Omaha daily bee., 1898-10-02
CONVERSE IN MORE TROUBLE
Disbarred Attorney is Now Indicted on a
Charge of Forgery.
HIS QUEER DEALINGS ARE COMING OUT
Manipulation of an Amdavit in the
Supreme Court Files the Basis of
the Presentment Returned
by the Grand Jury.
HIS QUEER DEALINGS ARE COMING OUT

Charles H. Converse OF Avoca, a former
we'll known member of the Pottawattamie
county bar, has been indicted by the district
court grand jury recently in session at Avoca
on the charge of forgery. The indictment is
sequel to the proceedings brought before
Judge Smith in the district court here last
December and which resulted in the dis
barment Of Converse. AT that time three
charges were brought against Converse.
The first was that he had procured and
had assisted in procuring fraudulent dis
position, which he introduced in evidence
in a case brought against him by Mrs. Mar
garet Foote The second charge was that he
had abstracted this deposition when it was
charged that 1t was fraudulent from the
files in the Office of the clerk of the district
court in Avoca. The third charge was that
he had altered an affidavit made by Court
Reporter o. C. CASTOR of Tabor before filing
it in connection with case he had before
the supreme court. 1t was on this last
charge that the grand jury returned an in
dictment against him. Converse was placed
under arrest, but furnished bail in the sum
of 81 900 for his appearance in court.
The exact charge is that Converse altered
an affidavit made by Court Reporter Castor
and which Converse presented to the SUI
, sheriff, against Jacob Sleek, appealed from
the district court of Avoca. Converse s
client was defeated in the district court
and an appeal was intended, but the proper
steps were delayed until 1t became necessary
to make a showing in explanation Of the
, delay in order to get the case filed with
the supreme court. This Converse, 1t is
, alleged sought to do by getting an affidavit
/ from o. G. CASTOR, court reporter for Judge
| Thornell, before whom the case was tried
to the effect that the transcript in the case
had been ordered Sin the spring" but that
CASTOR had been too busy to prepare it ir
| time.
| Mr.. CASTOR, when this affidavit, prepared
| by Converse was presented to him for his
| signature, called attention to the fact thai
the order for the transcript had been giver
| to him in June and he refused to sign the
affidavit unless 1t was altered to conform
| to the absolute facts in the case. Finally
a line was drawn through the words III
| the spring and above it was writer
June" the erasure and addition being
made in ink. II is charged that when the
affidavit appeared in the supreme court the
ink marks had been carefully scratched out
| leaving 1t to read that the application fol
| the transcript was made in the spring in
| stead of June. 1t was further charged thai
the affidavit was later secured by Converse
from the supreme court and that he ther
| erased the word Spring" and wrote II
| again the word June
The affidavit was produced in evidence al
| the disbarment proceedings. but at the con-
cluson OF the hearing mysteriously disap-
| peared from the court filings and no trace
Of it has since been gotten. At the time
| it was openly charged that Converse oil
some of his friends were responsible for its
disappearance in order that 1t should moi
be introduced in evidence against him ir
! case criminal proceedings should be
| brought.
The disbarment OF Converse was the firs
| in the history of the bar of this county
and attracted considerable attention
| throughout the state at the time.