Los Angeles daily herald., 1889-10-20
THE EDELMAN CASES,
A Ray I'm Judge Wade's Court ON
Technical Points.

Technical Points.
III. W. Edelman and his brother Ben
came before Judge Wade yesterday to
plead on certain indictments found by the
Grand Jury against them for forging
fraudulent county warrants and drawing
money from the treasury on the same.
The attorneys for the defense. George NJ
Holton. Henry T. Gage and s. M. White,
had objected to the indictments, as the
HERALD stated some weeks ago, on the
ground that the Grand Jury was not COM
patent to find these indictments, because
at the time of 30 doing that body was
Illegally constituted, inasmuch as several
of the members thereof had ceased to be
residents of this county, having been cut
off therefrom by the formation of the
county of Orange. One indictment was
singled out as test case, and the issue
was to be tried on that. The Grand Jury
had been summoned to appear in body
and answer such questions as the Court
might see fit to permit to be put to them.
When the Court convened in the morn
ing Mr.. Gage asked that the case be
continued to 2 p. M, which was granted.
At this hour the Grand Jury was all pres
ent, and the Secretary, George @. Knox,
was put on the stand to tell what he
knew about the finding of the indict-
ment. From o'clock until nearly was
consumed in as nice bout of legal fenc-
ing as ever was seen. The attorneys for
the defense wished to get at az much Of
the acts of the Grand Jury as possible,
and District Attorney Kelly wished to
let them have as little light as he could.
Motion after motion for postponement
was made; but the Court would not grant
them. The results of the whole proceed
ing were to dismiss all the Grand Jurors,
excepting the Foreman and the Secretary,
at an early hour in the afternoon, under
instructions to return two weeks from
that day to resume the investigation of
how the indictments were found. That
was result number one, rather negative
in it's bearings. Result number two was
to send for the jury box containing the
minutes of the Grand Jury, and to allow
Captain Knox to refresh his memory by
consulting the minutes. Result number
three, as the outcome OF this preliminary
one, was to ascertain that this particular
indictment was found on August 231,
and that the matter of these indictments
had been discussed at meetings held in
June, in July and in August, many dates
being given. Then came result number
four, and the thing the defense was af-
ter, the names of those who considered
this matter. At the final meeting when
this indictment was found there we're
sixteen out of the nineteen members of
the body present. Before q vote was
reached one member was excused, leaving
Is to vote on the proposition. OF these
three are alleged to be residents of
Orange county, and therefore not COM
petent to sit as grand Jurors. These are
o. P. Chubb, w. L. Brown and Charles
Beach. The contention of the defense is
that If these persons do not properly be.
long to the Grand Jury, then they were
present at it's meetings contrary to law,
and that the acts OF the body are there
fore illegal and void If all the examin-
atoms take as long as that of the Secre-
tary, the Edelmans will die before they
are tried.
1t is known that the Grand Jury has,
since the raising of this contention. filed
other indictments against all those i'm.
plicated in the warrant forgeries, with
these defects healed in the new indict.
ments. 1t is also rumored that the
Grand Jury has discovered nearly
seventy other fraudulent warrants on
which they might bring indictments if
all these are proven false. If this is
true, then H. w. Edelman may have to
undergo trial on nearly hundred seps-
rate indictments, and the trials may
bAve to be passed over to his grand
children to complete them.