The San Francisco call., 1909-10-07
TOMALTY IS GIVEN
FIVE YEAR SENTENCE
Judge Intimates Others ShOuld
Be Prosecuted for Looting
City Treasury

Five years imprisonment, the ex-
treme penalty allowed by law. was i'm
posed by Judge Lawlor yesterday upon
James C. Tomalty, the clerk in the Of
fee of the city,. treasurer convicted OF
falsifying public record. Before i'm
posing sentence the judge clearly init
mated his belief that the district at
torney should prosecute those believed
to have aided Tomalty in the looting OF
the public funds. lie was sent to San
Quentin.
Il trust this matter will not rest
here" said Judge Lawlor. 1t should
receive such further attention as its
Importance would seem to require. That
money can be taken from the public
treasury. or that public accounts can
be recklessly deranged, is matter
calling for close attention on the part
OF the district attorney. l think the
full truth in this entire matter should
be arrived at.
REMARKABLE TESTIMONY
This case Is remarkable in many Of
its aspects. l feel l would be shirking
my own responsibility IL L did not ad-
vert 10 what uluSI nave DcCu PdlPdOAC
to all. Some of the testimony OF the
witnesses produced was remarkable in
the extreme. Through that testimony
the purpose could be detected to cloud
the evidence and to make the labor OF
the court and of the jury all the more
difficult in endeavoring to arrive at the
precise truth"
Tomalty was accompanied in court
by his wife and sister. No demonstra-
ton followed the imposition of SEN
tence either on the part of the defend
ant or his relatives, except that Mrs.
Tomalty made a threatening move
toward a newspaper reporter she con-
sidered partly responsible for her hus-
bands conviction. Motions for a new
trial and in arrest of Judgment. sub
mitted by Tomalty's attorneys, Ste
phen v Costello and Herbert Choynski,
were denied a the outset.
Choynski then addressed the court in
mitigation of penalty. He said he
thought the case one in which the de-
fendant ight properly be admitted to
probation. or if the court did not see
its way clear to grant that concession,
he asked that Tomalty be not branded
as felon. but that he be sentenced TO
the county jail.
Assistant District Attorney Cook re-
piled briefly, reiterating that Tomalty
was charged with a deliberate falsifi-
cation.
POSITION OF TRUST
In sentencing the defendant Judge
LawIor made the points that while To-
malty was not an Official" he was in a
position of trust which might have
been occupied by an official. Had the
defendant been an Official and not
legally an "emp1oye" of the city the
maximum penalty would have been Il
years. The judge also suggested the
plain probability that the crime of
falsifying the records was committed
to cover another crime, possibly of en-
bezzlement.
Notice of appeal was served and a
writ of probable cause granted
District Attorney Langdon when
questioned as to whether he intended
to ask the grand jury to indict any
other officials as a result OF Judge
Iawlors remarks. declined to give a
direct answer. This I will say. how
ever" he said. I'VE have been and are
now working on this matter. The case
is not at rest. The district attorney
does not intend to rest satisfied with
this conviction"
Assistant District Attorney Harrison,
who assisted in the prosecution of To-
malty, also stated the Office would not
rest satisfied with the punishment OF
Tomalty.