Swift Justice
By Retired Judge Bob Wefald
In Minot on Sept. 1, 1958, Glennis
Johnson, a member of the Minot Senior
High School Class of 1959, was aiming an
“unloaded” rifle with a telescopic sight.
He lived close to the courthouse and high
school. He was looking out of a room in
the basement of his house that was high
enough he could clearly see down the
street. He “drew a bead” on the handle of
a garage door on a building diagonally
across the street.“He flipped the bolt
on the weapon, ramming it home, then
instinctively pulling the trigger” as two
boys riding tandem on a bicycle came
into view from behind a hedge. Tragically,
the rifle was loaded. Both boys were hit
by the one bullet, and one was killed.
In what had to have been record time,
Johnson was charged in a criminal
complaint on Sept. 29, 1958, with
manslaughter in the second degree. He
was arraigned on Oct. 9, 1958. He pled
not guilty on Monday, Oct. 20, 1958,
and his trial started that same day and
concluded on Tuesday, Oct. 21. He was
found not guilty by a jury of six men and
six women.
The case was tried by the Ward County
States Attorney Leroy “Joe” Loder.
Representing Johnson was Minot attorney
E.J. McIlraith. Judge Eugene Burdick
tired the case. In my career I never met
McIlraith, but I knew rather well Joe Loder
and Judge Burdick.
There are several interesting aspects of this
case. Johnson was tried by a 12-member
jury, which today does not happen with
juveniles, unless they are waived into adult
court. Nevertheless, the Minot Daily News
story on Oct. 21 reported Judge Burdick
followed the law: “At the trial of a minor
under the age of 18 years charged with any
crime, the judge, prior to bringing of the
minor into the courtroom, shall clear the
same of all persons, except officers of the
court, attorneys, witnesses, and relatives.”
Although it must have been common
practice at the time, unlike today when it
would not happen, the news article also
published the names and cities in Ward
County of all 12 jurors.
From the date of the crime on Sept. 1 to
Oct. 21 when, as reported by the Minot
Daily News on Oct. 24, “a jury found
Glennis Johnson, a 16-year-old Minot
youth, innocent of manslaughter in the
second degree,” a total of 51 days elapsed.
Swift justice, indeed!
A few of you may recall in 2010, during
my last year on the bench before retiring
at the end of my second term, I wrote my
memoirs called Moments. Some of you
may have received a copy for a payment
of $10 to the State Bar Foundation. I have
now written the sequel titled Moments
Later, which will be self-published by the
end of August. This story is in one of the
chapters titled “Killer I Have Known.” For
those of you who purchased a hard copy of
Moments from the State Bar Foundation,
and who would like a hard copy of
Moments Later, 100 hard copies will be
given to the State Bar Foundation to sell at
$10. It is anticipated that both a digital .pdf
version of the 2nd edition of Moments and
the .pdf digital version of Moments Later
will be available for download from the
SBAND website for a payment of $5 to the
State Bar Foundation for each digital book.
Call for Submissions
The North Dakota Law Review Board of
Editors would like to extend an invitation for
submissions of written work for publication in
Volume 96. The board has been fortunate to
receive many submissions from UND School
of Law alumni and North Dakota practitioners
in past years, and we would like to continue
the tradition of showcasing the work of
esteemed professionals that serve our state.
The North Dakota Law Review serves as the
exclusive journal of SBAND and is dedicated
to providing critical analysis of legal issues and
developments in the state and region.
Should you have any questions or be interested
in submitting an article for review, please email
Outside Articles Editor Katie Winbauer at
[email protected] or [email protected].
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