Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-02-05
It Caused Much Surprise to the Po-
lice and Court Officials.
TEE PAST RECORD OF TEE SHEAS
The Alleged Assault on Mrs. Shea
Considered by the Jury.
THE COURT PROCEEDINGS

John Shea, announced In The Star Satur-
day. caused much surprise in police circles
and among those familiar with the case.
Shea was convicted Of the Illicit selling of
liquor and was sentenced August ~, 1893.
to six months Imprisonment in the work.
house. to pay $500 fine, and in default six
months additional imprisonment. The
Presidents pardon is conditional on the
convicts paying a fine Of 500 within ten
days after the date of the pardon. The case
Of Shea attracted much attention at the
time OF its trial. As shown in The Star, the
pardon was granted despite an adverse re-
port Of the U. s. district attorney on the
application for a pardon. The action of the
executive appears to have been based on q
report on the case made by the pardon
clerk c. F. Scott This report was as fol-
lows:
"Col. Wood on the 22d instant filed in
this department the affidavit Of Mrs. Shea,
wife OF the applicant. which is dated No
vember Z. 1888, and which was used before
the Commissioners. in order to obtain re-
lief through that body for her husband.
II one-half Of what is stated in said
afhdaVt be true. then John Shea and his
family have been brutally treated without
cause. and the officers SO maltreating him
and his family ought to be punished.
-Four Of the daughters Of John Shea have
in charge Of pardons) in this office and
have confirmed the statements made in the
affidavit Of their mother, have exhibited
the dress waist worn by the mother. which
still bears the evidence of the inhuman
treatment of said officer Police Sergt John
G. Daly), being stained with BLOOD the
daughter Annie. spoken Of in the affidavit
also appeared and stated that her dress
was torn from her neck to her waist by the
officer who arrested her and dragged her
to the patrol wagon. and the other sisters,
two OF whom. were present. gave in detail
an account OF the manner in which they
were dubbed and beaten. which. as I have
stated before. If true, is a disgrace to the
police force of the District.
'Of course, these facts may not be deem
ed pertinent to the application for the re-
lease of John Shea, but they do show that
some regard should be had for him and his
family. and / know of no better way Of
expressing the same at this time and re-
buking the action of said officers than by
granting to him at this opportune time a
full and unconditional pardon, and there
fore recommend the same"
President Cleveland wrote the back
of Mr.. SCOTS report the following indorse-
ment:
Granted on condition that the convict
pay a fine Of 500 within ten days after the
date Of his pardon. G. c."
The Police Surprised.
The action Of the President Saturday
came as a matter Of surprise, because Of
Shea's VIGOROUSLY bad record. and as a
natter Of regret because it will be taken
as a reflection. not only upon the police.
but also upon all connected with the trial
and conviction Of the man.
1t Is doubtful il any other family has SO
frequently appeared as defendants in the
Police Court of this District and 1t was
stated today by one of the clerks of that
court that he would be almost willing to
swear that not a year in the history of the
| a ed Ia mr. 70
Maria has not been brought before the
court on ore charge or other, and. further.
stated the clerk. seldom has it happened
that they were not convicted.
The police of the fourth precinct in which
Shea lives in South Washington give him,
and. indeed, his family, a most unenviable
reputation. During the past twenty-five or
thirty years, the officers state, the family
has been a never-ending source Of trouble
and annoyance, forever engaged in wrong
doing. About twenty years ago Mrs. Shea.
the wife of the pardoned man. shot and
killed Policeman Doyle, who attempted to
enter her house for the purpose of arresting
her. A warrant had been issued, 1t is said,
for her arrest, but the officer. having left
1T at the station house. attempted to enter
the house without II, when she shot him.
She was tried, but secured an acQuittal.
Since that time, it is said the family have
seemingly grown holder and more deter
mined in their disregard of the law. and
Shea's court, formerly known as Louise
alley, mostly owned by Shea, enjoys to this
day, 1t is said, the reputation of being
about the most lawless and disreputable
section in the District.
For many years Shea ran a saloon at 325
Maryland avenue. About two years ago
his license was revoked at the request of
the officers of the Colored Childrens Insti-
tute, at 1-2 street and Maryland avenue,
but II Is said that the sale of liquor has
continued there almost uninterruptedly.
Last spring Shea was fined $3.50 for selling
liquor there without license, and on the
night of August 1 last Sergt. Daley and a
number of the fourth precinct officers again
raided the place. The officers, twelve Of
them, found the place filled with men and
liquor being Sold
The Sheas, men and women, and some of
their friends desperately fought the off,
GERS, and the officers were compelled to use
their CLUBS in self-defense Mrs. Shea, il
transpired, fought Officer Kimpfer desper-
ately, and, falling, struck her head, cutting
it some. Her dress was also partly torn.
Shea's Trial.
She was tried in the Police Court a few
days later before Judge Miller and jury,
and in a trial lasting several days, in which
ne was ably and stoutly defended, was con-
victed. In his defense his family testified
and the alleged bloody dresswaist, said to
have been worn by Mrs. Shea at the time
of the raid, and which Pardon Clerk Scott
in his report to the President, stated bore
the evidence Of Sergt Days inhuman
treatment, was Quly SXn1DlteQ 10 the Jury.
That officer and his companions denied any
Ill treatment, and the jury, judging by
their verdict, apparently took little, If any
stock in it.
Subsequent Proceedings.
A motion in arrest of judgment and for
a new trial was promptly made, and as
promptly denied by Judge Miller, who, after
remarking that Shea had received a fair
and impartial trial, and had. in the courts
opinion. been most properly convicted. i'm
posed the sentence. Shea was sent to the
workhouse, and last fall his counsel en-
deavored to secure his discharge from Gus
tody through a writ Of habeas corpus. but
Judge Cole. before whom it was argued
at great length, dismissed the writ.
A few days ago Shea completed his term
of Imprisonment, and then sought to evade
the payment of the fine of $500 and the i'm
prisonn.ent in default by applying for a
pardon.
The Application for Pardon.
The application was referred by the De-
partment Of Justice to District Attorney
Birney. Mr.. Birney referred 1t to Mr.. s. T.
Thomas. the attorney for the District, who
referred it to his assistant. Mr.. Mason N.
Richardson, who prosecuted Shea. Mr..
Richardson and Mr.. Birney reported ad-
versely on the application, as stated in The
Star Saturday.
1t is understood that Mr.. Birney ac-
Quainted the department with Sheas past
Y,,So oil rto6 no