The San Francisco call., 1908-12-25
Arch CRATER Failed to Have
Members of Jury That Con-
victed Him Examined
Bribe Taker Presents Many
Affdavits in Support of
Motion for New Trial
Judge LawIOr Orders COntinu=
ance Till Next Tuesday for
Counter Aff1davits

Abe Ruef set a new limit yesterday
on the extent of his own effrontery
by attempting in all apparent serious
ness and with many protestations of
good faith TO put the l. jurors, who
recently found him guilty Of offering a
bribe. on trial before Judge Lawlor.
II was the same old move which he has
operated so often against grand jurors.
tried this time with respect to a trial
jury whose work has been completed,
ending fight for delay
The result Of two hours spent in OBJ
structing progress in Judge Lawlor's
court yesterday morning was that Ruef
gained another respite from the SEN
tence that is to be pronounced against
him on the verdict returned two weeks
ago. Following the futile attempt in
his behalf by his attorney, Thomas B.
Dozier. TO put the trial jurors on the
witness stand and have them testify
concerning every incident that occurred
in the jury room, where the verdict Of
guilty was reached, Ruef resorted to
another old trick and turned loose on
the court a flood of affidavits.
The proceedings hinged yesterday on
a motion for a new trial. made by
Dozier as soon as the case was called
for judgment The formal motion was
supported by an affidavit signed by f.
z. Kirk Of Ruefs legal staff, setting
forth the usual statutory allegations Of
grounds for a rehearing of the case
and charg .ng misconduct upon the part
Of the jurors. All the jurors had been
brought into court under subpenas is
sued in Ruefs behalf. and Dozier at
tempted 10 call Juror O'Brien to the
stand as a witness.
ALLEGES ILLEGAL VERDICT
Dozier declared that it was the in
tention of the defense to prove that the
verdict of guilty had been reached IN
an illegal manner that the jurors We're
prejudiced against the defendant from
the beginning. that coercion was used
in the jury room and that the shooting
Of Francis J. Heney and other events
which occurred during the trial had in
fuenced the verdict. Assistant Dis
trict Attorney O'Gara objected to any
q
pose and his objection was promptly
sustained by the court
DoZier followed his original motion
with one providing that the court issue
an order subpenaing all the jurors 10
have depOsitiOns taken, but the same
objection was interpOsed and the mo-
lion met the same fate as the former
one Then came the shower Of affi-
davits. led off with one by Ruef him.
self The one, however, did not suffice
for a complete disclosure of all the
defendants reasons why he should be
given another trial, and was followed
with two more over his own signature.
There were others by Kirk. Dozier,
Henry Ach and every one else directly
connected with the Ruef defense.
IN the longest one of his affidavits
Ruef went into the history of his
case since the time Of his first indict-
nnent and declared that the verdict
against him was not based on his guilt,
but on the public sentiment existing
so Overwhelmingly against him. He
referred TO the presence in court during
his trial Of members Of the League Of
Justice wearing the emblems Of the or
der. and asserted that their attendance
was a plot to intimidate the jury. He
tdeclared that the jurors had witnessed
the shooting of Heney and believed
that Ruef had been responsible for the
attempted assassination and that the
jurors had heard the demonstration
when Heney had entered the court on
the day OF his conviction His charges
were based promiscUously and lavishly
on every incident and event, real or
supposed. that occurred either within
or without the courtroom during the
three months OF the trial.
JUDGE LAMLOR'S COMMENTS
In commenting on Ruefs claims
after the affidavit had been read, Judge
I.awIor called attention to the fact
that Ruef had not been present in the
courtroom when Heney was shot and
kept away from the building for nearly
an hour afterward, but that regard
less Of this his affidavit contained
sworn statements as to his personal
knowledge of what occurred at that
time.
One Of the charges made by Ruef
and reiterated in the afiidavits of the
other members of his staff was that
Jurors Roller, Schilling and Beuttler
had discussed the case in German in
stead Of in English while considering
their verdict Another allegation was
that Juror Bond had stood at a front
window Of Carpenters hall while the
Jury was celebrating and had seen the
crowd in the street outside the build
ing. Still another unsupported charge
was that Juror Murphy had gone to
Judge Lawlor during the progress of
The trial with a request to be dis
charged. and that he had told Judge
I.awlor that he was prejudiced and did
not wish to serve TO the end of the
case.
When all the afiidavits had been read,
Assistant District Attorney OGara
asked for a continuance until next
Thursday morning to prepare counter
afidavits in behalf OF the state. Ad-
hitting that the Ruef affidavits did not
require an answer before the ruling
as All the events set forth in them were
iudicialIy known to Judge Lawlor and
required no comment. O'Gara took the
stand that the formal showing of the
prosecution was required TO preserve
me interests of the state on appeal.
The continuance was granted and Do
zier was denied the right TO use the
same time in preparing more afidavits
.for presentation.
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