified as follows:

Mr. Stephenson: State your name, Doctor.
A. Carl H. Lund.

Q. Are you a practicing physician?
A. Yes sir.

Q. Graduate of a medical college?
A. Yes sir.

Q. How long have you been practicing medicine and surgery?
A. Since June, 1900.

Q. Did you have occasion on yesterday to perform a post mortem on the body of this man, Jose Mendez?
A. I did.

Q. At what place?
A. Here at the undertaking parlors.

Q. What did the autopsy disclose in the way of wounds?
A. The autopsy disclosed two wounds of minor importance, one of them went through the hand here, came out here, (indicating on the left hand), shattering these two bones, the third and fourth metatarsal bones, that is, the metacarpal bones. That was an injury of no consequence, but there was another injury, a bullet hole near the great trochanter; that is the bone in the side of the hip. It came out here at the front, but that was of no consequence as far as life was concerned. There was another bullet hole back near where the hip joins the body, that is as near as I can tell it in plain English. An autopsy upon the abdomen showed that that bullet had gone through the muscles and the bone, that it cut some small blood vessels on the lower pelvis, on the left side, had gone through the upper portion of the rectum, had gone through the bladder and then had passed through the bottom of the pelvis on the right side and I found the bullet right under the skin, right in here, (indicating) just below the ligament on the right side.

Q. The wound in the hand was on the left hand?
A. Yes sir.

Q. Did any of these wounds strike any vital parts of the body?
A. This one I spoke of last cut some blood vessels, the abdomen was full of blood and there was also a great deal of blood in the tissues. You speak of its striking a vital spot, it passed through the upper portion of the rectum and that in itself would probably prove fatal, if he lived long enough for it to inflame.

Q. In your judgment, after performing the autopsy, what caused the death of Jose Mendez?
A. A bullet wound, or a shot.

Q. The bullet that you say entered here, at the hip joint, was that on the left side or the right side of the body?
A. The wound of entrance was on the left side of the body.

Q. In passing into the body, did the bullet range upward or downward?
A. It went upward – that is, perhaps I should not say that it went upward; I should say, from behind forward, that would be better. Anyway, it went in here, (indicating on his hip) and then went, I should say, not upward, for that would be toward the head, but forward would be better.

Q. Have you got the bullet that you took out of the body?
A. Yes sir.

Q. Will you produce it, please? (Here the witness produced a bullet). Is this the same bullet that you extracted from the body?
A. Yes sir.

Mr. Stephenson: We will ask to have this bullet marked "Plaintiff's Exhibit 1" for identification, and introduced for evidence.

Judge Maclay: I believe that is all, Dr. Lund.

A. I wish to add to my statement that, of course, the man died from hemorrhage as a result of this wound.

- - - - - - - - - - -

GEORGE C. GRAY, being first duly sworn, testified as follows:

Mr. Stephenson: What is your business, Mr. Gray?
A. Policeman.

Q. Did you have occasion to have any official business with the deceased in this case on the day before, or about the time of, the decease?
A. Yes sir, I had a warrant for him.

Q. Have you got that warrant?
A. I have not.

Q. (Producing a paper) Will you examine this instrument and may what it is?
A. (Examining the paper) It is a warrant out of the Justice Court, to one Jose Mendez, complaint by his sister.

Q. Is this the warrant you had at that time?
A. Yes sir.

Mr. Stephenson: We now offer this as "plaintiff's exhibit 2" and ask
that it be so marked for identification and introduced as evidence.

Q. Did you make any attempt to execute that warrant?
A. I did.

Q. Tell the court and jury what you did with reference to it and the times, and all about it.
A. The warrant was turned over to me about 1:45. I was instructed by Mr. Moore to go down and get Mr. Brooks and go down to the house and see if we couldn't get this party. I went down and met Mr. Brooks and we went down to the house. We finally woke them up and they positively refused to open the door, wouldn't let us in. We asked and argued with them and worked about twenty minutes with them, but they would not open, so I said to Brooks that the best way would be for me to go back and get some help, go in the machine. I said to him, "You watch the house as best you can. I will go back and get Mervyn and maybe he can talk this woman into – "

Q. Whom do you mean by Mervyn?
A. I mean Mervyn Moore, the Sergeant of Police. So I got into the machine and was probably gone, not over ten minutes on the outside. And when I got back there was quite a crowd collected around there and old man Brooks said that he shot the Mexican, that he ran out of the back door, came out of the back door, shooting at Brooks, and he pulled his gun and shot three times.

