Here’s  a quick way and inexpensive way  that you  might find out about your felonious ancestors and relatives:

1.  Go to Google Books, and type in “State  v. [name]” and see what comes up.  Try these variations:

• For some states, type in “People versus [name]“
• For Pennsylvania, Kentucky and Virginia, “Commonwealth v. [name]“
• For British, old Canadian, and old Australian cases, type “R. versus [name]“
• For  cases in U.S. federal courts, including military courts-martial,  “United States v.  [name]“

2. If the case is older than 1923, its appellate report likely may be found on Google Books without copyright restrictions.

3.  If the case is a newer case,  note the citation given and take it to your local county law library or other public library that has legal sources, and ask the law librarian to find it for you.  The copyright notice not withstanding, you are entitled to make at least one copy for your personal research.

Ladies and Gentlemen, start your search engines!