Butte semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1886-1890, 1888-10-17
THE PROSECUTION EA1LEp.
Five Of the vagrancy Cases Tried Yester-
day-Four Acquitted and one Pleaded

rive OF the Vagrancy Cases Tried Yester-
day-Four Acquitted and One Pleaded
Guilty.
yesterday afternoon at 4 o'clock the
cases Of Territory VS.. A. A. Leclair and w.
=. McGee, arrested by the police the prev
lous evening on the charge Of being idle and
oisseiute persons and c~onsorting with the
solIed doves, came before Judge Lippincott.
III. Duffy defended. the Territory was un-
represented and Judge Lippincott had to
examine the witnesses himself. Theeyidence
Tor the prosecution raj confined to three
police officers, who testified to having seen
the men on the streets and in various re.
sorts at all hours for several weeks past.
On cross-examinatien they could notswear
the men had no means to enable them to
i've without work, nor that they might
nave been at work at odd times when they
did not see them. The testimony OF a res
taurant keeper was introduced to show that
one OF them boarded at his house and paid
for his meals. Judge Lippincott said the
charge had not been established thatthere
was no evidence to show that the defend
ants were Migrants, n he accordingly dis.
charged them.
At z o'clock in the Police Court the CITY
cases against 8. Fl. Hennessy and Frank
Cahill were tried. The Indictment against
them as against all the other defendants
IN these cases, known as the pinkey cases,
charged them with "having No visible
means of support, without employment,
and having no settled place OF abode and
with lettering around and living in and
about saloons, gambling houses and houses
OF i'll fame" The same general evidence
that had been introduced i'm the afternoon
was given again. There was nothing spe-
cific about it. The charges in the complaint
were not sustained. 1t was shown that
Cahill had a room for which he paid room
rent. The defendants were discharged for
want OF evidence. The rest Of the cases
against e. F. Yaunder, Peter Mccullough,
Charles Johnston, George 8. Simonds,
Charles Brown, M. Desjardines, F. Murray
and Charles Egan were postponed until "a
o'clock this evening.
cured. That against Lewis Gross, who
pleaded guilty and was sentenced to a fine
of $50 and costs.
Judge Lippineott protested against the
position in which he is placed by these ar
rests. He says he is in full sympathy with
the effort to suppress the evil, but requires
for a conviction that the rules of evidence
must be observed, and such testimony |
brought to support the indictments as is |
admissible in q court OF law. It places |
him in the attitude of being obliged to dis |
charge defendants where wholesale arrests |
been made in the face Of u strong
public sentiment that they should be con-
His course is governed by what |
he construes as the rules of evidence, and |
that the blame Of acquittal cannot
rest on his shoulders, but lis the fault OF |
the prosecution in not preparing the cases
properly.
Chief Stoner and his men are going ahead
making additional arrests. He is attend |
ing to what he conceives to be his duty re-
of the outcome.
1t is satisfactory to know, however, that
the cases to be brought up tonight an
effort will be made to sustain the COM
plants by further and more direct testi.
mony. 1t is also satisfactory to know that
some OF the obnoxious class intended to be
took warning and left town by the
train yesterday morning. II they
would all follow this example they would
themselves and the police much
The police have started. in to rid
the town OF this class OF characters and if
cannot do SO by convicting them they
will see if harassing them cannot acom-
plish it.
The burden of securing proof i'll these
CAGES rests with the prosecuting officer OF
the city, not with the police. At present
it seems as il the several officers connected
the administration of justice in this
were playing at cross-purposes.