Los Angeles daily herald., 1889-04-26
rrtscarriage of Justfce,

NntSc1ffha&e OH bWbkkCcs
There is a very general feeling in this
city that there was glaring miscarriage
of Justice in the charge of felony brought
against the bunco men who swindled
Judge John B. Haskins, OF New York,
out of large sum of money. At first
glance it appeared that the examination
failed through the oversight or negli-
gence of the District Attorneys office,
and that department has more or less
rested under such imputation in the
public mind. Mr.. Hsrdesty, who
conducted the prosecution, has felt
very restive under the imputation, and
Justly so. In order to make the matter
clear that he furnished all the testimony
that was reasonably necessary to raise a
case of probable guilt against the parties,
he has submitted to us the record of the
proceedings. The charge was winning at
play by fraudulent means, and certainly
the testimony of Judge Haskinss showing
how he was swindled, was sufficient to
sustain that charge. Over and
above this, the evidence of Glass and
other officers, in which the modus
operandi of the game was clearly
outlined, showed its swindling char
acter conclusively. The exam
lining magistrate seemed to rest his
decision aoquittingthe accused especially
on the failure of the prosecution to con-
meet Rose with the game by showing
that the telegram introduced on the pre-
vious examination contained writing in
his hand, as proved by experts from
writing in a book found in Roses room,
and which Rose had acknowledged was
his. This might be sufficient to
let Rose off, but why Hood
should have been also discharged
because of the failure of the prosecution
to sufficiently connect Rose with the
case, does not appear clear to our mind.
Hood was shown to have "roped" Has
kins into the game, to have handled his
money, and to have performed all the
deceptions and tricks of capper. He
surely was shown to have been suffic'
! iently connected with the fraud to have
| been sent up for trial. The Justice re-
fused to reopen the case to lei
the prosecuting attorney perfect
the testimony against Rose in
relation to the telegram, as perhaps
he had the right to do. But it seems
very strange that he should do go in the
face of the fact that he knew from the
testimony in the previous examination
that the connection could be proven, and
that to shut out this proof would cause
him to discharge the accused, and thus
compel miscarriage of justice. No doubt
the oversight of the prosecuting attorney
to introduce this testimony in its place
was blameable; but this does not, in our
judgment, excuse magistrate from per-
mitting the prosecution to perfect its tes.
timony, even at the laet moment.
The fact is, even admitting Rose
to have been properly discharged,
there was no lack of proof against Hood
to justify his commitment.
Miscarriage of justice in some matters
only affects the parties Immediately inter.
ested. But in cases of this kind they
affect the whole community. Los An
geles has been infested by bunco and
other sure-thing" swindlers, and
they have carried on theii
nefarious business with seem
ing impunity. At last, arrests are made,
and the whole machinery of the law ie
invoked in order to punieh the guilty
parties. Had the object of the prosecu-
tion succeeded, the bunco business would
receive a setback that would perhaps
free our city from the presence of the
wretches who prey upon the Ignorant
and the weak, and Los Angeles would
become a much safer city for strangers
than it has been. But what have we
seen? The victim of the bunco
shsrps, who had the courage and
the public spirit to prosecute
the men who had defrauded him, has
spent his time and his patience in re-
naming here for weeks to help out the
cause of justice, only to find all his ef-
forts defeated by puerile technicalities
and hair-spliting legal distinctions that
impose upon nobody. 1t will be long
till we find a man who is willing to
make the Ieacrifces that Judge Haskins
has made, to bring bunco swindlers to
justice in this city.