Los Angeles herald., 1907-11-24
POCKETBOOK CASE
BITTERLY FOUGHT
JUDGE OF SUPERIOR COURT is
SUMMONED
Attorney for Mexican Witnesses De
clares Detective TaIamantes Un-
lawfully Detained Men
in City Jail

| "A carved leather pOchetDooh, WhiNii
has formed the nucleus about which
two hotly contested and prolonged law
suits have centered, is now to figure
4 more conspicuously than ever in a
4 third suit, in which the accumulated
bitterness of the past two trials will
probably cTlminate.
One of the judges of the superior court
is made a party III the pending lawsuit,
| which was filed yesterday at noon. The
| case is novel in that a court of inferior
jurisdiction will hear the suit anu will
issue the summons against the judge OF
the higher court, who will have to go
into the inferior tribunal to justify his
actions growing out of case tried IN
/ his own court.
The suit, if nothing happens to prevent
| it coming to trial, promises to be one OF
| the most sensational of the three legal
| contests waged over the pocketbook.
| The complaint was filed in the Justice
court of E. E. Selph yesterday by At
torney James D. Reyhert, the plaintiff.
Judge Ben N Smith of the superior
court is the defendant mentioned in the
case. Jointly with County Clerk C. j..
Keyes and Recorder Thomas j. Shea.
| Summons to the defendants was issued
yesterday morning and served later In
the day. Date for preliminary hearing
has not been set. Keyes and Shea are
mentioned in the complaint merely as a
matter of legal form, as they power
| less to act without the order of the
Judge Judge B. N. Smith is the main
figure in the suit, and about him the
case will center.
| Attorney Is Sued
| The pocketbook in question was found
L. % = ni0
and contained five gold pieces of the de-
| nomination of $5 each. Another Mexi-
can complained to the police that the
pocketbook and the money belonged to
him and did not belong to Garcia.
In the trial of Garcia for larceny
James d. Reymert appeared for the de-
fendant and succeeded in convincing the
Jury that his client was not guilty, and
was rightful owner of the pocketbook.
The decision of the jury was largely de-
termined by the testimony of Octaviano
Armenia and Juan Cervantes, who tes-
| titled that they could identify the pocket
| book and that it belonged to Garcia.
| Believing that the witnesses had per-
| jured themselves, Deputy District At
torney John North determined to sift
the matter to the end, and this led to the
second chapter in the history of the
pocketbook, suit against Attorney
Reymert on a charge of subornation of
| perjury.
This suit hung fire in the courts for
| some time and was intensely interesting
| to the members of the legal fraternity.
The two Mexican witnesses, after eight
days Imprisonment in the city Jail, de-
cided their testimony, given in the first
suit, had been false, and sworn state
ments were taken from the men in the
city Jail in which they confessed that
they could not identify the pocketbook,
that their testimony had been false and
that Attorney Reymert had dictated to
them what they should say.
Had the statements of the two wit
nesses been given by them voluntarily
before their lengthy confinement in the
city prison it might have had more
weight with the court. Reymert alleges
the men were placed in the city jail by
Detective Talamantes in order to intimi-
date them into making the statements
admitting they had lied at his instance.
Says Men UnIawtulIy Detained
Attorney North maintains that the
men were not imprisoned or sweated, or
intimidated at his request. ''I merely
asked Talamantes to get the truth from
them," said Attorney North yesterday
What do you think of the methods pur-
| sued by the detective in securing the
truth desired?" was asked of Attorney
| North. 'Well, ! am not responsible for
what methods the detectives pursue" re-
sponded the deputy district attorney.
| Cervantes was booked on the jail rec
ords on charge OF perjury. He re-
manned there eight days and was not
| tried on the charge. Armenia was not
booked on the regular records of the jail,
was not tried on any charge and his pres
| ence in the jail was known by the records
| of the detective department and the pri-
vate list of the jailers. Attorney Rey-
inert claims the men were unlawfully
detained, with no just charge against
them, and that the object of their i'm
prisonment was to bulldoze them into
giving the desired testimony against him.
| Reymert was tried before Justice A. L.
Stephens and decision was rendered in
his favor after a lengthy trial But the
pocketbook was not returned to Garcia
and is still held in the custody of the
court, subject to the. orders of Judge
| b. NJ Smith. Attorney Reymert secured
an order from Garcia for the pocketbook
and the $25 contents as fees in the case,
but the court, he alleges, has not sur
rendered the property.
The complaint filed yesterday is for the
purpose of obtaining possession of the
pocketbook. Attorney North refused to
make a motion to the court to turn the
property over to Reymert.
Besides the pocketbook and the con-
tents, Attorney Reymert demanded $25
damages for the alleged unlawful de-
tainer of exhibits in a case which has
been settled. The complaint against the
superior court judge has been in the
hands of Justice Selph for several days,
and he has hesltated to issue summons
against judge of a court Of superior
| jurisdiction until he had thoroughly in
vestigated the merits of the charge.
Yesterday morning, in consultation with
the district attorney, they decided it was
proper to file the suit and the summons
was issued.
Reymert claims that it is a favorite
method with Detective Talamantes to
throw innocent men into Jail on a
trumped up charge or no charge at all
and hold them until they are willing to
testify according to his wishes.
c..~.Ha~