Q. Did you see Jose Mendez?
A. I did, through the window.

Q. Did you see him after he was shot?
A. Yes sir.

Q. Where was he at that time?
A. He was laying in back of a house at 720 First St., at the back door.

Q. How far from his home?
A. I should consider it was about a block's distance.

Q. Did he have anything on him in the way of weapons?
A. He had not.

Q. Were there any weapons found in his possession, around where he was found?
A. There was, yes sir.

Q. Tell the court and jury all you may know about the weapons and where they were and who they belonged to, and how you know it.
A. We went back afterwards to hunt for the gun he said he had and we went down back of this house where we found him, and this gentleman that lives in the house, Valdez I think is his name, he came to the door and said he had the gun and handed it to me, and I asked him where he found it and he said he found it in some flowers, probably six feet from where we found Mendez.

Q. (Showing the witness a gun). Is this the same gun that was given you as the gun found in the flowers near where the body was found?
A. Yes sir.

Q. Were there any cartridges or shells found there?
A. That I don't know. I heard somebody remark that they picked up some shells around there.

Q. You don't know of your own knowledge?
A. No sir.

Q. Do you know who does know?
A. I think Mr. Moore was the one who picked up the shells.

Mr. Stephenson: We ask that this gun be marked as "plaintiff's exhibit 3" for identification, and introduced in evidence. We would also ask that the gun be passed to the jury for their examination as to full and empty chambers, etc.

Q. Mr. Gray, at the time you got back and found the deceased, was he still alive?
A. Yes sir.

Q. Did you have any conversation with him?
A. Well, just that he cussed us.

Q. Tell the jury all that occurred while he lived and what he said and the conversation that took place.
A. He just spoke his cuss words all the time while we carried him over to the machine and laid him in it, and every time one of us would speak to him he would bawl us out.

Q. Did he say anything relative to the actual shooting?
A. Yes, he said that he shot at the policeman and I asked him where his pistol was and he said it was "Here", but when we picked him up we didn't find the gun at the time.

Q. Who was present at the time that he said that he had shot at the policeman?
A. There was Mr. Moore and I don't exactly remember who else.

Q. Did he say how many shots he fired?
A. I don't remember that.

Q. Did he say who began the shooting?
A. He didn't.

Q. Did you examine the premises where he was said to have been shot, to see whether there was any blood spots?
A. Yes sir.

Q. Did you find any blood?
A. Yes sir.

Judge Maclay: Did he defy you to enter the house? What did he say about your entering?
A. He told us to enter, and used vile language. He said in Spanish, "Enter! I understand the law". He wanted the woman to come to the window and wanted me to show her the paper. I held the paper up to the window and she denied that this man was her husband or that he lived there. And then when he stuck his head out I said to him, "What is your name?" and he gave me some fictitious name. After the shooting, then the woman said that her husband would not let her open the door and that was the reason she wouldn't open it. We worked there for about twenty minutes, I guess, first at the back door, then at the front door and then at the window.

The witness was then excused.

- - - - - - - - - - -

G. M. MOORE, being first duly sworn, testified as follows:

Mr. Stephenson: What is your full name?
A. G. Mervyn Moore.

Q. What is your official position, Mr. Moore?
A. Night Sergeant of Police.

Q. As Night Sergeant of the Police, did you furnish a warrant to Officers Gray and Brooks and direct them to arrest Jose Mendez?
A. Yes sir.

Q. Did you know anything about the time that Jose Mendez came to his death?
A. Yes sir.

Q. Was you out there about that time, to the place?
A. I was at the hospital at the time he died, and I had been out to the place before.

Q. In examining the promises where he was shot, did you find any gun or any appraratus connected with fire arms?
A. No, we didn't at the time, sir. We came back to town and after his death, why, Mr. Gray and Mr. Smith went back out there and this Juan Valdez, who was one of the witnesses, had found the gun in the morning glory vines and turned it over to the boys, as I had asked him to do.

Q. Do you know anything about the shells?
A. I do.

Q. I will hand you three loaded cartridges, (handing three cartridges to the witness) and will ask you if you have ever seen them before?
A. When I got down there with Mr. Gray, after he came to the office and told me this fellow refused to open up, I found Mr. Brooks and Luke Short and these other gentlemen all there, and these shells were lying on the ground, I should judge, about twenty feet from the back door of the house, and there was a little spot of blood there, too, and I took these shells up myself. I think there was four of them, may have been but three, but I think there was four.

Mr. Stephenson: We now ask that these bullets be marked as "plaintiff's exhibit 4" and introduced in evidence.

