Los Angeles herald., 1908-03-11
SCHMITZ is
RELEASED ON
1926, 600 BAIL
MILLI0NAIREs PUT UP MONEY
FOR FORMER MAYOR
COURT ALLOWS HIM TO LEAVE
JAIL
Heney and Langdon File Affidavits in
Answer to Those of Ruef-Deny
They Broke Immunity
Contract
BY Associated Press.

BY Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO, March 1O.-Tried
and convicted on an Indictment of ex-
torting money from French restaurant
keepers and sentenced TO five years in
the penitentiary, followed by his re-
moval from office, Eugene e. Schmitz.
| former mayor of San Francisco, was
set at liberty this afternoon, af-
! ter having been confined for nine
months in the county Jail pending a
decision of the case by the supreme
court.
Judge Frank H. Dunno this afternoon
presided in his department of the SUI
! perior court long enough to make an
order sustaining the demurrer TO the
| Indictment, and -dismissing Schmitz
from custody, in pursuance of the re-
mittitur of the court of appeals, sus-
tanned by the decision of the supreme
court yesterday, directing the trial
court to take this action on the ground
that the charge as contained in the in
dictment did not constitute q crime be-
| cause ii did not aver that an unlawful
injury" was threatened by the mayor.
Judge Dunno, however. being of the
opinion that the objection on which the
demurrer was allowed may be avoided
| in new indictment, directed that the
| case against the former mayor be sub
mitted to another grand jury.
Secures Ball
| Campbell, Metson & Drew, John j.
Barrett and Judge C. III. Fairall, the
array of counsel for Schmitz, We're ex
tremely active all day. Bonds for $780,
900, on which William II. Dingee and
Thomas II. Williams were the sure
ties. were filed by the attorneys with
Judge Lawlor for Schmitz release on
the indictments in the United Railroads
trolley and the San Francisco gas
cases.
The bonds were accepted promptly by
Judge Lawlor. There remained for
the former mayor to furnish bail for
$4,000 in Judge DUNES department:
Bonds for this amount were rendered
to Judge Dunfe this afternoon and ac-
cepted.
Affidavits Filed
The other developments of the day
in the bribery-graft prosecution was
the filing of affidavits by Francis j.
Heney and District Attorney William
Fl. Langdon in answer to those made by
Euef and others in support of Ruets
motion for the vacation of his arraigr-
ment in the trolley cases on the ground
that he had been promised full immun-
ity by the prosecution.
Langdon. in his affidavit, besides
denying that Ruef was promised full
immunity or that Drs. Nieto and Ber-
rard Kaplan had been caused to ap'
proach Ruef and influence him to dis
close what he knew in regard to the
bribery of the supervisors, through the
request of the prosecution, as those two
gentlemen aver in affidavits, declares
tLat Ruef became "traitorous to the
state and sought not only to escape
=. .1<xfr
assist his co-defendants.
For that reasons, AYERS the district
attorney, the contract with Ruef was
declared to no longer be in force and
effect.
No specific instances or proof of
Ruef's alleged double dealing are given
by District Attorney Langdon. The
district attorney alleges that were he
not satisfied beyond a doubt that Ruef
has not disclosed all he knows in the
bribery graft cases and that he had not
kept faith with the prosecution he
ould resign from the office of district
attorney before he would violate or
break the agreement entered into with
Ruef.
Langdon Makes Denial
Langdon denies that the prosecution
promised Ruef that his plea of guilty to
the extortion charge would be with
drawn, and adds the interesting state
ment that Ruef stated to him that he
(Ruef) was one of the ableSt lawyers
in the state and that while it would
rot do for him to appear as attorney
of record in the prosecution of the graft
cases, yet he ought to be admitted TO
the most intimate confidence of the
prosecution, and that he would be of
the greatest assistance in shaping its
1r1fr ,sxrfY la ~
procedure in the graft cases."
The affidavit of Assistant District At
torney Francis j. Heney was not filed
until o'clock tonight. 1t is perhaps
the most yoluminous affidavit ever filed
in a criminal case in any court in this
city. The document contains about 65,
0C0 words and is a detailed history of
the bribery graft cases, in which the
former political boss has ever been the
central figure.
Beside this document, the rapid fire
of affidavits that Ruef has directed at
the prosecution during the past three
weeks, numerous as they are. pale in
significance so far as words and volume
ere concerned, Ruef's longest affidavit.
rot filed in this case but in a civil
action for the recovery of the money
raid by himself for his own incarcera-
ton in a private prison. only contains
about 10000 words,
Heney Also Denies
Heney denies that Ruef was prom
ised full immunity. and declares that
Ruef failed to live up to a single
pledge. The immunity. contract runs
like thread through the entire narra-
tive. Heney AYERS that the two Jew
sh rabbis were not asked by the pros
ecution to assist in influencing Ruef to
confess and turn states evidence but
that they acted voluntarily and that
one of them appeared to be more in
terested in getting Ruef free than in
the moral issue involved.
Heney AYERS that it was and still is
his belief that Henry Ach. leading at
torney for Ruef, was cognizant of the
corruntinn existing In the board of sIl-