The evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1907-1908, 1908-01-09
PROSECUTOR IS
ATTACKED AT
READY TRIAL
Kalisch, Of Counsel for De.
fendant, Resents Treach-
cry Charge.

ldW JOA CAio S1o Tie lOiblilE u liG
will of John Wells Russell, the wealthy
octogenarian of East Orange, was re-
sumed before Judge Ten Eyck in the
Court of Quarters Sessions today, inter-
est in it appeared to nave waned.
Hardly fifty persons were present.
DIR. Frederick Burnett was h first
witness called today. He was called
for the purpose of giving evidence re-
garding the affidavit made by Mrs.
Mary Clavin, the beneficiary under the
will, in which she said that the letters
turned over to Ready were letters writ
ten by Russell.
Before Burnett was allowed to testify,
Mr.. Kalisch made a sharp attack upon
the prosecutors method, saying that
Mrs. Clavin never testified that they
were not the letters she gave to Ready.
"She only said" declared Mr..
Kalisch, that she was not positive"
He added that he objected to Prose-
cutor Young saying that Mrs. Clavin,
as a witness, was "~treacherous and en-
trapped" This Mr.. Young denied Wig
orously, and before Burnett was al
lowed to go on Assistant Prosecutor
Mott was called to the witness stand.
He said that on a certain occasion the
letters in evidence were submitted to
him, and that the Clavin woman gave
them to Ready for the purpose of de-
termining whether or no the signature
to the will was genuine.
After Mr.. Mott had been excused,
nls1a-,1o IXyoal,.tff onn4har 10 xurNaf.
was called to the witness stand and
swore thai he knew Russell, as he lived
near his home in East Orange. He was
So years old when he died, this lawyer
said, and he a several properties. in
East Orange worth about $50. 900, on
which was an incumbrance of $4,000.
Besides this, he owned property in
Canada and New York.
Asked whether he was familiar with
RusselPs handwriting. Mr.. Woodruff re-
piled that he had received letters from
Russell, having had business dealings
with him. He was shown a letter COW
ering a law case and replied hat he be-
lieved the signature to be hat of Rus
sell.
In answer to questions on cross-exam-
nation by Mr.. Kalisch, Mr.. Woodruff
| Sd1u lIdl AQoSCii was q lCliltA HAC1DiJ
well preserved man, did not look his
age, and about two years before his
death went into bankruptcy.
County Clerk John B. Woolston. who
was a clerk in the ~surrogate's office at
the time the alleged will was offered
for probate, then testified to Russel's
signature in one of the surrogate's
books when Russell put his name in II
- - -, lf1AaYII It'll nthnV
clerks in the office testified to the sigma
ture having been made and to the pre-
s~entation of the alleged Russell will by
Ready to Mr.. Woolston some time after
Russeli's last appearance in the surro-
gates office.
One of the most interesting and inter-
ested witnesses of the day was David
N. Carvalho, of New York, the hand
writing expert, who has figured in some
of the most famous trials in the coun-
try, including the Molineux murder case.
He had previously pronounced the sig
nature to the alleged Russell will a
forgery. and 1t was largely due to this
that the arrest and indictment of the
lawyer followed.
Mr.. Carvalho talked much and talked
fast. He told how he had examined
the genuine signature of the deceased
and the signature to the will, and then
said:
"The signature to the paper purport-
ing to be the will is hating, hesitating
and disturbing. Russell had an old
fashioned movement in his writing. He
makes irregular marks and there Is no
movement such as we call the forearm
movement in the signature to the Will.
Besides this. there are variations in the
open pressure
Handwriting is like the human face.
1t really never changes, although the
expreshsion may change. You never find
two faces nor two signatures exactly
alike. They never match"
Then the witness talked rapidly about
'upstrokes'' and down strokes" and
other t~echnicalities. until Mr.. Kalisch,
IN apparent despair, interrupted to say:
1--WE can't listen to a man who goes
like a steam engine in his testimony.
He is talking like an advocate and not
like a witness. He is talking too fast
md too much
Judge Ten Eyck remarked that he
could follow the witness If Mr.. Kalisch
could not.
After that the jurors were allowed
to examine the signatures with the ala
Of q magnifying glass.
Mr.. Kalisch objected again to the
method of Carvalho's testifying. and
said hat an expert had no greater
rights than any other witness. He
asked for a blackboard demonstration,
but the court took no notice of the
suggestion.
After saying that in the apex of the
capital ar" in the word Russell the
upward dash was not genuine, the ex-
pert was interrupted by Mr.. Henry,
who suddenly informed the court that
Carvalho was one of the experts in the
famous Molineux trial.
Mr.. Henry vas told that that had
nothing to do with the hearing of the
case, but he insisted.
Finally the court raped him to
order with the remark that mo attempt
to blacken the witness would be all
lowed" as he had qualified as an *
pert. Mr.. Carvalho finally came down
to this:
1.-THE signature to the will is not only
forged, but a traced handwriting and
done In a bungiing manner a hating,
hesitating sort of a handwriting"
Owing to the fact that Mr.. Kalisch
had an engagementn to take part in the