Los Angeles herald., 1909-07-24
LAWYER PROBES
WITNESS PAST
POLICEMAN IN ARNERICH CASE
GRILLED
ATTEMPT MADE TO DlScREDIT
DAMAGING TESTIMONY
Walter at Good Fellows Grotto on
Trial for Alleged Violation of the
Liquor Law-Attorney At
tacks Patrolman

George P. Arnerich. a waiter at the
Good Fellows Grotto, 341 South Main
street, on trial yesterday in Justice
Roses court on a charge of violating
the liquor ordinance, displayed a sense
of discomfort and restlessness.
This is a rotten case" he conided
uneasjly to spectators sitting near him
in the court room.
Attorney Ed Fleming, former prose-
cutor, who acted for the defense,
brought about dramatic situation BY
wringing from Patrolman f. A. Brown,
the complaining witness, admissions of
unhappy incidents in his past life.
Question after question, with the dis
passionate mercilessness for which he
| has been noted the attorney wound his
way into the secrets of Patrolman
Brown, forcing the admission that the
latter had testified falsely before the
civil service commission in declaring
he never had been convicted of a fell
ony, when in fact there had been two
such convictions, both long ago.
AS a boy of II, on the plains of Okla
homa, where he lived with his mother,
hunger had threatened the home, and
the boy had stolen a bag of hams. Ar
rested, convicted of burglary and SEN
LCuCSu, ne ndu dlleIWdTQ De6n par
doned, according to his story yesterday
on the stand, in redirect examination.
Again, as a man, engaged in a trans
fer business in an Oklahoma city, his
wife, he stated, had raised the figures
on some freight bills. Arrest of hus-
band and wife had followed, and the
husband, in silence had heard once
more the judgment of the court that he
be confined in the penitentiary. AS be-
fore, however, the judgment had not
been executed, for the case finally was
dismissed.
Tactics Not Fruitful
81 could not have cleared myself
without accusing my wife" Brown an
swered, simply, to a scornful question
from Attorney Fleming.
He said in answering the questions
before the civil service commission he
had not felt that, morally, he was a
felon in spite of the convictions, since
he had been freed in both cases.
The line of questioning which brought
to light these buried facts was under
taken by Mr.. Fleming in an effort tC
discredit the testimony of the witness
Brown, to the effect that beer had been
sold to him in the Good Fellows Grotto
by Arnerich without meal or even d
pretense of one.
With other witnesses who testified tc
| the same circumstances, Mr.. Fleming
pursued the same tactics on cross-ex-
animation, but without any such dra-
matte results. His effort to show that
D. Mcdonald, a detective, had a spe-
cial material interest in the conviction
of Arnerich failed signally, and he
Jared little better in seeking to discredit
the testimony of Mrs. Della May by
questioning the propriety of her going
with a married man to such a place,
late at night"
"I did it because I am the mother of
young boys" said the witness. proudly,
land 7 want to see such places closed"
The testimony of all three witnesses
as to the facts alleged in the case was
clear and to the point. The cross-ex-
animation of Mrs. May was still in
progress when court adjourned at
o'clock