Q. Between the time that this man was shot and his death, did you see him?
A. Yes sir.

Q. Did you have any conversation with him, or hear him have any conversation with any one else?
A. I did.

Q. Tell the court and jury what these conversations were.
A. After we got there, there were ten or fifteen men around the place where the shooting happened and we had been hunting for this man, then this Juan Valdez came over to me and told me that there was a man that had fallen in his back door on First St., 720 First St. We went over there and discovered this Jose Mendez laying in the door, in a very angry mood. We started up to him and he cursed us and blamed us for everything, told us that he was more brave than all of us, that he wasn't dead yet and if we would give him his gun he would kill himself a few Gringoes yet. I went up and turned him over and found he didn't have a gun on him. He continued to abuse us, and Mr. Gray and the boys present helped to put him in the automobile and brought him up to the C&A Hospital, and I talked to him a little along the road. Of course, he was very insolent and impertinent and he continued to tell me that he was braver than we were, and so forth, and he told me that, when I asked him why he did the shooting, he said that he didn't intend being taken by any one, and that he took a chance on getting away. I asked him who fired the first shots and he didn't directly say that he did, but he said that he tried to make his getaway out of the back door and opened up on Mr. Brooks and had bad luck, that was the way he expressed it; he didn't blame Mr. Brooks. I think if we had his brother here he would tell you the same thing. He was with him, I brought him up from Second Street
with him. He was just in an ugly mood of temper, that is about all, and he was mean all the way through. Mr. Thompson had been down there in the afternoon, after Judge Maclay issued the warrant. He went down there and this man's wife threatened him with a butcher knife and he couldn't get in the house. He found out this
Mexican wasn't there and so he didn't care to go in then. And when I came on duty I knew the warrant was on file and Mr. Brooks mentioned it to me. I believe it was 10:40 when he rang me up and I told him to watch the place as much as possible, and when he thought the Mexican was there I would either come or have come one come to help him. At 1:20, I think, he rang me, saying that the Mexican had now come home and I told him that I was very busy at the office and that I would send Gray along just as soon as I could get hold of him. About twenty minutes later, about 1:45 I got hold of Gray, and he went down there. After he had been gone practically 30 minutes he returned and told me that the Mexican and his wife were both up and refused to let any one enter the house, so I went back with him and
when I got there the shooting had happened.

Q. So far as the actual shooting is concerned, you know nothing of your own knowledge?
A. No sir, nothing.

The witness was then excused.

- - - - - - - - - - -

GAVINA ESTRADA MENDEZ, being first duly sworn, testified as follows:
(In the absence of the official interpreter, J. Mervyn Moore was sworn as interpreter).

Mr. Stephenson: State your name.
A. Gavina Estrada Mendez.

Q. Do you know Jose Mendez?
A. Yes sir, I know him.

Q. How long have you known him?
A. Since 1910, I am his wife.

Q. Were you at your and his home the other night, when this shooting occurred?
A. Yes sir, I was in the house.

Q. About what time of the night did this occur?
A. It was 3:15.

Q. Just tell the court and jury all that took place there.
A. They knocked on the door, two gentlemen arrived and knocked on the door. I asked who they were, they said they were policemen. I asked them what a policeman wanted at my house. They asked me if Jose Mendez was in the house. I told them he was not. Then they told me to open the door. I asked them what they wanted me to open the door for. They told me if I didn't open the door that they were going to knock it in. They opened the screen door, then they told me that they were going. Then when he went out the policeman didn't speak to him and then the policeman began shooting. My husband went out the door and was going to get away, then the policeman began to shoot without talking, the policeman didn't speak one word.

Q. At the time your husband went out the door, did he have any pistol with him?
A. Yes sir, he had a pistol in his hand.

Q. Do you know whether that pistol was loaded or not at that time?
A. It was not loaded.

Q. Did he have any shells with him to load it with?
A. Yes sir, he did.

Q. How many did he have?
A. I don't know, but I presume that he had six, for the six in the six-shooter.

Q. How many shots did you hear fired?
A. I don't know, I couldn't say how many there were fired, I didn't count them.

Q. Were there more than three?
A. Yes sir.

Q. As many as eight or nine?
A. I don't know whether there were that many, or nine or ten or eleven.

Q. Then there was a great number of shots fired?
A. I was on the outside of the house during the time the shooting was going on. I was standing near my husband, the two of us were together. Where he was shooting from we were together.

Q. How many shots did your husband fire?
A. I don't remember how many he fired.

Q. Your husband did do some shooting, then?
A. Yes sir, after the three shots that the police had fired and he had fallen to the ground, he began to shoot.

Q. Are you well acquainted with your husband's gun?
A. Yes sir.

Q. Will you examine this gun and state whether or not it belonged to him?
A. Yes sir, it was his. Why should I not know it?

Q. How long had he owned that gun?
A. Since 1914 he has had it.

Q. You say that the gun was not loaded when your husband went out doors?
A. No sir.

Q. At what time and place did your husband load the pistol?
A. I don't know, I didn't see it.

Q. He didn't wait to load the gun after the policeman had shot?
A. I don't know, sir.

Q. How long after the shots were fired by the policeman, as you say, was it before your husband began to shoot?
A. He had already fallen when he began to shoot.

