Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1894-12-01

THEY WORK UP BUSINESS FOR
IKE BIG CRIMINAL LAWYERS.
One Prisoners While Ac-
iuaily Locked III the Tombs lie
Made Great Deal Of Money

MttNt tDe mAny curious WAYS |
Of making a living in great
~ city ike New York. perhaps
the NOS. curious is that OF |
serving as procurer % lawyers.
Many criminal attorneys derive the
greater part OF their practice through
men who daily frequent the police
courts and other places where they are
likely TO secure eases to sell 10 their
patrons.
Supposing the case of young man
who has been arrested for assault. He
appears In court next dav, without
counsel. AMI s remanded for future
hearing. 4 procurer. sitting on =
front bench III the court room, has
been An attentive listener to the pro
cee,iines, and. when the Young man is
taken back TO prison, endeavors TO
com mun:cate with him, SO as TO find
ont the naraes of the friends upon
whom he can RELY in his II ouhle FIRE.
Quently the prisoner has friends pres
ent In the court room. IN which case
the business Is easily managed. An
experienced procnrer can tel who
they are by their interested counter
ance and whispered conversation when
the prisoner Is brought to the bar.
TO make their acquai ntance Is a SIM
pie matter. Then, by working upon
their sympathies and insinnating him
self into their confidence, he persuades
them to contribute a specified sum
| toward the defense of their friend,
agreeing to attend to all the details Of
the affair himself
II the prisoner has no friends in the
| court room when he is brought up
| Tor examination, 1t Is a difficult mat
| ter to secure his case without the as
sistance of an official of the prison.
Procurers who understand their busi-
ness are never without influence in
this direction Having secured con-
troll of case. the procurer's next
move is to sell it to the lawyer who is
willing to pay him the largest COM
mission for obtaining it. SO he goes
about from lawyer to lawyer until he
makes the best bargain he thinks is
possible, and there his connection
with the business generally ends. But
if the case turns ont to DE one Of in
portance-that is, If the prisoner is
held for trlal--he often obtains fur
ther remuneration for hunting up
witnesses, serving subpenas and engag-
ing in other work connected with it.
One of the most successful procurers
who ever did business in New York
was q lawyer named Reavey, who q
few years ago was under sentence to
serve five years in State prison for
pealed, and he was confined in the
Tombs, awaiting the decision of the
Court, when it occurred to him that he
might do a profitable business among
prisoners by securing their cases for q
friend Of his, outside the prison, who
was shrewd criminal lawyer. kind
of partnership was entered into be.
tween the two, by which Reavey wa
to get a certain percentage on all
business obtained by him inside the
prison. This arrangement proved
highly remunerativs to Reavey, and
with the money SO made was enabled
to procure himself many comforts
while confined in the Tombs. II.
conducted his business in the follow.
ing manner
At the times appointed for the ex
! ercise of the prisoners he would come
out Of his cell and begin to WALL
briskly around the corridor, pcerins
into the faces of all the prisoners h.
passed. Presently his eyes would rest
upon the face of a new arrival In tins
prison. Unless the man was q hard
ened criminal, he would probably b.
in very detected mood. and stan'
sadly in need of sympathy. Reavey
was prepared TO give him an abun
dance of it. Approaching him with 4
kindly smile, he would say:
"Well. my friend. what trough
you to this sad place?
II the prisoner were inclined to b.
Suspicious, one glance at Rcavey'
benevolent face and elegantly dresse
figure was sufficient to allny ever
doubt in his mind 1t would not b
long before Resvey had the full par
ticulars Of his story. II the crime 10
which the man had been arrested ha
been a small one, he would look grav
and say that II was a very serious o!
fence, and that it would require th
services Of very skIltul lawyer {
keep the maa ou, of State Prison i
| fact there was 10 o.e whom Z
tReaveyl knew Who ~as competent {
manage such a case, bu; - gIvia
the name Of his partner outside IL
Tombs Bu; Il the crime were grav
one. be would make light of i, sayia
encourAglngly
Il. certainly looks bad on the .ac
0: IT. and the evidence would rrpbAbl
convlc: you: bat the case would b
easy for ls~ye, smar. enough I
take sdvsntags Of the t.chnicalisies {
the law Be advised by me and eu
ploy -. He hAs go: many a pot
fellow on. Of worse scrape than ~
3 are IN"
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