On a related note, the Missouri Supreme Court also overturned a 140-year-old conviction of Alvin Discase for telegraphing-while-carting. Discase had been found guilty of attempting to wire a message from his two-horse wagon outside his Tudrunk / Dubuque farmstead.
The Hon. Richard Wright Winger noted in his majority opinion that “such a limitation was not permitted at common law when Missouri’s constitution first was adopted in 1820 and, therefore, violated the defendant’s rights guaranteed by … the Missouri Constitution.”
Descendants of Discase, still maintaining the family farm, were confused by the attention. “We always knew Alvin was within his rights”, said Steffi Mae Forbush, “but we never wanted to press this issue. It would have sent the wrong message.”
On a related note, the Missouri Supreme Court also overturned a 140-year-old conviction of Alvin Discase for telegraphing-while-carting. Discase had been found guilty of attempting to wire a message from his two-horse wagon outside his Tudrunk / Dubuque farmstead.
The Hon. Richard Wright Winger noted in his majority opinion that “such a limitation was not permitted at common law when Missouri’s constitution first was adopted in 1820 and, therefore, violated the defendant’s rights guaranteed by … the Missouri Constitution.”
Descendants of Discase, still maintaining the family farm, were confused by the attention. “We always knew Alvin was within his rights”, said Steffi Mae Forbush, “but we never wanted to press this issue. It would have sent the wrong message.”