Q. How long did he lie in the position where he fell?
A. I don't know.

Q. Do you know whether he left there himself or not?
A. I didn't see him when he left from where he had fallen, but I presume he went alone, because I know no one would take him.

Q. After this shooting began, is it not a fact that you ran immediately?
A. After he had fallen then I came out in front to advise his mother.

Q. Is your husband the same Jose Mendez that used to live in Pearce, Arizona?
A. Yes sir.

Q. How long did he live in Pearce?
A. We arrived at Pearce the 14th of February and I left there on the 20th of June and he left on the 21st of June.

Q. Is he the same Jose Mendez that was mixed up in an affair in resisting C. W. Webster, an officer, in Pearce?
A. No sir, he was not.

Q. Isn't it a fact that another officer, earlier in the day, was down to your place to serve a warrant on the deceased?
A. At 10:30 in the morning this man was down there, this officer,
(indicating Mr. Thompson).

Q. Isn't it also a fact that at that time you resisted him with a butcher knife?
A. I didn't do or say anything to him. He asked me if Jose Mendez lived there and I told him he did, yes sir, and I told him that he couldn't come into my house.

Q. Did you have a knife at that time?
A. I had a small knife, like this, (measuring about three inches).

Q. Did you threaten to use it on him?
A. I was ripping some garment or something with it, that is how I happened to have it.

The witness was then excused.

- - - - - - - - - - -

MARIANO MENDEZ, being first duly sworn, testified as follows, with Mr. Moore acting as interpreter:

Mr. Stephenson: State your name.
A. Mariano Mendez.

Q. What relation are you, if any, to the deceased, Jose Mendez?
A. He is my brother.

Q. How old is he?
A. I am not sure, he is about 24.

Q. Did he have any property, as far as you know?
A. Nothing.

Q. How long had he lived in the United States?
A. About 5 years.

Q. What was his native state in Mexico?
A. Magdalena, Sonora.

Q. He was, at the time of his decease, still a Mexican citizen?
A. I presume he was.

Q. Do you know anything about the facts leading up to his death or about the death?
A. I didn't even hear the shots fired. They came and woke me up after it happened.

Q. Then you know nothing, of your own knowledge, about the actual shooting?
A. Nothing.

Q. Did you get to your brother, Jose Mendez, before he died?
A. Yes sir.

Q. Were you with the officers at the time that they were [illegible] him over to the hospital?
A. Yes sir, I went with them to the hospital.

Q. Did you hear the statements that he made at that time, relative to this shooting?
A. I did not.

The witness was then excused.

- - - - - - - - - - -

ROSS BROOKS, being first duly sworn, testified as follows:

Mr. Stephenson: State your full name.
A. Ross Brooks.

Q. What is your business now, Mr. Brooks?
A. Night policeman.

Q. How long have you been in that position?
A. About two weeks.

Q. As night policeman, what are your duties?
A. My duty is to arrest any one that I am sent after or I catch doing anything that is a violation of the law.

Q. Did you have orders from the Police Department to arrest Jose Mendez?
A. Yes sir.

Q. Did you have, were you endeavoring the other night to perform those orders?
A. I was.

Q. Just tell the court and jury, and turn around so that the jury can all hear, everything that took place at that time.
A. In the evening, when I went on duty, they gave me the name of this Jose Mendez and told me to watch the house and see if I could not arrest him that night, that they had made an attempt to do so before and had made a failure. So that evening I went a little early, before night, and located the number of the house and the situation around it, around the house, and that night, when I went on duty, why, I made it a point, you see, to watch the house, to see if I could see him around the place. The fore part of the night I couldn't see him, until along about 2 o'clock in the night I saw some one come. Apparently there was some one let him in, his wife, I suppose, for there was a little light burning all the time. I saw him, this man, go into the house and the light go out, and I took it for granted it was him. So I took the situation in, that there was a back door, and the way everything was arranged, and I saw I couldn't accomplish anything alone, so I phoned to the police station for another man, relating to them the circumstances. In a few minutes another policeman came, so we went and knocked on the door and no answer, and we knocked and knocked. I reckon for twenty minutes and hollered and done everything else to try to get some reply, and then the other policeman said, "I don't believe they are in here; I think they have left". I said, "No, they are there, but they are playing possum with us". That was just the words I said. I said, "They are in there all right". And so, after a while, she got nervous and she raised the curtain and she was raising all kinds of trouble in there about the Gringoes and about what she was going to do for being molested at night, couldn't get to sleep. And of course we told her who we were and to open up the house, that we was looking for Jose Mendez, and she said he wasn't there at all and hadn't been. I asked where he was. She said she didn't know, out in the street, she reckoned. I told her he was there, said I saw him come in. She said, no, he hadn't been there that night, wasn't there. Well, directly he come alive, got up and commenced raising Cain, walking the floor with his six-shooter in his hand. There was only a little side window in the west, a glass window and we could see him, that was the only place we could see him, the door was barred. So he
walked the house and defied us to break the door down, and invited us to come in, else he would break out, that we should come in. The other policeman concluded it would be best for him to go and get help and leave me to watch the place. I said, "Whenever you leave here he will come right out on me". But he thought it best to go and started out for help and got about 150 yards, maybe, with the automobile, and this man came out of the door. He first made a rush to the front door and I headed him off and he went to the back door and I started around the side of the house and we met, he went through the house and came out of the door, and as he came out of the door, as he swung the door open he fired on me, and sort of half way powder burned my face, as he come out.

