100 years ago in Spokane: Another Maurice Codd retrial? A citizen group alleging witness tampering hoped so

A “self-appointed citizens’ committee” demanded a retrial and an investigation of the jury in the Maurice Codd subornation of perjury trial.

“We have heard rumors about the jury that justifies our demand, we believe,” said the committee spokesman, in a presentation to the county commissioners. “It is our belief that the jury has been tampered with in some way. I can’t say just what way they have been tampered with, but believe that an investigation should be made by the prosecuting attorney’s office. We also feel that it isn’t a good idea to stop in the middle of the stream, and so request that the case be retried.”

The jury had deliberated for a record number of days, and some jurors reported arguments bordering on violent. In the end, the jury acquitted five defendants but failed to reach a verdict on the other eight.

This citizen’s committee was the same group, about 20 strong, who had conducted an investigation into the original Maurice Codd murder trial, in which Codd was acquitted of tossing a Fort Wright soldier over a railing to his death. The committee’s report had been a factor in the prosecutor’s decision to charge a number of witnesses and attorneys with conspiracy of subornation of perjury.

Another member of the committee told the commissioners that “nine-tenths of the public feel the same as we do,” and added that “it is time that we were cleaning house for the sake of the city.”