The daily morning journal and courier., 1903-10-31
PARKS AGAIN FOUND GUILTY
JURY AGREES ON VERDICT ON
 SECOND BALLOT.
But Twelve Minutes Consumed in Reaching Dsolsion-ssntenoe De ferrsd for a wesk-AcOussd Crsst- faIIen-His Condition weak-Afrecied with TnbercuIosis of Both Lungs.

New York, Oct. sO.-For the second time within two months Samuel J. Parks, walking delegate of House. smiths and Bridgemen's union local No. 2, was convicted of the crime of extor- tion in the court of general sessions this afternoon. It took the jurj just twelve minutes, during which they took two ballots, to agree on the guilt of Parks, who this time was accused of extorting $5,000 from the Tiffany Stu dios. local firm of contractors, under threat of keeping them from continu- Ing their work on buildings last Jan uary. ...~
 Since the trial begun last Monday a great deal of interest has been taken in the proceedings, as Parks was defended by distinguished array of counsel, which included former Assistant Dis trict Attorney James w. Osborne, Bar tow s. Weeks and George Gordon Bat tle It was shown that Parks has ob- tained $5,000 from the Tiffany firm as an limitation fee" last January, when the housesmiths and bridgemen were on strike on three of the Tiffany con- tracts in this city.
 Parks claimed that this money was a fine levied by his labor union. During the trial the fact developed that Parks had been disloyal to his union, inas- much as he permitted the Tiffany firm to employ non-union men on concern jobs after having received the S5,000. The accusation was not denied by the defendant or his counsel during the trial, but the latter contended that Parks had given the money to the treasurer of his organization. and that the entire transaction was business deal which, instead of being crime, afforded considerable business advan- tages to the firm which paid the money. During the trial the counsel for Parks endeavored to introduce certificates as to the prisoners delicate state of health, but Judge Newburger, before whom the case was tried, refused to ad- init them.
 Mir Osborne made an excellent de-. fense, although he had very weak grounds to stand upon, while MT. Rand, on behalf of the people, placed Parks in a very unenviable light, both to the public and his fellow labor unionists, in his summing lip to the jury For a time 1t looked as if MT. Osborne's ef- forts had made deep impression on . few of the jurymen, but if any of them favored the prisoner before the case was given to them by Judge Newburg-s CT the brief charge by the court was sufficient to clear their minds of any doubt as to the prisoners guilt. In his charge Judge NeWburger said that it made no difference what disposition Parks made of the money after he had obtained it from the representa- lives of the Tiffany firm, if in the belief of the jurymen he had obtained it under a threat, direct or implied, as that fact would constitute extortion, the crime charged against the prisoner.
 When the jury returned to court in less than quarter of an hour after they had retired the prisoner, as we'll as his counsel, knew that the verdict would be an unfavorable one for them. When the jury was boiled and the prisoner ordered to stand up while the verdict was rendered Parks glared at the jurymen with the same look of de- fiance which he maintained during this as well ss his previous trial. The pris- oner Is far from being a well man, as he is afflicted with tuberculosis of both lungs, and when he was remanded for sentence week hence he walked out of the court crest fallen. .s
 Parks is now awaiting the decision of the higher courts on a writ of error, having been sentenced to an indeter- rninate term of not less than two and a half nor more than three and half years in Sing Sing prison, where he spent few days before being released on the writ, The charge on which his ! former conviction was secured also was extortion which Is punishable by a term of Imprisonment not exceeding five years.