Q. Mr. Books, who fired the first shot?
A. He did, he fired at me as he came out of the door, as he shoved the door open, that way, (gesturing) he fired as he came.

Q. How many times did he shoot at you?
A. About six shots, I suppose, that is what I thought there were. So after he fell they began to crowd around, some came in back of me, and I didn't know who they was, didn't know how many brothers he had. So after he fell he shot two shots at me after he was on the ground.

Q. How many shots did he fire at you before you fired at him?
A. I fired my first shot about the time his second shot came.

Q. How many shots did you fire?
A. I fired three.

Q. Do you know where your first shot took effect?
A. I do not. I saw it came mighty near knocking him down, each shot. The first shot staggered him, the next one brought him to his knees, and the next one brought him down.

Q. All the time that you were shooting at him, he was shooting at you?
A. Just as fast as he could shoot.

Q. How far were you apart?
A. About six feet, not over six feet when it started, then as it went on we got a little further apart; I don't think at any time we was over twenty feet apart.

Q. At the time this shooting was going on, was his wife out in the yard beside him?
A. He came out into the yard alone, she never came out of the house until he fell.

Q. As a matter of fact, a considerable part of the shooting had taken place at the time that she came out?
A. It was all over with before she came out. He hadn't more than struck the ground before he bang, bang, just that quick, two shots at me from the ground. I would have returned that fire but there were parties coming in back of me, and I knew he had [Page 15] a lot of relations around there and perhaps friends, and by that time the only way to get in was back of me, so I just reserved my shots and backed out. And then the next thing was to get to my horse, and so I come right out, over that fence and got my horse and rode him back. By that time a couple of soldiers had come up there from the camp on the border, as they had heard the shooting.

Q. Do you know how he got from the place that he was shot down to where he was found?
A. I don't know. When I come back with my horse, which I had hitched to a post out about forty steps, when I come back he was gone. Just as I come back with my horse the soldiers came running up from the border and were asking about it and I told them he was laying in there, and when we went to look he was gone, when we got in there.

The witness was then excused.

- - - - - - - - - - -

STEVE SMITH, being first duly sworn, testified as follows:

Mr. Stephenson: What is your name?
A. Steve Smith.

Q. What do you know about this shooting case, Mr. Smith?
A. I heard about eight or nine shots, that is all I know, something like that, because that shot was too fast to count, and I told myself there was trouble. And then a man he come down there and wanted somebody to help or something, and I went down there then, I went down there and came right away and the two policemen were there and they were hunting for that fellow around there, and they couldn't find him. I came down to the yard and looked all around and found a piece of blood on the ground and saw about four or five shells down there. And we kept on looking and found him not very far from the house, and I helped them with him, that is all I know.

Q. Do you live right near there?
A. Yes, I live on the corner.

Q. And you say you picked up some shells?
A. No, just I saw them.

Q. Do you know who picked them up?
A. I don't know who picked them up – I saw them on the ground.

Q. Did you see any gun lying around there anywhere?
A. No, I did not.

Q. Did you hear the deceased make any statement to any one about this occurrence?
A. No.

Q. Do you know anything else about this that you have not related?
A. I don't know anything else.

Q. Could you tell from those shots that were being fired whether they were all from the same gun or from two.
A. There was two.

Q. How do you determine that there was two guns being used?
A. I heard two big shots, afterward a little one, and afterward all mixed up, that is all I know.

Q. You heard two loud shots and then you heard –
A. A little small shot, and afterward was mixed up; that is all I know.

The witness was then excused.

- - - - - - - - - - -

JUAN VALDEZ, being first duly sworn, testified as follows, Mr. Moore acting as interpreter:

Mr. Stephenson: State your full name.
A. Juan Valdez.

Q. Are you any relation to the deceased?
A. No sir, I am not.

Q. Do you know anything about this shooting case?
A. I know that he came and fell at my back door, that is all I know.

Q. Did you go out at that time?
A. When he had arrived and fallen at my back door, after hearing him groan for quite a little while I went out to see what it was.

