The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1900-10-23

At 2.4J o'clock yesterday afternoon
the case of the commonwealth against
Common Councilman James j. Grier
was submitted to the jury. At mid
night they were still out and seemingly
engaged in a very brisk argument.
The whole day up to the hour of
the jurys retirement was consumed
by the summing up of the attorneys
and the charge of the court. Mr..
O'Brien and Mr.. Torrey divided three
hours of the morning session between
them. and Judge Edwards took the
first hour Of the afternoon session to
deliver his charge and pass upon the
law points submitted by the defense.
Mr.. O'Brien opened the summing up
for the defense by calling attention
to the Importance OF the case and the
great responsibility the law places
upon juror. He reminded them that
they had taken an oath to be guided
alone by the law and the evidence and
cautioned them against framing their
judgment on anything other than what
came from the witness stand.
He read the law on bribery and
showed how it was possible for a
councilman convicted Of this crime to
be sentenced to pay fine Of $4,000,
spend five years in Jail and be forever
barred from holding public Office.
The defendant was being tried on
the charge of receiving a bribe of $40.
Mr.. O'Brien went on to say. He did
receive the money and it was proffered
to him as bribe, but it was no trans
gresson of the law. He took the
money, turned it over to his attorney
with a view of having the briber ar
rested, and now he brings the money
into court The reference to the sum
of $1,400 must be lost sight of in
framing the verdict. Mr.. O'Brien ex-
planned. All that Grier was charged
with in the case at bar was accepting
a bribe of $40.
Mr.. OBrien severely criticized the
kind of reform that "debauched" Of
ficials, and referring to the men who
were behind the prosecution said they
must have forgotten the words of the
master. Lead us not into temptation -
CRITICIZED DETECTIVES.
Then he proceeded to pay his respects
to the detectives and detective evil
dence, and pointed out how they were
contradicted at almost every turn bv
the defendants witnesses. Their story
was concocted one, Mr.. O'Brien con-
tended, and as an evidence of this he
pointed out that not one of them would
attempt to give a fact without first
digging it out of his memoranda book.
The statement that Harris laid $50
on a table at Rohrwasser's for Grier
was characterized as unreasonable, and
that it was not true was evidenced by
the failure of the prosecution to make
any effort to contradict the testimony
of Coleman that there Is not now. and
was not then, any table in the room in
question.
AS to the s1.4OO. Mr.. O'Brien said the
detectives divided it among themselves
and then arranged story to make the
Municipal league believe they had given
it to Grier. why" asked Mr.. O'Brien,
"did not some member of the league go
down and see that the money was paid?
There was plenty of room where the
detectives We're in that room in the
Rudolph. The truth of the matter is,
they found soft picking in the Munici-
pal league. They will lose a soft thing
when they lose this league"
Further. in relation to the detectives,
he said that their evidence was uncor-
roborated and that detective evidence
was always to be taken with grain
of allowance. Harris emphatic declar-
alton that he never wrote Grier a let
ter, and his later Acknowledgement
that he had written such letter. when
one from him to Grier was produced
was dwelt upon extensively by Mr.
O'Brien.
The action of Grier in turning over
the money to his attorney within the
hour that Harris gave it to him, and
his declarations to five different per-
sons that he had taken the money
was. when corroborated by these five
persons. sufficient. Mr.. O'Brien argued.
to convince any fair-minded man that
there was a total absence of guilty in
tent on Mr.. Grier's part.
The failure of the prosecution to
attempt to rebut Grers character
witnesses and the law on reasonable
doubt We're the concluding topics Of
Mr. O'Brien's address.
MIR. TORREY'S STRONG ADDRESS.
At the outset of his closing ad-
dress for the prosecution, Mr.. Torrey
took occasion to say IN reply to Mr..
O'Brien's comment about character
testimony that the testimony was not
worth rebutting. Those of the char
acter witnesses who had weight could
give only their personal opinion.
He then went on to say that the
men who are behind these prosecu-
tions have only the idea of cleaning
out the viciousness in this commu-
nitv. these men, who might spend