The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-04-06
THE TOPEKA DAILY STATE JouRNAL-sATURDAY EVENING,
MOHAWK JURY OUT.
Famous Club Case Is Submitted This
Afternoon.

At 8 o'clock today. the jury in the
district court in the Mohawk club case
was still out. They went out at 1870
This is the suit against club employees
| for selling liquor Illegally at 109 and
Ill East Third street.
End of the Case.
Trial of the case was resumed at 10
o'clock this morning when Judge Dana
delivered his charge to the jury. This
! charge was lengthy and covered the
| law as applicable to the case in all OF
| its details. Among other things Judge
Dana told the jury that If they belfev-
ed Mooney and Van Horn guilty of
| selling liquor in violation of the law or
were the keepers of the place or were
assisting in keeping the place 1t was
their duty to bring in verdict of
guilty and the fact that the place was
called club or was a club made no
difference. The judge referred to the
| practice at the place of selling tickets
| and exchanging them for drinks and
said that liquor can not be disposed
| of in any secret or clandestine man
ner or by any scheme or device in
violation of the law. He said that the
finding of liquors in any place except
| a private dwelling was considered I'M
der the law as prima facie evidence
that the prohibitory law was being
violated.
Another charge, and 1t developed to
be a most important one, was to the
effect that the complaining witness,
who in this case was Sheriff Wilker-
son, must have knowledge or informa-
ton of the alleged violations of the law
on which the Information against the
defendants was based and that if he
did not have this knowledge the jury
could not find the defendants guilty of
the alleged offenses committed.
]. w. Biggs was the only witness in
the case to give any testimony as to
sales of liquors in the Mohawk club
rooms by Mooney and Van Horn. 1t
was on his testimony that ]. J.
Schenck, the county attorney, pinned
the states case to prove the four
counts charging sales of liquors by the
defendants.
Mr.. Biggs testified that he had never
impaired any information concerning
his testimony to Sheriff Wilkerson be-
fore the information in the case had
been made out and the subsequent
raid made, nor at any other time.
In summing up for the defendants
Judge Hazen insisted that under this
particular charge of the judge it was
the duty of the jury to acquit the de-
PENDANTS, no matter whether they were
guilty of violating the prohibitory law
or not. He insisted that Sheriff Will
kerson did not have any knowledge
of the alleged offenses committed when
he flied the information in the COM
plant, and that the defendants could
not be found guilty. He said the same
applied to the accusation that the de-
PENDANTS maintained a common nuis-
ance,. and he insisted that the whole
case had fallen fiat. Mr.. Hungate of
counsel for the defense also summed
up and insisted that the Mohawk club
was a legitimate club and that tho
members of it had right to drink
their own liquor on its premises.
After the defendants counsel had
summed up Mr.. Schepck held a con-
ference with Judge Dana. and later
Judge Dana delivered an additional in
struction to the jury to the effect that
his instruction, concerning the neces-
sity of the complaining witness to have
knowledge of the alleged violations of
the law in the sale of liquors before he
filed his information which led to the
issuance, of a warrant for the raiding
of the place. did not apply to the
nuisance count. e-
This additional. instruction was ex-
cepted to by the defendants counsel.
Mr.. Schenck then summed up for the
prosecution and declared that the evil
dence clearly showed that Mooney and
Van Horn had violated the prohibftory
law, and he asked the jury to bring
! in a verdict of guilty. The case was
given to the jury at the noon hour