Earl Griffith
NEVADA STATE JOURNAL
May 4, 1947
SMITH, YANEY CUSTODY TAKEN BY CALIFORNIA
2 Youthful Suspects To Be Jailed Separately
Louis Franklin Smith, 29, and Harry Gene Yaney, 17, were removed to jails in California yesterday afternoon. Yaney has been held here since April 30. Smith was returned to Reno in route to Downieville, Calif., following his capture near Los Angeles last Sunday.
Both will face murder charges at Downieville for the fatal shooting of Deputy Sheriff Earl Griffith, which occurred April 29, in a gun battle on Purdy Highway. Wounded in the affray was Deputy Tom Lambert, who is reported “improving steadily” from gunshot wounds of the abdomen and shoulder.
July 15, 1947
Death Penalty Is Demanded In Sierra Trial
First Witnesses are Heard in Downieville
District Attorney Alfred P. Lowey called for a first degree murder conviction in his opening address today to a jury trying Louis Franklin Smith for the murder of a deputy sheriff near Reno April 29.
Such a conviction would carry an automatic death sentence.
Lowrey outlined for the jury … the Susanville service station robberies preceding the shooting, the shooting affray on the Reno-Susanville highway, and Smith’s capture almost a week later near Newhall, Calif.
Deputy Sheriff Earl Griffith was shot and killed and Deputy Sheriff Tom Lambert was seriously wounded when they stopped to investigate a parked car just over the line in California.
Lowery told the jury that Smith shot Griffith after the latter had ordered him out of the car and while Lambert was searching 17 year old Larry Yaney in from of the machine. The attorney said Lambert rushed to the defense of the other officer, but in the ensuing struggle on the dark highway did not shoot for fear of hitting Griffith. Instead, he struck Smith over the head several times with the butt of his gun. Yaney fled during the fight but gave himself up a few hours later to Reno army base officers.
Smith…was captured by southern California highway patrolmen after eluding one of the largest posses in years in the Reno area. He lived two nights in desolate hills near Reno before obtaining an automobile near Verdi.
Plaque Location & Image
Center Wall Column 8 Row G View The Plaque