Evening star., 1902-01-17
Mr.. PUGH STRIKES BACK
REPLIES 70 CHARGES CONCERNING
PROSECUTIONS IN POLICE COURT.
Declares the Accusations to Be Not
wenFoanaed and submit.
y Figures.

: II
Mr.. James<I. Pugh, jr..sthe assistant city
solicitor, today forwarded letter to Mr..
A. B. DuYalI the city solicitor, in regard to
the statement made by representative of
the Anti-Saloon League during hearing
several days ago before the District Com
mlssioners, with reference to trials of liquor
cases in the Police Court The letter is as
follows:
Mr.. A. B. Duvan, City Solicitor:
Sir: On the 10th instant, in a hearing
given by the honorable board of Commits
sioners, on the draft of a. bill now pending
in Congress, to amend the present liquor
law, Of which bill 1 am the author, Mr..
A. E. Shoemaker made some statements so
grossly inaccurate in respect to the num-
ber of cases filed and prosecuted under the
present law, 1 feel that in justice to the
court and myself 1 should, through you,
furnish the Commissioners statement
which is the result of careful search of
the dockets of the court since 1885
Makes a Quotation.
This is what Mr. Shoemaker says, as
taken from The Evening Star of the same
date: Since 1898, when the present liquor
law went into effect, there have been 229
prosecutions in the Police Court, and only
fifty-two convictions
He said that cases were often postponed
until witnesses could not be secured. He
said, further, that in one-half OF the ffty.
two convictions the minimum penalty of
$50 was imposed In fifteen cases personal
bonds were taken, and several others were
dismissed. He said that e1ghty-eight out OF
229 cases, or more than 20 per cent, were
nol1e pressed. He ventured the assertion
that In no other class could such large
percentage of nolle pressed causes be found.
Knowing very well that the above state
ment IN any particular could not be true, l
obtained from the docket of the court list
of cases filed and prosecuted and the dis
position of all informations filed since 1893,
with view Of letting the Commissioners
know the facts and correcting any impress
sion based upon what knew to be an dnac-
curate and wholly unreliable statement.
THE dockets of the court show that for
this period, since 1893, have filed total
number Of 964 informaions, and out of this
number verdict of guilty was rendered In
465, and 259 aequittals; there We're thirty
three continued cases for this length OF
time and 207 informations nolle pressed.
Out Of the number Of convictions, the court
imposed fines in 1885, and took the personal
bonds of seventy-nine From this showing
made by the dockets of the Police Court,
Mr.. Shoemaker certainly could not have
given them very much of an examination.
Alleged Postponements.
''Now, in respect to the statement that
cases have been postponed until witnesses
could not be secured, I must say that for
the time have had charge Of the court,
nearly ten years, never knew this to be
true, and defy Mr.. Shoemaker, or any
one else, to name the case when this has
occurred. It is simply not so.
Under the system prevailing In the court
it is impossible to afford trial on the Gay
the defendant Is arraigned and demands
trial by jury. The jury trials obtain in the
District or United States side of the court
regularly, and trials are as speedy in this
Of District
in any other. In fact, the business of the
court in this class of cases, as well as In
all other classes, is UP to date, and but few
cases are awaiting trial. Cases are only
continued by the court on proper and sat
isfactory showing, and when done by my
self are always at the request of the off,
Ger in charge OF the witnesses, desiring to
afford him ample opportunity to secure the
best evidence, and the charge Is nolle
pressed only when the officer states that
the witnesses have gone back on him,
meaning that they will not swear against
the defendant; and sometimes when, after
tain that the District could not present suf-
ficient evidence to warrant me in asking
verdict at the hands Of the court or jury.
other Cases Explained.
"Thefe are other cases in which nolle
PROSE- Is entered and another information
filed against the same person solely for the
purpose of extending the time Of the charge
from the date Of the issue of the warrant
to the day of the raid and arrest. This
happens in quite number In other cases,
desiring to afford every facility to the po-
lice in suppressing the Illicit sale of liquor
either on Sunday, after hours and in unli-
censed places, l give warrants to police Of
flcers and file informations in cases where
the officer is reasonably certain that he can
make the case. Sometimes these cases are
made, but In a majority of such they are
nOlle pressed for the want of evidence the
apprehensions OF the officer not being borne
out by proof.
II desire these facts known by the Com
missioners because the assertions of Mr.
Shoemaker are not supported by the dock
cts Of the court and are misleading"