Q. Did he at that time make any statement to you about what had occurred?
A. The only thing was that, after arriving there I heard him, heard his groans, and I asked him what was the matter and he told me he was wounded.

Q. Did he tell you who wounded him?
A. No sir, he did not.

Q. Did he tell you anything at any time about this shooting?
A. He didn't tell me anything more than he was wounded.

Q. Did you see at any time any gun laying about the place that you found him when you went out?
A. On first coming out I didn't see any arms. After the officers leaving there I found it.

Q. (Handing a gun to the witness) I wish you would examine this gun and state whether or not it is the same one you found?
A. As it was night, I picked it up all right but I never examined it to see whether it was one kind or another.

Q. How far did that gun lie from the place that Jose Mendez was lying when you went out and saw him there?
A. About eight feet from where he had fallen.

The witness was then excused.

- - - - - - - - - - -

ROSS BROOKS was then recalled and gave the following testimony:

Mr. Stephenson: Mr. Brooks, what size gun and kind of gun were you using?
A. I was using a small gun, .38 Colts Special.

Q. With regard to the sound of the report of this gun and yours, which was the loudest?
A. This gun is much the loudest. Makes much the loudest report.

Q. What is the caliber of this gun?
A. .45, I suppose, I have never looked at it.

Q. I wish you would examine it and state.
A. .45 Colts.

The witness was then excused.

- - - - - - - - - - -

ELENA MENDEZ de PEREZ, being first duly sworn, testified as follows, Mr. Moore acting as interpreter:

Mr. Stephenson: State your name, please.
A. Elena Mendez de Perez.

Q. Are you acquainted with Jose Mendez, the deceased?
A. He is my brother.

Q. Did you go to the police court on the day before he was killed, to make complaint against him?
A. On the third day I was in court, yes.

Q. Did you at that time file a complaint against your brother?
A. Yes sir, on the third day of the month.

Q. For what was that complaint made?
A. Because he had come to my house and insulted me and I could not stand it, couldn't permit it.

Q. Was that the same complaint upon which the warrant was issued that the officers were endeavoring to execute at the time your brother was killed?
A. Yes sir, I think it was the same one. The Judge would know. I sent to have him arrested, for him to come and prove what he had said to me, nothing more.

Judge Maclay: Isn't it a fact that you came to me, you and your husband, and stated that your brother was responsible for the death of your child, that the doctor had told you that?
A. Yes sir.

Q. And didn't you tell me that he, your brother, came to your house and, while you were still sick, drew his hand back and drew a pistol on you?
A. Yes sir, it is a fact.

Q. And ask her if she didn't come once to my office, with her husband, and want an warrant issued, and I told them to wait until the next day?
A. Yes sir, it is a fact.

Q. And she insisted on having this complaint, that she was afraid of him?
A. Yes, I made the complaint because for about four years my brother had been abusing me.

Q. That on account of her marriage with this man, a Spaniard, he had always been abusing her, that she was afraid of him?
A. Yes sir, I told him that.

Q. And ask her if he didn't tell her that it might be that her brother had been drinking and that it would be all right soon, and she said that he wasn't a drinking man?
A. My brother didn't drink.

The witness was then excused.

- - - - - - - - - - -

LUKE SHORT, being first duly sworn, testified as follows:

Mr. Stephenson:- State your name.
A. Luke Short.

Q. Mr. Short, what do you know about this shooting affair?
A. I don't believe I am able to throw much of any light on this case, more than that after the shooting – I heard the shots and put my clothes on and I heard this woman that testified first here, crying, and I went across to the scene of the shooting. I found some people in the back yard and there were three or four .45 caliber pistol cartridges there, but I didn't touch them, I left them until the officers came.

Q. How many shots were fired, if you can tell?
A. I am not able to state just how many, but I think nine.

Q. Was there such a difference between the sound of the report that you could tell whether there were two guns being used, or not.
A. No sir, I couldn't tell.

Q. How far were you away?
A. Well, I were, I should judge, about 200 to 250 feet.

Q. And from where you were the reports all sounded about the same distinctness?
A. Yes, because they were in such quick succession. The first seven shots, I believe it were, were right (snapping his fingers) just like that and then there was an instant or two and then two more shots came and that was the last, and I didn't know there was an officer over there, so I put my clothes on, I heard some woman crying, and
put my clothes on, and when I got over there I saw Brooks there and I said to him, "Have you got the situation in hand?" and he said, "Yes". And I asked what was the trouble and he said, "He came out that door, shooting at me and I shot back". I said, "Didn't you hit him?" He said, "He fell right over there, but he isn't there now". A couple of soldiers came up from the camp, they had heard the shooting, and we searched all the back yard, but couldn't find him. And then Mr. Moore and Mr. Gray came up and so I said, "You boys have this situation in hand now", so I went back home.

