State v. Linkhaw

William Linkhaw attended the Methodist church in Lumberton, North Carolina.[1] He sang hymns very loudly and very poorly.[2] Deviating from the correct notes, he continued singing well after the congregation reached the end of each verse.[3] This provoked various reactions from his fellow congregants: one portion of the church found Linkhaw's singing hilarious, while others were considerably displeased.[4] On one occasion, the pastor simply read the hymn aloud, refusing to sing it because of the disruption that would inevitably occur.[1][5] The presiding elder refused to preach in the church at all.[2] Upon the entreaties of a prominent church member, Linkhaw once stayed quiet after a particularly solemn sermon.[5] Yet he rejected the repeated pleas of his fellow congregants to remain silent altogether, responding that "he would worship his God, and that as a part of his worship it was his duty to sing".[6]

A Robeson County grand jury handed down a misdemeanor indictment against Linkhaw, charging that he had disturbed the congregation.[7] The case went to trial in August 1872,[1] with Judge Daniel L. Russell – who later was elected governor of North Carolina – presiding.[8] Several witnesses, including the church's pastor, testified that Linkhaw's singing disturbed the church service.[1] One witness, being asked to describe the way in which Linkhaw sang, gave an imitation of it.[5] Singing a hymn in Linkhaw's style, the witness provoked what the court described as "a burst of prolonged and irresistible laughter, convulsing alike the spectators, the Bar, the jury and the Court".[7] Witness testimony also showed, however, that Linkhaw was a devout and spiritual man, and the prosecution admitted that he was not deliberately attempting to disrupt worship.[2] Linkhaw asked the court to instruct the jury that it could not find Linkhaw guilty unless it found intent to disturb the service.[9] Russell, however, rejected this request, ruling instead that the jury only needed to determine whether Linkhaw's singing actually disrupted the service.[7] Russell contended that a lack of intent did not excuse Linkhaw because he presumably should have known that disruption would result from his singing.[9] The jury found Linkhaw guilty, and Russell fined him one penny.[1]

Justice Thomas Settle wrote the court's opinion in State v. Linkhaw.

Linkhaw appealed the judgment against him to the North Carolina Supreme Court; the case was heard in 1873.[1] In an opinion by Justice Thomas Settle, the court unanimously set aside the verdict.[10] The opinion accepted the jury's ruling that Linkhaw had indeed caused a substantial disturbance.[1] It also agreed with Russell that intent can generally be presumed when the defendant could have anticipated his actions.[11] However, the court observed that the prosecution had expressly admitted that Linkhaw had no malicious intent.[1] The justices therefore held that the presumption, being contradicted by uncontested evidence, did not apply.[10] The court issued a writ of venire de novo, nullifying the jury's verdict.[11] Settle closed his opinion by noting that "[i]t would seem that the defendant is a proper subject for discipline of his church, but not for the discipline of the courts."[1]

A 1964 article in the Charlotte Observer declared that Linkhaw's "lousy singing made [North Carolina] legal history".[5] When asked in 1882 why they had chosen to reprint the already-old Linkhaw case, the Ohio Law Journal's editors responded that "[t]he case itself, aside from its importance as an authority, is of great interest as an example of ludicrous circumstances upon which are predicated both civil and criminal cases at law."[12] The Green Bag, a legal magazine, published one poem about the case in 1889[13] and another in 1906; the latter contained the lines "And that, although the proof did show / That Linkhaw's voice was awful / The judges found no valid ground / For holding it unlawful."[14] The Raleigh News & Observer opined in 1942 that Linkhaw was "the funniest case ever tried in the Supreme Court of North Carolina".[15]

• Text of State v. Linkhaw, 69 N.C. 214, is available from: CourtListener  Casetext