New-York tribune., 1905-11-06
BENCH REBUkED OSBORNE i
CRITICISED By COURTS.
Justice SAID He Ousrstepped Bounds
of Pr0priety.

TO the Tammany plea for the professional quail
.e.e+ions of its candidate for District Attorney.
Tar,es w osborne. the bar of the city male
s,sv-er at Carnegie Hall last week. The en-
Il. endorsement of Mr.. Jeronles candidacy
essed the almost unanimous voice of the
-, rarrisan bar TO Mr. 0sborne's fitness.
D. The bench has also given emphatic express
ton 70 its view OF Mr.. osborne's qualifications
prosecuting officer In opinions written by
.6ees of the two highest courts of the State.
-ts Appellate Division and the Court of Appeals.
,ro-oo,er these tEinions were official. handed
aoun from the bench, and untinged with the
.,;,s+est color of political contests. They were
- among the most severe and caustic rebukes
.,-.y administered 10 any public prosecutor by
she courts of this State.
p,blic amusement and indignation alike were
.vf,ad when Mr Osborne made his famous
aac,aratfon regarding his opponent:
II Mr. Jerome didn't get it for himself he
must have been fool
Fsut there is even more weight and almost
,-onhetic character in the comment of a justice
- tbe Appellate Division, who listened to MI
osborre's words. when. Assistant District
.4.ornav he prosecuted the Bissert case This
..s+,ce wrote in his opinion biting rebuke TO
-. .,,,,id srvIe and overshot defamation OF
~ rrosecutor. Dissenting from reversal of
- ~ NJ Osborne's star cases Justic Patter-
cor wrote of Mt Osborne's methods and words
,bs+ they were not calculated ito convince II
.r-1- of weaklings. A Judgment this seems
which might be applied with equal force TO the
r1a+forno ptterances Of the Tammany candidate
N a iurv before which he is now on trlai. ana
whose verdict Tomorrow is already forecast
mere list of the cases in which, after long
trial and the most ornate defamation OF MT,
oshorne. 2 conviction by lower court has been
se Of
mini for the personal responsibility of MI Os-
hornA in such cases is of course. not susceptible
:. rroof But there are two significant cases in
hicb fhe oninions of courts were expressed in
M uncertain tones as TO Mr.. Osbornes profes-
sionsl conduct These same opinions furnish
valuable parallel reading to the verdict OF Mr.
Jerorne's professional brethren at Carnegie Han
N the Bissert case one of the most notorious
., the star cases" growing out of the red
rrb+" scandals of the Van Wyck-Devery days,
wr Osborne received rebuke NOR sharp than
that administered to any public oflcial In recent
Years by the Appellate Division. and conviction
was reversed as the opinion of the court plainly
said. in large part because of Mr.. Osborne's
r,etbods In the course Of this Mr. Os-
borre in summing I'D the case against Bissert
declared TO the jury:
.If the jury does not find the defendant guilty
they would become particeps criminis In the
horrible crime of taking blood money.
In the opinion accompanying the order for
= new trial this remark is quoted. and Justice
Mclaughlin. in ordering a new trial, wrote,
snecifving the reasons for his action:
The trial was Illegal for the reasons" Che
then cites other reasons and adds) and
that the method pursued by the prosecuting
officer was such the law does not suggest
Concurring in this opinion Justice Laughlin
added this stinsing rebuke:
In the case at bar 1 think the bounds
Of propriety were overstepped by the District
Attorney COsborne) far more than in cases where
the Court of Appeals has seen At TO reverse on
that ground"
Nor is there comfort for Osborne in the dis
senting opinion, which characterizes Osbornes
methods no less bitterly but adds the cynical
judgment that they were so exaggerated and
excessive as to have excited prejudice rather
than conviction in the minds of the jury OF
this IL is writtenI
What right have we to believe that the turnid
style and overshot defamation in argument.
even if in unguarded moments these blemishes
should he introduced by so able and accom-
plished a lawyer as the prosecutor, would not
prejudice and repeI rather than convince?" This
furnished a significant comment upon the value
of Mr. Osborne's professional conduct of the
case as factor in securing conviction
Carrying this idea a step further in his dis
senting opinion. Justice Patterson wrots:
7 have not been able to discover a single
case in which the deliberate finding of jury
has been repudiated and nullif1ed. where the
remarks of counsel have been of such exag-
eerated and excessive character that they ought
not TO influence a jury of weaklinss-
Such was the voice of the justices of the Ap
RELATE Division on one OF DIR. Osborne's star
eA"
- passing II is worth while to note a COM
rnent made by Mr.. Osborne in this while |
urging the jury 10 convict Bissert for his al
legged collection Of protection money" for a
disorderly house. This comment makes inter |
esting parallel reading TO his declaration about
the present District Attorney, and his getting |
it Pointing out the effect OF failure to |
convict AIr Osborne said:
You might as well proclaim all over the |
uited States that District Attorney or any
body else can take a bribe if he wants to" Thi. |
hardly squares with the declaration:
If Jerome didn't get il for himself he must |
have been fool Equally laughable. in view |
Of the present situation is his frenzied ora /
torical flight:
The fight for freedom IS not ended yet"
prosecutor by the Appellate Division was evi- /
dently sustained by the Court of Appeals for
rom this the highest court of the State. there
,ane another stinging rebuke written this time
oy Judge CeIora E Martin. and concurred in by
4 majority Of the court. which then included