The San Francisco call., 1908-09-22

z2s Point LObos avenue.
Charles Oliver Jr., youthful special
agent attached TO the district attorneys
office. was adtudged guilty Of contempt
yesterday by Judge Lawlor for talking
10 Ruef jurors after they had been tenn
porarily passed Sentence was sus-
pended until today, when formal afi1da-
Wits viii be filed and the case hearo
again IN detail
Oliver. who said he was 1s years old.
told on the witness stand Of his actions,
corroborating the testimony Of Jurors
Garran and Harrison, who had re-
ported the incident at the opening Of
court His defense was that he had
visited the houses OF the two jurors for
the purpose of interviewing their fami-
lies, but was surprised and confused
at the appearance of the men them
selves at the door, and asked some in
advertent questions before he realized
his position
Immediately after the hearing in
court the youthful sleuth was dis
missed by Special Agent Burns. who
announced. however, that he did not
hold the boy culpable except for his In
experience.
APPROACHED TWO JURORS
The two jurors were approached Sat
urday afternoon by young Oliver, who'
according to his own testimony and that
OF Raymond c. SCHNEIDER, had been In
structed by SCHNEIDER to inquire about
these two men On previous occasions
he had been carefully instructed not TO
speak TO prospective jurors who had
been summoned by the court. On this
occasion he was simply told: Look
up these two names-they are in the
box" This he proceeded to DO, making
many inquiries of the neighbors and
al nearby stores. Getting little salts
faction he decided to visit the houses
Of the jurors and inquire If they had
expressed any opinion in the case to
their families.
When he visited the house of VIII
liam :. Harrison at 6 Lower terrace, ac-
cording to the testimony OF both the
youth and Harrison, the following dia-
logue took place:
Are you Mr.. William S. Harrison?"
Yes; am the man"
DO you know IL you are gazing to
serve on the Ruef jury2 I am making
Inquiries about jurors. to find out about
how they stand. and If they have any
opinions"
WHO are you?" demanded Harrison.
I'm a reporter" replied the boy.
Well. If you want any information
Of that sort the court is the proper
place to get It."
Very well, sir" was the answer, and
the boy departed.
According to the statement Of Will
liam H. Garran OF 1s4 South avenue
and that of the youth himself a similar
dialogue took place there.
OLIVER ADJUDGED GUILTY
After hearing the facts Judge Lawlor
declined TO allow further examination Of
the youth and proceeded to adjudge Oil
Yer guilty. He said he had repeatedly
ruled that litigants were fully entitled
10 investigate venire lists. And the
wisdom Of this has been well exemplf-
fed IN many of these cases on trial"
continued his honor but in this in
stance an act clearly in contravention
70 the distinctions drawn by the court
has been committed and, therefore
Charles Oliver Jr- is hereby adjudged
guilty of contempt OF the authority Of
this court"
At this point Attorney Henry Ach
raised the technical objection that SEN
tence pronounced without the matter
first having been formally brought to
the attention of the court by afidavit
might not be legal Judge Lawlor
postponed the hearing until 10 o'clock
this morning in order that there might
be no legal flaw In the proceedings
During the examination of the wit
nesses Attorney Ach attempted to show
that Assistant District Attorney Heney
or Special Agent Burns had given in
structions relative to the two jurors,
but Il was clearly brought out that the
order had been given to young Oliver
by SCHNEIDER entirely upon his own
initiative. SCHNEIDER testified that he
had not seen Heney since meeting him
IN court Thursday last up to yesterday
morning in court again
BLUNDER DUE TO INExPERIENCE
Assistant District Attorney Heney
said:
Il think the blunder was very plainly
shown to be due to young divers
youth and inexperience- He understood
that he was not 10 talk to jurors who
had been called and when the men
themselves came 10 the door he knew
he had made mistake, but was not
quick witted enough to get out Of the
dilemma without entangling himself.
The very nature of his questions, how
ever, shows that there was nothing i'm
proper about them except the fact that
they were addressed TO the Juror him
self instead Of to some one who was
acquainted with him.
Special Agent Burns said:
Il have Investigated the matter and
have dismissed young Oliver from his
position. The youth has always borne
an excellent reputation and has proved
himself to be reliable and honest and
there has never been any question of
his veracity. The only explanation
seems 70 be that his youth and mex
perience were at fault, together with
the fact that like most boys, when he
found himself talking to the juror and
IN bad position he said the worst
thing he could and asked the man the
very questions he intended not to-
One step forward and two backward
were taken yesterday in the impanel-
ment OF a jury to try Abe Ruef After
three days Of examination talesuan
Nathan Edlan. who has given strong
evidences OF favoring Ruef, apparently
had enough of Heneys griiling and
asked the court to excuse him on the
ground that HIS bottle business was
suffering by his absence. Both sides
were glad to get rid of him and he was
allowed to go. Thomas Dolan, retired
OF rs Lolita street. who had been in the
Jury box for more than a week. pre-
eeuted a physician's certificate showing
that he is physically unable to stand
the strain OF the trial and he. too. was