Los Angeles herald., 1891-09-09
LET GO EVERYTHING.
About Thirty Old Cases
Ordered Dismissed.
District Attorney McLachlan
Says He will Not Move.
A Number of Distinguished Individ-
uals Relieved from Prosecution.
The Board of Supervisors Pat the Dis
trict Attorney on the Back and
Approve His ActiOn-The
Gases Dismissed.

District Attorney James McLachlan
made very radical move yesterday.
He went before Judge Smith in depart
ment one of the superior court and
moved to dismiss in the neighborhood
of twenty-five criminal cases which have
been pending in the courts for the past
two years and in which such notable Of
tenders as Henry Edelman, B. w. Edel-
man, j. M. Damron, L. B. Cohn,
"Bunco" Rose and others were defend
ants. The motion was granted and the
above gentlemen are now as free as air.
This motion has been in contempla-
tion for some time. The district attor-
ney has consulted great many lawyers
on the matter, and was advised that a
conviction was impossible. The Grim
inal judges Of the superior court were of
the same opinion and individual mem
bers of the board of supervisors recon-
mended the dismissal of the suits on the
grounds OF economy. Mr.. McLachlan
therefore yesterday prepared a state
ment OF the matter, from his point of
view, for presentation to the supervisors,
and the board passed resolution as
follows:
"On reading and fling the communi-
cation OF the district attorney of Los An
geles county, James McLachlan, bearing
date this 9Th day of September, 1891,
with reference to the charges now pend
ing against Henry Edelman, B. w. Edel-
man, l.. B. Cohn, Frank Lauterio and ].
M. Damron, wherein it appears to be the
opinion of the said district attorney that
it is useless to try said cases further, for
the reason that it is highly improbable
that conviction can be had therein,
therefore, be it
Resolved, That it is the opinion OF
this board that the district attorney has
done his full duty in the matter, and
that any further trial of the cases men
toned in said communication will be an
unwarrantable expenditure of the county
money, and we therefore recommend
that the district attorney dismiss all of
the said cases now pending against the
said Henry Edelman, B. w. Edelman,
l.. B. Cohn, Frank Lauterio and j. M.
Damron +"
Mr.. McLachlan, encouraged by this
recommendation, went Immediately be-
fore Judge Smith, prepared to make a
clean sweep.
sire this morning to make a motion that
all the informations against j. M Dam
ron be dismissed upon the ground that
the people have not sufficient evidence
to secure conviction. | need not state
to the court that Mr.. Damron was tried
In this court during the administration
OF my predecessor, and acquitted upon
a similar charge. Since the commence
ment of my administration, Mr.. Dam
ron has been tried upon two of these
charges. In each OF the last two cases,
the jury stood eight for conviction and
four for acquittal. All these charges
are similar in character, and the testi-
mony III one case is largely the testi-
mony in the other. The cases that have
been tried were, in the opinion of the
district attorneys Office, the strongest
cases that the people had against the
said defendant. | need not remind the
court that the testimony was largely de-
pendent upon one witness whose good
name and reputation was badly i'm
peached upon the trial, and unfortun-
ately for the people, no one could be
found to sustain the good name and
character of said witness. We have no
further or better evidence in this case
than has already been produced, and |
bIl6TGlUIS dch blIdU bllCy DC OLSIulSb0u,
for the reason above stated"
"Well, think myself" said the
court, "that you have done all that the
county could expect any officer to do. 1
coincide with your motion and think it
is the proper one to make, and for the
reasons stated those indictments are
dismissed and the bail exonerated."
Nov, | DESIRE" said Mr.. McLachlan,
"to make a further motion that all the
indictments against Henry Edelman be
dismissed upon the same ground. We
have tried three of those cases against
Henry Edelman. One was tried before
my administration, and the jury on that
case disagreed. Since the first OF Janu-
ary two of the other cases have been
tried, to the best of our ability, and we
have introduced all the testimony that
we had in those cases. In the judgment
OF the district attorneys Office, the cases
that have been tried were the strongest
cases that we had against Edelman, and
the character of the witnesses and the
testimony in each of the other cases is
substantially the same as that already
introduced on the cases tried. l there
fore ask that all the informations or in
dictments against Henry Edelman be
dismissed on the ground that we have
not sufhclent evidence TO procure con-
viction."
This motion was also granted.
Mr.. Mclaughlin continued; ''There is
an indictment now pending against B.
w. Edelman, charging him with forg-
ing the name of another to two-dollar
warrant. l have examined all the testi-
mony for the people in that case very
carefully, and l am satisfied that the
evidence at the command of the people
would not justify us in trying that case,
and for the reason that have no reas-
enable ground to believe that convic-
ton could be secured, as well as for the
reason that there is question about
the manner in which that case was re-
submitted to the last grand jury, prior
to my administration, l ask that that
-