The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1908-01-29
.RABDIS TANGLED
Up IN RUFF CASE
DR.. Jacob Niet0 Makes State
ment Concerning the Broken
immunity Contract.
MET JUDGES AT MIDNIGHT
BOTH AGREED TO DISTRICT AT
ToRNEY'S PLAN.

San Francisco. Jan. 2S.-In a state
ment given to the public tonight, DR..
Jacob Nieto, who has had much to do
with the famous broken immunity con-
tract made between the prosecutors
and Abraham Ruef. after reviewing
the circumstances which led up to his
taking an active interest in the matter
tells how he finally induced Ruef to
agree 10 the terms of the contract, and
i'm return for immunity from prOsecu-
ton to tell all he knew.
Rabbi Nieto says that his sole inter
est in the matter was his interest in
the welfare of the city and in seeing
existing conditions purified. He states
that after the proposition, which came
from the prosecutors originally. had
been presented TO Ruef, and he had
expressed his willingness to accept the
terms of the contracts, a doubt arose
in the mind of Ruef that the judge to
whose court the case might be assigned
would, after he had confessed to the
charges of extortion in Indictment No.
305, which had been agreed upon as the
one to which he was to confess, fail
to agree to the carrying out of the
agreement granting him immunity.
Visited Both the Judges.
1T was then arranged" says Rabbi
NietO, that DR.. KaDlan and myself
should accompany Mr.. Heney to see
said judges and obtain their assurances
in the matter. Accordingly we were
taken to the respective chambers Of
these judges, saw them personally, and
heard their statements as made to Mr..
Heney personally, which caused US TO
believe we were justified in cOunselling
III Fr-eT~~ To, l,a
prosecution. The meeting took place
at midnight on April 90, and Mr.
Burns brought the judges there to meet
US.
In our interview with Judge LaWler
he said: Gentlemen, 1 do not wish to
know any particulars. 1t has been the
practice of this court SO long as this
court had confidence in the district at
torney offices, to act on ali recon-
mendatiOns and suggestions that the
office might make in the interest of
justice. such recommendations being
made in open court
Later we met Judge Dunno, to
whom Mr.. Heney said:
Judge, Ruef will plead guilty to
indictment No. 305. We may subse-
quently ask you to have the plea Of
guilty withdrawn, that of not guilty
substituted and the case dismissed
ITO which Judge Dunno replied: I
have confidence in the district attOr-
ney's office. and will do what you ask
LAS he was leaving the office, DR..
Kaplan said to him: Judge, do you
really mean that you will allow the
plea of guilty to be withdrawn and dis
miss the case?' and the judge an
| swered:
Certainly
DR.. Nieto tells how he went with De-
tective Burns the following morning TO
see Ruef and impressed upon him the
necessity of not delaying his part of
the contract.
Assured by Heney.
on his return from Europe, after A
lapse of three months, DR.. NietO was
informed, he says, that the verbal
agreement had been put in writing and
had been placed in escrow. Mr.. Heney
assured him that the word of the pros
ecution given to him in regard to the
matter of substituting the plea of not
guilty for that of guilty in the case of
indictment No. 3O5 would be kept. DR..
NietO says. and the written agreement
was in accordance to the terms of that
contract. DR.. Nieto says on the day
that the trial of Ford closed, without
Ruef having been called to the witness
stand, District Attorney Langdon told
him that the word of the prosecution
would be kept, and that later Detec-
tive Burns called at his residence and
treasured him of the same thing. DR..
NietO says further no suggestion was
made during this period that Ruef was
not fulfilling his agreement TO tell the
whole truth.
DR.. Nieto concludes his statement by
saving that Ruef never sent for him.
nor did he have any communication
with Ruef concerning his case until the
| time when he accidentally met Burns
| in the court room and was asked by
| him to speak to Ruef. What he has
done, he says. was in the interest of
public Justice, as a minister and man.