Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1899-06-09
WOULD NOT HOLD
The Perjury Charge Against
Geo. Bl0dgett Dismissed.
THE COUNTY ATTORNEY
Also Orders the Discharge of Albert
BertSch and Gives His
Reasons for It.

OF the charge OF perjury ana Is once more
as free as clam chowder at a beer hall
opening.
When Judge Clancy convened his de-
partment of the district court this MORN
ing the county attorney for and was
granted cave to not file an information
against Blodgett. In making the request
he in substance said:
The defendant, George A.. Blodgett,
was ARRESTED on or about the Sth day of
April, 1899, charged with the crime of
perjury. The complaint in the case was
laid before E. A. Nichols, a justice Of the
peace. 1t recited that at the county Of
Silver Bow on or about the 9Th day of
April, 1899, Blodgett committed perjury
in falsely swearing before one j. c. Gal
braith. a notary public, in an affidavit
touching matters then and there in con-
troversy in a suit pending on appeal
in the supreme court of the state of Mon
from the Honorable William Clancy,
judge of the district court of the second
judicial district, wherein James Forester
and others We're plaintiffs and the Boston
and Montana Mining company and 9TH
ers were defendants, that he (the said
George A.. BlOdget) had seen William
Clancy leave the court house at $40
o'clock a. M, and proceed to the whole
sale liquor house of one H. l.. Frank on
East Broadway and that while Mr..
Clancy was in said liquor house one John
MacGinnis, one of the plaintiffs in the
said action on appeal to the supreme
court. went into the store and there re-
manned about thirty minutes; hat Mr..
Clancy remained in the liquor store and
about the $ treets of the city until about
the hour Of 3 o'clock, p. m.. when he re-
turned to the court house and remained
in his chambers until $3.50 O'clock, when
he proceeded to the McDermott hotel,
from which place he proceeded to the
west side Of t he city Of Butte.
The affidavit was material in certain
aspects, but in these respects its truth-
fulness is not assailed, viz, hat Honor
able William Clancy was not in his cham
bers at certain hours set up in the affida-
Wit. The testimony adduced on the pre-
liminary hearing rebutted the affidavit
only in SO far as it tended to show
whether or not Honorable William Clancy
was in the liquor store Of H. L. Frank,
and whether the said John MacGinniss
was in the said liquor store between GER
tain hours on the morning referred to-.
These statements in the affidavit, con-
ceding them to be false and untrue, were
not in any respect material to the in
quiry pending before the supreme court
Of the state Of Montana. The defendant,
George A. Blodgett, was contradicted by
the witnesses for the state upon this
point. He la bound over to the district
court.
I'm prosecutions for perjury a convic.
ton cannot be had on the testimony of
less than two witnesses, and while the
testimony is sufficient Upon this p ONT
to go to a jury, from the standpoint Of
the materiality of the testimony, the ease
u-n11ll he vyhn11y, ln11;vr -, ~o1rjt r ,-,.
not in any respect material whether the
judge aforesaid entered the store Of H.. L.
Frank, or any other place: nor was it
material whether shortly afterwards, one
of the parties to the suit. viz, John Mac
Ginniss, entered said place; and while
these statements, set forth in the affida-
Wit, We're doubtless made with the i intent
to reflect upon the said parties by in
%nuendo, still they could not, in any way,
become material before the supreme court
upon the motion then pending.
There are some cases that hold that
anything testified to by a witness, even
where it is incompetent. which tends to
the action of a court, would be
considered material, but those cases have
not the force and strength sufficient to
Warrant the county attorney in fling an
information and going to trial upon the
facts testified to at the preliminary hear
In granting the request the judge said
that while some hints had been made by
Blodgett that We're not right he cared
nothing particular about them. In the
face of what the county attorney had
said he believed it would be hard
enough to prove that B%lodgett had unin-
tentionally done wrong, and he would
therefore grant the request.
After deliheratinp about Az minimize
last evening, the jury in the case of the
State against Henry Roach, charged
with participation in the burglary of II.
j. Moran's store at Centerville on the 21st
of February, returned a verdict of guilty.
The defendant will be sentenced tOmor-
row. but instead of being sent to the
penitentiary will probably go to the re-
form school to keep Michael Driscoll, his
partner, company. Roach is only II years
old, but is rather large for his &C..
Young Albert Bertsch, who was arrest
ed last week on the alleged assumption
that he knew something about the rob-
berry of Schiffman's saloon at Gregson
Springs several months ago, vas dis
charged from custody by order of the
county attorneys Office yesterday after
non as there was nothing to show that
Bertsch had anything to do with the job.
The order for the release was issued by
-. Il. hcIy, CAllcl Utpulv 10 the PUBIC
prosecutor, after a conference with
Bertsch and his attorney, John N. Kirk.
Bertsch told Mr.. Kelly that he was at
work and any time the authorities want
ed him to answer a trumped-up charge
they could find him. He gave the num-
Der of his residence.
Mr.. Kirk told Mr.. Kelly tina there was
not a bit of evidence to connect Bertsch
with the crime and unless he was re-
leased right away he would at once be-
gin habeas corpus proceedings and ac-
complish the job with an alacrity that