Omaha daily bee., 1885-10-01
A LEGAL SINISTER SHOWN l'P.
The Curious Methods Of Zir,metaa1 rs-
lecse Thoroughly Exposed.
LAWYER eURR's pAo sREAK.
Steps Toward iTis nisinrnacnt Tn;,cn
by Attorney General L,csc 1'lc
Police Committees l;cPurs
Notes About ;iir C:ty.
lirou raa nrr'. liNconv lar.tv.l

liI.tiH4 W ii'' sil ~ i''itfi
cour, OF the state, AiLcrnc, GcHcral
Lcosc arose and asked permission from
the court to file an information against
l.. G. Brrr, praciiciug attorney. ior a..
sisling in the rClctsr 81 Alait Iimu'cir.
man, the murderer. ;'i'rf JuS,.cc tuhh
requested the attorney general 80 -,
The information, which ran as foil"ws.
In The supreme court vi hc STATE or Ntl.r ,,,;-,
a Adjourned July, A. -. th'l trTGi .hU
stale OF NChla,hR uu ii.c r'la;pn 1t Wm
-!:ccsc VS.. l.. G. Burr, Hn at'"yne, at law.
Your petitioner wrG'd most re~rcctfUUy
i.--That lie is The attorney general 0l the
state of Ncbfa.ki, and bS lawi IL nt;idc ii'
duty 10 prosecute and defend all actions pnd
prOcet dings in which The state shall " i'll
tcrc@iCd on II larty.
5Tiial on the &ih tlay Of October, y b.
1872. one Maltias Iimuugm was u"liSi, t"d
in the district court of kclncy county. NJ.
braska, of the crime of murder in the hrst de-
gree and sentenced to lie hanged, aud Surh
proceedings were had therein that said case
was brought To the supreme court for review,
and on the 18th day OF November \. ID. 1854,
the said Judgment and sentence cI the district
court OF kearncy county was in all things af,,
lirmcd, aud Tie said Zimmerman Ma, on said
day Icy this court, fcntencud to hC hanged uu
the 1itll day of ATril, 1850 and afterwards, TO
wit on the I'd day of March, \. -. lAN., a
VIII Oh clfUT WAS DS one ~ me aS"Gcluic iHs'
tices OF the supreme court, ISSUED out Of the
supreme, court of thc United States to tEi4
honorable court commanding His
court ;o to stay the :Hid proceed s,-
that the said ease OF Matthias Zimmerman vs..
the state of Nebraska is now pending in lhe
supreme court of the United S:atca Indeter-
mined
3-Tilat the said Zimmerman lad been
since January L. 1885, and long prior thereto,
by order OF this court, removed 10 the county
Jail of Brilaio county, SehinSkn, for safe
keeping.
4EYour petitioner would further represent
to the court that the defendant, J." c. Burr, Is
now and has been for several years iaSi
past ,pIactlcins attorney of this court and
as such attorney, has had The sole control of
the said case OF Iinnmcrdiat and Is still act
ing as the said attorney.
5-1iiai the said l.. G. Burr, ~ III attor.
ney OF said Zimmerman and Whiin the said
hs nted sStes did on f the 'ff ay " q" @ %
tenber, A. ID. 1885, in the county of Buffalo
and state of Nebraska, falsely, wilfully and
knowingly represent to one Marsh Savillc, Il
United States commissioner, located at Kcar-
ney, in Buffalo county, Nebraska, that he, The
satd Saville, rs such commissioner, had full
jurisdiction to release said Zimmerman on
bail, and lhat he, the said Savilte, had full
power and authority to issue writ of habeaS
corpus for the said Zimmerman against the
sheriff of said Buffalo county.
6--And The said Savillc, as such commits
sloncr, acting on the false advice of The said
l.. C. Burr, attorney at law, did OH the 18th
day of September, A. ID. 1855, issue his writ
of habeas corpus in favor of said Zimmerman
and against the sheriff of Buffalo county
sCmmpnmdins said sheriff M,,o I" groSmGe
man forthwith before hin, the
said Marsh Saylle, commissioner as afore-
said, and which said writ of haheas corpus
duly served on said sheriff OF nuGolo county
dn the said 18th day OF September, 1852, and
ON said day the said sheriff duly delivered
the said Matthias Zimmerman before said
commissioners, then and there acting under
the sole advice and counsel of the said l.. C.
Burr did ON said last named day discharge
said Matthias Zimmerman from the custody
and controlof the authorities Of the state Of
Nebraska
And yo,lr petitioner states that no notice
of any kind was served on the attorney gen
eral or any other person to appear in behalf
OF the state, but on the contrary, the whole
in secrecy by the said j. G. Burr, aud was
hut trick and device cOntriyed by the said
l.. c. Burr, attorney at law, with intent to
deceive and to obstruct the due course OF JUS
tce of the state authorities.
S--And your petitioner represents that the
said l.. c. Burr at the time he SO falsely ad-
yised the said United States commissioner as
aforesaid, well knew the said advice to bc
false, and contrary tolaw, and well knew that
the said United States commissioners had no
jurisdiction to issue said writ of habeaS cor
pus as aforesaid.
And your petitioner therefore prays that
the matters and facts herein stated be re-
ferred 10 Il committee of the members of the
bar of this court That said committee be in
structed to prepare the proper charges, and
that Il copy of the same be served on the said
court on the final hearing OF said charges
will make such order as may be Just and
equitable, to the end that the honor and rc-
spectabity of the legal profession may be
vindicated and the dignity of this court be
fully maintained. WILLIAM LEESE,
Attorney-General for Nebraska.
State of Nebraska, S.
Lancaster county,
l, VIM Leese, do solemly swear that be-
lleye the matters and facts stated in the fore
going petition to be true. WM. i'EEEs
before me this 30th day of September, 1855.
GUY A. BROWN
Clerk of the Supreme Court.
AT the conclusion of the reading the
Judges held II brief conversation and then
the chief justice made the following
order:
s'That l.. G. Burr be notified to appear
and answer the information by today mt
o'clock II. IN.
The bar was largely represented in the
court room and the expression seemed
unanimous against Burr's conduct. Not
u few of the lawyers present were free in
denoiincing the affair ms the most out
ra9eous which ever occurred in Ne
braska The legal liabilities of Burr,
Savillc, the commissioner, the sheriff of
Buffalo county, and the deputy United
States marshal, A, G, Hastings. who
served the writ of habeas corpus on the
sheriff, are also talked about, and il is
believed that steps will and should i'm
mediately be taken towards Furnishing
the offenders, ii an oilense within the
strict letter of AN elastic law could be
made against the men,
One well known lawyer said that he
would hate to he in Mr.. Burr's place
should that gentleman or the others con-
nected with the thing ever have occasion
10 visit Minden OF its immediate vicinity.
He believed that the reception rendered
by friends of the late sheriff, Jack Woods,
removed" by Mr. Zimmerman, the gem
tleman released under II 81, 900 bail bond,
doubtless II straw bond, - at that while
under sentence of death, would be most
hearty and enthusiastic. The lawyer
thought that they would remember it 10
the day OF their death.
The BEE reporter interviewed Attor-
ney General Leese on the Zimmerman
matter after the case was concluded. In
reply to the question as to what the su-
preme court would do in the matter of
ihe disbarment OF l.. c. Burr he. said;