Q. Were you along when they found him?
A. No, I had returned home.

The witness was then excused.

- - - - - - - - - - -

WILLIAM LANNIGAN, being first duly sworn, testified as follows:

Mr. Stephenson: Where do you live – state your name and tell us where you live.
A. William Lannigan, I live at 658 2nd St.

Q. How far is that from the place where Jose Mendez was killed?
A. I should judge about 200 feet.

Q. Did you hear the shots fired that night?
A. Yes sir.

Q. How many shots were fired, if you know?
A. I couldn't say positively, but I think there was 7 or 8.

Q. Could you tell whether, from the sound or otherwise, whether these shots were all fired from the same gun.
A. Well, one was kind of keen, and the other was very loud.

Q. Which one, the very loud one or the sharp, keen one, fired first?
A. It seems to me that the loud one or the sharp, keen one, fired first? A. It seems to me that the loud one was fired first.

Q. Do you know positively which one did?
A. No, I couldn't say.

Q. That is just your best knowledge of the matter?
A. Yes sir.

Q. Did you go over to the scene of the shooting?
A. When the shooting commenced I got up and turned on the light and Mr. Brooks called for one of us boys to come over, so I went over and asked Mr. Brooks what had happened. He told me that he went to arrest this man and he came out, shooting at him and he had shot him and he fell back off a house. We went out to the place
where he had fell and I seen some blood and the cartridges there around it.

Q. Do you know anything further about this affair?
A. Well, we searched for him then and there was a Mexican came over from Second Street, or First Street, and told one of the officers that he was over there, laying by his door.

Q. Did you go over to that place?
A. Yes sir, I went with the officers.

Q. Did you hear Jose Mendez make any statement as to what occurred?
A. He was talking, he spoke some in Spanish, but I couldn't well understand the Spanish language.

Q. You did hear a statement made, then, but didn't understand the statement?
A. yes sir. He was talking right along, but I couldn't make it out.

Q. You don't speak or understand Spanish?
A. No sir.

Q. Do you know to whom he made that statement?
A. To this gentleman here, I believe.

Q. Mr. Mervyn Moore, who has testified here?
A. Yes sir.

Q. Did you go on to the hospital with him?
A. No, he asked me to help carry him over to the automobile, and after that I went home and went to bed.

The witness was then excused.

- - - - - - - - - - -
MIKE KOSISKY, being first duly sworn, testified as follows:

Mr. Stephenson: State your name.
A. Mike Kosisky.

Q. Where do you live, Mr. Kosisky?
A. Right across from where this case happened.

Q. Did you hear the shooting?
A. yes sir.

Q. How many shots were fired, if you know?
A. I don't know exactly, eight or nine.

Q. Was there any difference in the reports of these shots, so that you could distinguish whether there were two guns being used, or not?
A. Yes sir, the first gun made a bigger noise and was shooting faster and the other gun was slower. I remember the last shots was pretty slow.

Q. Then one gun made a loud, powerful report, and the other a keener, sharper one?
A. Yes sir.

Q. So that you could distinguish the difference readily?
A. Yes sir.

Q. Which was the first report, a loud, strong one or a keen, sharp one?
A. The loud one.

Q. Did you go over to the scene of the shooting?
A. yes sir.

Q. Describe to the court and jury what you saw and found and heard, etc., there.
A. I put on a light and went outside and old man Brooks asked me if I was up, and I told him I was, and he called us over there. As soon as we went out there I asked him what had happened and he told me that a man was shooting at him and that he shot a couple of shots at hime [sic] and they knocked him down. We went on to the yard and by that time a couple of soldiers came from the line there, so that we all went back to the house together. We didn't find him there and went outside and looked in the back yards and seen three or four shells laying there on the ground, and some blood. We looked all around and could not find him and later on the officers came in the automobile and a Mexican came around from First Street to the officer and told him that a man was laying on First Street, at his door, so
we went down there and he was laying there by the door. So we picked him up and put into the automobile and the officers took him to the hospital. That is all I know about it.

Q. Did you hear Jose Mendez make any statement as to how this shooting occurred?
A. Yes, I did, but I didn't understand much of what he was talking about. As soon as we got to him he said something, but as he spoke in Spanish I didn't understand it well.

Q. The statement was made in the Spanish language?
A. Yes sir.

Q. And you don't understand the Spanish language?
A. No sir, I don't.

- - - - - - - - - - -

H. B. POOL, being first duly sworn, testified as follows:

Mr. Stephenson: State your name.
A. H. B. Pool.

Q. Where do you live?
A. 658 2nd Street.

Q. How far is that from the scene of this shooting?
A. Well, it is just across the street, catacorners, on the opposite corner.

