The San Francisco call., 1897-12-25

common rumor at various times since
The arrest of Durrant. They are in eff
fact that the juror had stated his be-
lief that Durrant was a moral monster,
although no detail is spared in the pa
per filed.
The attorneys affirm with spirit that
these allegations were made by Smyth;
that his acquiescence in the verdict
was due to influence the belief had had
upon his mind and not to evidence in
troduced. They assert that they can
prove what they allege, depending upon
the testimony of men who stand high
in public esteem. They do not how
ever, explain why these men have so
long preserved silence and at last con-
ceived a willingness to break it.
An interesting feature of the new
phase is the statement that the Objec-
| tiOnable influence brought to bear on
Juror Smyth was exerted by the de-
| tective department of the city police,
then under the direction of Captain
Lees, now Chief. Against the Chief
they manifest a feeling of bitterness
! most marked.
The papers were filed so late, and
came as such a surprise, that a con-
! sensus of legal opinion could not be
| obtained. The idea, so far as ascer-
! tained, seemed to be that a last des-
! perate move had been taken in the
! hope of saving Durrant's neck, but
! that the result would be a bitter war
! between the detectives and the law
yers, which would rage until January
Z and then be eXtinguished, or at least
! rendered futile by the hangman.
John H. Dickinson, attorney for
! William H. 7. Durrant, the affiant and
! w. w. Foote of counsel were seen at
the Palace Hotel last evening. They
! did not hesitate to express the belief
| Shnalrincr fold fn
! Smyth emanated from the detective
! department of the San Francisco po-
J lice force. Both FOOte and Dickinson
asserted with unusual emphasis that
| they were in the contest to stay and
that the outcome of the contempt pro-
| ceedings would be disclosures of a
startling character.
| You may quote me as saying" re-
marked Mr.. Foote, that the state
mentS made in the affidavit will be cor
| roborated by four men of the highest
standing in the community-men OF
| known character and worth. They will
go on the witness stand next Tuesday
when the contempt case is called and
/ testify that Smvth told them the
stories contained in the affidavit. I am
in this case in the interest of fair trial
! by jury. When Dickinson told me OF
these facts L could hardly believe that
his information was correct.
! 10 my surprise ne wired me tO-day
that he had seen the leading men with
whom the juror had talked, and they
said that they had heard the same
story from the lips of the juror. Smyth
| admitted to them that he heard the
monstrous stories during the trial, and
we will be able to show from what
| source he got them. I wanted to see
| and talk with the men myself, and /
saw them this evening before the
| order for the appearance of Smyth
was issued by the presiding Judge of
! the Superior Court"
General Dickinson said: ST heard of
| similar reports during the trial, but
recently it came to my knowledge that
Juror Smyth had been talking of what
he had heard of Durrant's life aside
! from the charge against him. Mind
you, he heard these stories during the
trial when he was daily admonished
by the court to talk with no one about
the defendant. 1 am in a position to
! prove by witnesses of prominence in
the State that they heard Smyth re-
| late the stories.
I'VE will bring out facts in this pro-
ceeding before Judge Wallace next
Tuesday that will startle this commu-
nifty. There is no time now to smooth
matters over or fix things up. The
! chief circulator Of these stories will be
uncovered and brought to light"
Juror Smyth was seen at his resi-
dence last evening, but he denied that
he had been served with any papers OF
that he had made such admissions as
were set forth in the affidavit In fact
he declined to discuss the matter from
any standpoint.