The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1892-07-13
JOHN HYER GUILTY.
Now He Is Probably Sorry
He Ever Came Back
from California.
FORGED CHECK FOR $3.50
He May Spend Ten Years in State
Prison-sad for His Young
Wife.

John Hyer. the young confidential clerk
for William Harney & Sons, who got
away with $4,000 of the firms money and
skipped to San Francisco, where he made
laughing stock of Detective Dalton, was
found guilty on an indictment charging
him with forgery, in the Court of Gen.
eral Sessions this moning.
Hyer is boyish young fellow with not
the slightest suspicion of beard on his
face and with clear blue eyes. He has a
high forehead and light hair and an in
telligent appearance. When he was led
into the court room this morning he sat
beside his counsel.
The court room was crowded and
noticeable fact was the appearance of
several young women, acquaintances of
Hyer and his young wife. During the
progress of the trial they sympathetically
gazed at the prisoner. The wife of the
prisoner, whose devotion to him ever
since his Imprisonment has been so
commented upon, sat within the railing.
She is a plump, good looking young
woman, with black hair and dark eyes.
Since young Hyer's incarceration at the
County jail she has visited him daily
She as remained at his cell door utter
ing cheering words for hours, and Some-
times would not leave the jail until ten
O'Clock at night. This morning, while
her youthful husband was on trial, she
welded palm leaf fan vigorously. When
ever anything damaging to tie prisoner
would be brought out, her dark eyes
would fill with tears.
THE PROSECUTION.
Assistant ProSecutorJOe Noonan looked
after the Interests of the State, and he
was assisted by Norman L. Rowe, WHO
has been engaged by Mr.. Harney to
prosecute Hyer. Mr.. Hs-ney is very bit
ter against his former clerk.
Assistant Prosecutor Noonan, in open
ing. stated the facts of the case briefly.
For a little over two
years." said he, "the defend
ant was employed by William Harney
as bookkeeper and cashier. He had re-
sDonsible position and was so implicitly
trusted by his employer that blank checks
already signed We're placed in his care.
and he was allowed to fill in the amounts.
On October % Hyer filled out one of these
blank checks for 81 ,275 made 1t payable to
his own order, endorsed 1t and had it GER
titled by the First National Bank. where
Harney Kept his account. Then Hyer
took the check to New York and de-
posted it to his credit in the New Amster-
dam Bank. where he then had an account
of 500. which ne had opened the day
before
On October 49, he filed In another
check. This amount was for So. $50, and
as the previous one The certifcation
of this check, as Hyer knew.
exhausted Harney's account and
he knew that provision would
have to be made to meet this check when
it was sent back from the New Amster
dam Bank. He therefore drew his own
check to Harney's order on October "a for
81, 1000 on the New Amsterdam Bank and
deposited it in the First National Bank
for Harney's account. When the check
was sent to the New Amsterdam Bank
his account was already exhausted and
the check was no good. The following
Monday at one O'Clock in the day Hyer
was away, when Mr.. Harney got word
from the First National Bank that the
81, 900 check was no good"
William Harvey and Messrs. Conklin
and Edge ofthe New Amsterdam Bank
were the States witnesses. Their testi-
mony corroborated the opening of the
Assistant Prosecutor and Judge Daily
made little attempt to shake their tes-
timony.
TECHNICAL DEFENCE.
Judge DAILY did not offer any witnesses
for the defence, but contented himself
with raising IL atechnical question and ask
ing the Court to instruct the jury to
acquit. He maintained that the indict-
ment was faulty inasmuch as it did not
specially allege what part of the docu-
ments stated in the Indictment were
forged. Judge DAILY also eontended that
because HYer had authority to fill in
checks given him by Harney there was
no forgery. In charging the jury, Judge
Lippincott instructed it to bring In YER
dict of guilty on the Indictment IL they
hal hot yph haT1 RI Arpr no oh ooIc
he intended to appropriate the amounts
to his own use.
After the jury had filed out Assistant
Prosecutor Noonan moved to try Hyer on
an indictment for embezzlement, but the
Court ruled that the Indictment which
had just been tried covered all there was
In the case.
The Jury was thirty minutes in reach-
ing its verdict. Judge DAILY said he would
appeal. Hyer may spend the next ten
years Of his life in States Prison.