Q. Were you at home at the time the shooting occurred?
A. Yes sir, in bed.

Q. Did you hear the shots?
A. Yes sir.

Q. How many shots, if you know, were fired?
A. Somewhere about 8, I think.

Q. Was there any difference in the reports of these shots? I mean, as to sound, as to whether you could tell whether there was two guns being used, or not?
A. I could not.

Q. Your attention was not attracted to that?
A. I got my head in at the window as soon as I heard the shots.

Q. Were you looking out at the time the shooting occurred?
A. I was sleeping in the window and I was busy getting inside.

Q. Did you see what happened there immediately before and loading up to the shooting?
A. I seen these officers flashing a light in at the windows and seen a Ford pull out of there a few minutes before.

Q. Did you see Jose Mendez come out of the door at the time the shooting began.
A. No sir, I didn't.

Q. Do you know anything that would throw any light on this question, as to who was to blame and how it began, and all about it?
A. I do not.

Q. Did you hear Jose Mendez make any statement after the shooting was over?
A. I heard him say something, but I didn't know what it was. I heard him muttering something as he lay there on the back door of this man's house, but I didn't know what it was. I heard him say something as we walked up.

Q. That is, he spoke in Spanish and you didn't understand it?
A. Yes sir.

The witness was then excused.

- - - - - - - - - - -

Thereupon the jury retired and, after due deliberation, returned the following verdict:

We, the jury, find the death of JOSE MENDEZ was caused by a gun shot wound, fired by Officer Ross Brooks, and we consider the same justifiable homicide.

- - - - - - - - - - -
STATE OF ARIZONA,
COUNTY OF COCHISE

I, GERTRUDE E. MASON, do hereby certify that I was called and sworn as the official stenographer herein and that the foregoing twenty-four pages of typewritten matter constitute and contain a full, true and correct transcript of the proceedings had at the inquest of the cause wherein the death of JOSE MENDEZ was inquired into, including all questions propounded to the different witnesses and their answers thereto, all documentary evidence and other exhibits offered and admitted in evidence, all objections made and exceptions taken by the respective counsel, and all rulings and judgments given and entered during the trial of said cause by the Coroner presiding at the inquest, and that they contain a full, true and correct transcript of the proceedings at the said inquest.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed my seal in said County and State this 5th day of July, 1916.

[signed Gertrude e. Mason] (SEAL)
Official stenographer called and sworn for said purpose.

- - - - - - - - - - -

In the Justice Court Of Fourth Precinct, Of Cochise County STATE OF ARIZONA.

In the matter of the Inquisition into the Cause of Death of Jose Mendez Deceased

VERDICT OF CORONER'S JURY.

STATE OF ARIZONA
County of Cochise

We the undersigned, having been summoned and sworn by R S Maclay, a coroner of Cochise, State of Arizona, to act as jurors in the matter of the inquisition into the cause of the death of Jose Mendez having viewed the remains and having heard and considered all the evidence presented, and being duly informed in the premises, upon our oaths do say that from the evidence before us we find the facts to be as follows:

That the name of the deceased was Jose Mendez; that he was of the age of about 24 years at the time of death; that he came to his death in (or near) the City ["or Town" crossed out] of Douglas, County of Cochise, State of Arizona, at about the hour of 4 o'clock, A. M., on the Fourth day of July, 1916, from (cause of death) from a pistol shot wound fired by officer Ross Brooks – and we consider the same justifiable homicide.

To all of which we certify by attaching our signatures hereto, this 5th day of July, 1916

Prentiss Richardson
John W. [Mostriss?]
Roy W. Welch
E. W. Davis
W. D. Maddix
James Wray
R. S. Maclay

Coroner Fourth Precinct, Cochise County, Arizona.

- - - - - - - - - - -

IN THE JUSTICE COURT OF PRECINCT NUMBER FOUR, COCHISE COUNTY, ARIZONA, BEFORE HONORABLE R. S. MACLAY, EX-OFFICIO CORONER.

IN RE THE MATTER OF THE INQUIRY INTO THE DEATH OF JOSE MENDEZ.

STATE OF ARIZONA,
COUNTY OF COCHISE.

I, GERTRUDE E. MASON, do hereby certify that I was called and sworn as the official stenographer to take the testimony of the witnesses produced at the inquest of JOSE MENDEZ; that I did receive the said testimony and take the same down in shorthand notes and did transcribe the same into longhand, and that the name is appended hereto.

WITNESS my hand this 5th day of July, 1916.

[signed Gertrude E. Mason]

-----------

Obtained from the Arizona State Archives, Cochise County, Justice of
the Peace Inquests, 23 Mar 1915 – 22 Dec 1916, Film file # 90.5.25.

Articles provided by .

---