The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1900-05-19
ARE
LAUGHED At
convicted Criminals Go
Unpublished.
ESCAPE IN CIRCUIT COURT
Numerous Failures to Trv Aooe,lod
Gases Create Much Comment
in Honolulu.

question is being generally asked ON 81.
S'reeos now. 1t is joke I'm tho baun,.
Oh criminals. Men who offend -.
the laws of Hawaii find it a mater 70,
So"sratuiation that though found puiIty
ny roiice Judge Wilcox. thew got "a
without trial when they appea, 20 ,h-
Circuit Court. ' ~ 'h'
uay UT Two ago peculiar examnle
Vi ,nis sort transpired. II is the case q,
'hree sailors of the United States s,ao-
mer lroquois, who were recentlv con.
vlcted In the District Court One a,
'nem was a yeoman on board the vessel
named McGettigan, and the other .wo
were common sailors, named Philip J.
Nereh and ". Hill. All three visited tho
mouse OF a woman named Nellie An
drews on Merchant street. near AIakea
one evening whale she was absent, and
oy the testimony and circumstantiaI ey-
ldenee brought out a the trial the two
sailors were convicted of theft. and the
woman sentenced to prison for receiy-
ing the goods stolen by the sailors. II
Is alleged that with the disappearance
OF the household trinkets, SS5 was also
taken, and which was never recovered
until the amount was placed I'm the
hands or the Marshal Thursday.
commander Pond was Instrumental
In having the money returned to the
woman through the Marshal. AT any
rate, McGettigan came to the Marshal
thursday. and shortly afterward a mes
sage was sent to Miss Andrews. who
came TO the police station, received the
800 ana gave receipt for IL, which Is
now In Marshal Browns possession.
Inc rumor was on the streets soon
that peculiar transaction had occur
RED In the police station and the Attor-
ney Generafs department regarding the
nolle prosequis which had been request
ed for these three men and granted by
the court. There have been a great
number of such cases which have been
passed over by the Attorney General
since the commencement of the Nav
term OF the Circuit Court. Judge Will
cox in the last few days has expressed
himself in his court very strongly in
the matter, and stated that as the At
tOrney Generals Office seemed to be too
tired TO prosecute the cases which came
up from his court, he would take time
by the forelock and save his clerk the
trouble OF copying the records in such
cases as he thought would be nolle
pressed in the upper court.
The facts leading up to the discharge
of the three sailors are these. as stated
by Marshal Brown and gained from the
records: Just after the District Judge
sentenced the men severally to terms
OF Imprisonment, and notice of appeal
was given. Commander Pond came to
the Judge and said he had a proposition
to make to the Judge which he should
have made before the men were under
sentence. IL was that the men be turn
ed over TO him and he would see that
they were sent out of the country. bur
thermore, upon the cruise he was about
to take to Midway Island he was In sore
need of the services of all three sailors,
and would be handicapped greatly If
their aid was not available. Judge Will
cox replied that the mittimus had al
ready been signed and he could not
change IL. He was sorry that the mat
ter had not been brought up earlier, as
he could have made other arrangements
for the prisoners.
Then later on Commander Pond had
a similar conversation with Marshal
Brown and the Attorney Generals Of
flee was called into consultation on the
matter. with the ultimate statement
that when the case came up before
Judge Stanley a request would be made
that a nolle prosequi be entered in each
case At this time Commander Pond
said he did not believe the men were
guilty of taking the sS5 in gold as al
legged. but he agreed, If sentence was
suspended, to make good the amount of
money so taken. In the matter of the
theft OF the mantel clock, comb, mirror
and nail brush, he thought that perhaps
the men might have taken them, as il
was brought out in the trial, but at
tributed the theft to a sailors lark
merely
When the case was called up in Judge
Stanley's court the Attorney Generals
Office asked that nolle prosequis be en-
tered In each case. which Judge Stanley
promptly granted What will consti-
tute the mems leaving the country,
Marshal Brown does not as yet know.
The Iroquois Is merely going TO Midway
Island for a trip OF few weeks and will
then return to Honolulu. BY this means
the men are not being taken out OF the
country at all, and the ends or justice
are not met.
The police mesh woven about the
three men in the District Court was one
from which the men could not escape.
Circumstantial evidence was all against
them. and the police department then
considered that they had traced up one
of the best cases that had been brought
TO their notice for some time. There
seems to have bee no question ABOUT
the guilt OF the men. and the Marsnai
department strongly urged at the time
of the trial that the men should be SEN
fenced TO terms of Imprisonment, as
their kind was not wanted in Honolulu
and all law-abiding citizens would con
slider them n menace TO their safety'
Later on. OF Immediately after the trlal'
a contrary opinion seems TO nave Desn
taken by all connected with the Attor-
nev Generals department, in which tne
SIS in gold appears to have been the
best argument. .os
The following Is the list OF cases
noIie nroased since the commencement