Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1882-12-20
DICKsoN,s DEFENSE.
Proceedings In the Police Court To-,

80 81
The governments having concluded It's case in
the Dickson hearing before the Police Court.
| the defenseiopened their case this morning.
Mr.. CupPy said that If the court and the gov
eminent counsel lAhought that there was any
| need for evidence on their part they would 60
on. s5f4sr
The court said that he never made such an
intimation to counsel.
Mr.. DicAsOn's Testimony.
Mr.. VIM. Dickson, the defendant in the case, was
then called to the stand. He testified that he
had resided in this city since 1862, and was an
insurance and real estate agent.
"You are charged" said Mr.. Smith, "with
corruptly influencing Mr.. McNelly, one of the
star route jury. What did you do Of such a
character ?"
g know Of nothing" said the witness, sthat
would warrant such q construction"
WHAT OCCURRED IN THE STAR ROUTE JURY
ROOM.
/ The witness then narrated what occurred In
the jury room after the jury retired. First, a
discussion arose as to the propriety Of reading
the indictment, and it was decided that in all
questions arising majority vote should deter
mine 1t. Two informal ballots were taken; 4 vot-
ing not guilty and guilty. After this Mr.. Nc
Nelly, in somewhat violent temper, said
That he had been approached by parties who tried
to influence him through his relatives in the in
terest OF one party. The witness told him that
he ought to have called the attention OF the
court to 1t. The discussion ran on and was gen.
eral, and then Mr.. Mccarthy called attention to
an item in a paper saying he had been ap-
preached, which he denied. Then Mr.. Holmead
spoke OF being approached by F. H. Fall. Then
Mr. Mclean, in spirit Of curiosity, as witness
tnought, asked him what the facts
were in his case. The witness said he had writ
ten down the facts at his house one night with
the intention Of presenting them to the court.
He told Mr.. Mclean that he had this paper.
Several OF the jurors desired him to read it. He
said distinctly that he would with the consent
OF the jury, but not with the intention Of in
fiuencing the jury.
VOTE WAS TAKEN
upon reading the paper to the jury. Mr.. Nc
Nelly then made some objection, and another
vote was taken, and as witness firmly believed
the consent Of the jury was unanimous, Mr.. Nc
Nelley withdrawing his objection. The latter
said something about the paper not being true,
and the witness said that the facts stated therein
were true, although he would not vouch for the
man Bowen. The witness said the paper read
was written on the night Of August %. when
the facts were fresh in his mind, and he had
| since sworn to it.
The witness told Judge Wylie about the mat
ter August 25th. Previous to this the contents
OF the paper had been discussed with several
jurors onthe street. He told Mr.. McNelley first,
and also Tobriner, Cox and Holmead knew Of
portions of 1t.
when the Jury returned their verdict, "
asked Mr.. Smith, what did you do3"
ION the day before" said the witness, ''the
Judge referred to rumOrs Of approaches made to
members OF the jury, and condemned them
harshly. Witness arose in his seat and said at
the proper time he would make q statement.
When the jury came in he again made this offer,
but the judge said that judicial investigation
would be made at the proper time.
The day afterward he saw in the papers that
Assistant District Attorney Moore had charge
OF the bribery investigation, and went at once
to his office to see him, but found him out, and
after several attempts found him, and made his
sworn statement.
JUDGE WYLIE AsTONIsHED.
The witness said that when he first told Judge
Wylie about the matter he was astOnished and
dazed, and complimented him on reporting it 80
promptly. He told him to be cautious about
the matter, and to advise the other members to
be on their guard
"YOu acted In pursuance Of this advice p
asked MI. Smith.
"Strictly So" was the reply.
" Did you make inquiries Of other jurors
about attempts to brfbe?" asked Mr. Smith.
Early in the trial." said the witness, ''Mr.
Holmead told me of the curious actions Of Mr..
Fall. Mr.. Doniphan also told me Of an ap-
proach made to him."
The witness advised the former to be cautious
and the latter to report to Judge Wylie, which
he did. Several jurors spoke to witness about
being followed about the streets by detectives.
That was the experience ofthe witness.
BOwENs LIKENESS TO DICKSON.
"When did you first know Henry A. Bowen?''
asked Mr.. Smith.
II think some eight years ago, when he was
an internal revenue agent. He asked for an in
PRODUCTION to me, as he said he had often been
taken for me-"
THE MEETING AT DRIVERS.
The witness then narrated the circumstances
of the evening Of August 23d, when Bowen
alleges that Dickson made the proposition to
him. The witness said he saw Bowen for the
first time for many years at Drivers, August
18th, and at that time Bowen introduced him to
Judge Hoover. He talked with Bowen and
others of the party about fifteen minutes and
then left the place.
THE NEXT TIME HE MET BOWEN
was the night Of August 3d. He had been suf-
fering from an attack of sickness during the
two previous days. On the afternoon of that
day he met Mr.. Driver on the street, who in
vited witness to come and dine with him that
evening. He reached there shortly after six
o'clock. and sat down to dinner in the saloon
with Mr.. Driver. They had been seated
there about ten minutes when Bowen came
up and unlimited sat at the table. He invited
him to dine, but Bowen declined saying he had
just dined with several gentlemen up stairs
Then laying his hand on witness knee, he said:
81 have been wanting to see you; want to
talk to you on these star route matters" The
witness told him that he had heard that he
wanted to see him, and then witness said that
he could not talk with him on this subject.
Bowen said, 81 have been told that l could"
The witness said: 81 turned to him rather
snappishly and said, You are mistaken, sill, ,
and then turned from him. The conversation
had been conducted In a rather low tone, and
did not know whether Mr.. Driver overheard or
not" Shortly after some one called Bowen.
and witness turned to see who it was, and saw
Brewster Cameron standing there. Bowen and
Cameron talked together about ten minutes,
and then Bowen came up and said, Excuse
me" and then went off with Cameron.
Mr.. Driver laughed and said to me. "What is
the matter with your friend?" l replied, "Oh! l
don't know" did not pay much attention to
him. guess he had been drinking.