Los Angeles herald., 1906-06-29
HAZARD WALKS
FROM THE JAIL
Famous Case viii Probably Be Ended
for Lack Of Technical Evidence
Against the De-
PENDANTS

ney Fredericks, the second complaint
filed against r.. L. Hazard, who was
recently convicted of a felony charge
and later granted a new trial, will be
dismissed, and one of the most weird
and unnatural cases i'm the history of
the local courts will be closed.
Hazard was real estate man of Los
Angeles county. He had. q wife and
children. but according II the allega-
tons of the county officers, he became
infatuated with pretty little Lulu Row
land, who lived on a farm at Oxnard
with her parents.
Hazard made trips about the country
selling real estate. and it is alleged that
while on these trips he took advantage
of the girl
When Rowland, the father, offered to
swear that his daughter was under
the age OF IS, Hazard was arrested on
the felony charge. The girl appeared
at the preliminary examination and
/, testified against the man whom it was
alleged had dishonored her.
Son EIopes With Girl
During the time between the preIim-
mary and the trial in the higher court,
Hazards son, in a desperate effort to
save his fathers honor and head off the
proceedings against him, eloped with
Lulu Rowland and, accompanied by
Lulu's sister. the young couple started
| for Canada When there it was planned
that Lulu and the young man be mar
ried in the hope that Hazard would be
released and all would be righted
But the young people took passage on
| the i'll fated Valencia, and when the
tide of the northern seas cast up the
bodies from the wreckerd vessel the
two young women and the boy were
among them.
| Under guard Hazard went north and
identified the body of his son. Rowland
made the same trip on the same sad
mission-doubly sad, for he had lost
two girls.
Then Hazard returned to Los Angeles
and 1t was thought that, as nearly all
the witnesses in the case were dead,
the complaint would be dropped.
Girls Father Saves Man
| But Deputy District Attorney Flem-
ing decided that Hazards guilt was not
lessened by the fact that the girl was
dead, and the prosecution proceeded
with, the case. and Rowland took the
stand and swore that his daughter was
not 16 years of age at the time of the
actions alleged in the complaint. He
produced the family Bible in substan-
tiation of his statements and Hazard
was convicted.
Then Hazard changed his attorneys
and made a desperate fight for new
trial.
! He produced affidavits from Rowland
in which Rowland made the startling
statement that he had been mistaken
when he recited the age of his daughter
and that she was over 16 at the time of
the alleged commitment of the crime.
The wretched father stated that he
was sure his memory had been faulty,
and since he had received information
from a woman at his old home in
Nebraska he had learned of the mis-
take in the family record, and to save
a man who was not technically guilty
heswas willing to go to the penitentiary
| in his stead.
Rowland Arrested
The district attorney then swore out
a warrant for Rowland's arrest and
he was taken in custody on a charge of
perjury.
Since then he has remained in the
county Jail along with Hazard.
] Yesterday, however, a motion for
new trial in the Hazard case was made
and the affidavits in which Rowland
repudiated his own statements regard
ing his daughters age were produced,
and in view of the facts contained
Judge Smith ordered that new trial
be held and Hazard be released from
custody on his own recognizance-
| A statement made by the district at
| tOrney yesterday AFTERNOON was TO the
effect that Hazard would probably
never be tried, as Rowland's evidence
had been the conVicting evidence in
the first case and the state could not
afford to waste, money on hopeless
trial.
l. AS for Rowland, in all probability he
| also will be freed from the perjury
charge against him, since the only wit
nesses who could testify to his alleged
guilt are back in Nebraska, and the
case against him is hardly strong
enough to warrant large expenditure
of county funds to bring the witnesses
to California.