The People of the State of New York v. . William B. Hayes

Summary

The Court of Appeals affirmed the conviction and eight‑year sentence for perjury, holding that the trial could proceed despite a pending civil suit, that the amended statute imposing a lesser maximum penalty was not an ex post facto law, that the wife’s letters were admissible after the husband disclosed them, that the judge’s charge about no presumption against a non‑testifying defendant was proper, and that committing a witness to jail in the jury’s presence was within the trial judge’s discretion.