The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-11-20
GILLETTE INDICTMENTS GOOD.
EX-VTCE-PRESIDENT or MCTUiL
MUST STAND TRIAL.
Justice Greenbaum Denies Motions 20
Dismiss the Charges ~-d;ranniss In
dictmcnts 10 Com Up Tomorrow -
Mutual Reserve Trials 10 he Held First.

dictmcnts 10 Come Up Tomorrow
Mutual Reserve Trials 10 he Held First.
DR.. Walter X. Gillette, ex-vicc-president
of the Mutual Life Insurance Company,
must stand trial on the indictments charg-
ing him with perjury and forgery growing
out Of the Investigation of the Mutual Life.
The trial of DR.. Gillette will not be moved
until the trial of the Burnhams OF the Mutual
Reserve Life Insurance Company has been
disposed Of.
The grounds on which ex-Justice Ed
ward w. Hatch moved for the dismissal
Of the perjury indictment against DR..
Gillstte we're that his constitutional rights
had been invaded and disregarded; that
the testimony on which the charge Of per
Jury was based was not material, and hat
the indictment was found without suf-
ficient evidence.
On the first point Mr.. Hatch argued that
DR.. Gillette was made to give testimony
against himself, but Justice Greenbaum,
after citing a number Of decisions, says
that in each of the cases disposed Of the
defendant was accused of a crime when a
witness before the Grand Jury. Justice
Greenbaum adds;
Here the Grand jury was not inveeti-
eating any accusation or charge laid against
this defendant. The inquisition was a
broad and sweeping investigation designed
to discover whether officers or employees
Of any description of life insurance COM
panies in this State had lately violated
in the county Of New York the criminal
laws Of the State 1t Is true that the de-
PENDANT was at the time an officer of the
Mutual Life Insurance Company, but it
by no means follows hat he was at hat
time under suspicion by the Grand Jury,
or that his conduct and acts formed n
of the specific subjects OF the investiga-
ton"
Justice Greenbaum says that the Grand
Jury investigation was not directed against
DR.. Gillette as one suspected Of having
committed a crime.
May the defendant be permitted to
shield himself from the charge Of perjury
committed by him as a witness before the
Grand Jury in a general inqu isition into
certain crimes?" Justice G~reenbaum asks.
Il apprehend not. | fail to soc how any
constitutional rights of the defendant were
infringed during the proceedings before
the Grand Jury
As to the second ground raised by Mr..
Hatch tina the testimony was not ma
terial Justice Greenbaum says that he
mas Lndi FuCn ttSllHlblly tNlh nhNt btt1
very material in the line OF the investiga-
ton.
In regard TO Mr.. Hatch's proposition
that DR.. Gillette did not commit perjury
because he changed his testimony about
the yellow dog" account in the Dobbs
Ferry Bank so as to make il truthful, the
Court says "the fallacy Of VI reasoning
is palpable. To say that a witness may
testify TO a fact in a judicial or other legal
proceeding with the intention OF deceiving
and may thereafter nullify the criminal
character of such an act ny changing his
testimony when a situation has developed
that makes him fear detection of his crime
would be a travesty of justice. Upon the
proofs submitted sufficient ~ shown TO
warrant n trial jury to infer that the false
testimony was '~wilfully and corruptly'
given"
Dismissing the demurrers to the five
forgery indictments against DR.. Gillette,
Justice Greenhaum says:
Il have not been favored with any dis
cussiOn or points indicating in what re-
spects the indictments are defective and
my peTusal has not enabled me to discover
any valid ground for holding them insufi-
cient."
The lawyers for Robert A. Granniss. who
was also a vice-president Of the Mutual
and is under indictment for forgery in
the third degree. will appear before Justice
Greenbaum on December 3 and will make
any motions they desire in opposition to
the indictments.