The San Francisco call., 1908-10-10
BLAKE THE
JURY F|KER
CONVICTED
Verdict Calls for Maximum Pen.
atty of Five Years in the
Penitentiary
Evidence in Case Charges AttOr-
Heys Murphy and Newburgh
as Responsible Ones
Jurors Cast Six Ballots and
Agreement Is Secured
on Last
Result Is Splendid Victory for
Graft Prosecution and
Decency
E. A. S. Blake was found

E. A. S. Blake was found
guilty last night of an at
tempt to bribe John Martin
Kelly, a prospective juror in
the Ruef case. At 10 minutes
after IL o'clock, after seven
hours spent in deliberation,
the jury in Judge Dunne's
@Surt brought in the verdict that
silcans a maximum penalty OF FIVE
years in the penitentiary for the
defendant Blake was lodged last
night in the city prison and will
be taken into court for sentence
one week from this morning.
It was on the sixth ballot that
the verdict OF the jury was
reached. The first FIVE ballots re-
suited IN disagreement. II jurors vot-
ing FOR conviction and one for acquit-
tai After a late dinner the jury re-
turned TO the room in which they had
been in conference since $3.50 o'clock
in the afternoon. and after an hour and
a half spent in argument took the
sixth ballot, which resulted in a unani-
nous vote for conviction. The little
tarong that had remained in the court
room al afternoon and evening waited
with breathless interest as Foreman
Charles Adams arose 10 make his re-
port. yet when the words guilty as
charged fell from his lips the intense
silence remained unbroken.
a significance deeper than the mere
conviction Of Blake attaches to the
verdict given last night, for upon the
identical evidence upon which he was
found guilty viii be tried the similar
cases against Attorneys Frank J. Muir
ply and A. s. Newburgh Of Abe Ruers
staff. The evidence in the Blake case
charges that these two men were the
ones responsible for the attempt to
bribe John Martin Kelly and that
Blake was but their tool Had this
} eme-t OF the case against Blake been
I oft improved the whole charge must
rave fallen and HIS acquittal would
have resulted.
MURPHY AND NEWBURGH NEXT
Tn convicting Blake a jury Of y
men have declared themselves con-
WINGED Of the guilt OF Murphy and New
burgh. but their decision was ap-
plicable TO Blake alone. other iuries
must take the same facts and weigh
them IN respect TO the guilt of Ruefs
counsellors. Yet the case is the same
and the outcome must be the same
Their own accounts Of their relations
with Blake were told by Murphy
and Newburgh themselves as wit
nesses during his trial. and a jury has
branded these statements as lies-lies
proved By the incOntrovertible mass of
evidence which showed the occurrences
they alleged to have been utterly i'm
possible.
Tor a time last night II seemed that
the Blake jury was bound in hope
less deadlock and preparations had
been made to provide quarters for the
night at the Fairmont hotel. Only
once during the entire time of the jury's
deliberations was a request made for
additional instruction. That was at
$50 o'clock in the afternoon, two hours
after they had gone into session, when
q reouest was made for a rereading Of
section 95 Of the penal code on which
The charge against Blake was based.
il was explained afterward that the
reason for this was the doubt in the
minds Of one or two Of the Jurors
whether the mere asking Of a juror for
his opinion in case would constitute
q crime. and It was on the question
OF the extent TO which the overt act
must be carried that the jury spent so
long in deliberation-
The long morning session Of the case
was devoted TO the closing argument
OF Attorney Carl Lindsay for the de-
fense and a masterful summing up Of
the evidence by District Attorney Lang
Don. who clinched the case by drawing
= deadly parallel between the conflict
ing stories of Blake and Kelly and
showing the many discrepancies in the