Waterbury evening Democrat., 1907-12-12
BOND REDUCED
Prosecutor Meigs Wanted It Raised to $4.O0O.

Former Senator Kennedy was real mad in the city court this morning when Prosecutor Meigs informed him that he would endeavor to have the $2,000 bail fixed in the case of George Morgan, the alleged crook, raised to $4,000. MT Kennedy said that if the bail was raised he would have Morgan crook or no crook, released on habeas corpus. Judge Peasley took the bench then and the arguments for the reduction of the bail on one hand, the increase of it on the other, began
 Morgan is the man who last Fri day evening attempted to steal $500 from Timothy O'Rourke's pocket as they were leaving the o'clock train at the depot. The case was continued from last Saturday to this morning under bail of $2,000.
 Prosecutor Meigs argued that Mor-s gan was fraud of the deepest dye. In the first place his name is not Mor- gan, but James Ward, and he so ad- mitted to Superintendent Beach.
 Every word he told about himself last Saturday was a falsehood. His folks do not live in Essex street. Lowell, Mass, nor do the police know of any such people. MT Meigs then introduced Morgan's picture sent from the rogues gallery in police headquarters, New York city. It was an exact reproduction of the picture taken by the local police. His record, which accompanied the picture, show ed that he was committed to a re- formatory in Elmira, N. Y, on May 4, 1896. He was up again in Toronto, Can, on October 4, 1899. Again in September, 1901, he was committed to the penitentiary in New York state for four years and again on October 4, 1905, he was committed for grand larceny under the name of James Ward. MT Meigs said the man is wanted" by the police all over the country, particularly in Massachu- sets. -.
 Attorney Kennedy, who with Att torney McEvoy, represented the ac- cused, said the bond should be re- duced to reasonable figure. In his professional career, he said, he has de- tended many persons charged with a serious crime and he never knew of case where the bond was so unrea- sonable as in this. He recalled the case of man charged with crime that was punishable by thirty-six years imprisonment and the bond was not $2,000. He defended in cases of attempted murder and the bond was not $2,000. He was counsel in cases where the accused was charged with attempting to destroy life and prop erty and the bond was not as high as in this case. If the crime charged in this case, he said, had been attempted under any other circumstances noth- | ing would have been thought of it. But taking place as it did on last Friday night, when the town was full of strangers everybody was talking of it. But that should not be taken into consideration. MT Kennedy said he knew of local case where man was charged with theft of $10,000 worth of property from factory and the bond was only $1,200 in that case. He cited the case of Edward Winnegar, the trolley striker, who was charged with attempted murder. Tn that case the bond was only $2,- | 900.
 In answer to this MT Meigs said the cases mentioned by MT Kennedy concerned parties who lived in town and had families and all their social relations and interests here, whereas
 Morgan is a stranger, and he is want ed by the police everywhere. Judge
 Peasley fixed bail at $1,000, thus splitting in halves the original bond, and Morgan was bound over.