The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1909-06-12
Bargaining With
. Criminals.
By Victor Rousseau

lS51S2515157S15151
| That the police can make no head
way against the professional criminal
! in New York City, that a proportion
ranging from fifty to ninetyfour per
cent, in inverse ratio to the serious
| ness of the offence, escape punish
| ment, has been demonstrated in re-
cent issues of Harper's Weekly. IN
| these articles stress was laid in par
ticular on the fact that it is in most
cases an impossibility to procure evi'
dence sufficient to secure an indlct-
ment from the grand jury; that, when
such indictments can be obtained, the
criminal can protract the issue til
witnesses have disappeared, forfeit his
bail, obtain acquittal, or otherwise
evade the law.
This is not denied by the police
authorities; but there is another
phase of the affair to be taken into
consideration, and that is the custom
of allowing prisoners charged with
felonies to plead guilty to a much
lower offence thar that charged in the
Indictment
People are prone to find fault with
the police" remarked an official at
headquarters, land never stop to
think that the police are only small
factor in the prosecution Of criminals,
and that their work can be practical
ly nullified by the inactivity OF 9TH
er officials of the city government
The charge is, in brief, this: that
on account of the numerous bail cases
constantly awaiting trial. which
threaten to clog the slowly moving
machinery of justice. the District A.
torney's Office bargains with criminals
under indictment. permitting them to
plead guilty to an offence much less
serious than that with which they
are charged, rather than go through
the protracted formula of trial.
For example, in tie month OF Jan
uary the cases of six men awaiting
trial upon the charge of murder in
the first degree were disposed OF very
expeditiously in the courts of New York
County. Their names are Pasqua'e
di Monaco, francesca Vonella, Agus-
to Bianchi, Frank Rice. Stephen Mac
kovcak, and Enrique de Lara. Eacn
of these men had slain a fellow man
in some fashion-by shooting. stab
bling, or slashing. The police had evl.
dence which would have sufficed to
send some Of them, at least, to the
electric chair. But the calendar
was crowded; the results of the trials
might be uncertain; and so, by ar
rangement with the Office of the Dis
trict Attorney, they were "sent up
for periods ranging from about ten
to twenty years each-and justice
was satisfied.
It il claimed by the police that
from twenty to thirty of such cases
occur every day. and that the crowd
ed condition of the courts makes
this necessary. They have diurnal
list Of them to prove their contention.
Here, for example. are few instances
extracted from the record of single
day; the names are fictitious, but the
records exist on file at Police Heal
quarters:
John Busch, charged with grand
larceny in the second degree; maxi
mum sentence, five years imprison-
ment; pleaded guilty to petty lar
ceny; sentence suspended.
George Washington White, charg-
ed with assault in the first degree;
maximum sentence, ten years inn
prisonment; pleaded guilty to assault
in the third degree; sentenced to
years Imprisonment
Giuseppi Panetella, charged with
robbery in the first degree; maximum
sentence, twenty years; pleaded gull
ty to receiving stolen goods: SEN
fenced to one years Imprisonment.
All the crooks know that the Dis
trict Attorney will permit them to
plead guilty to lesser crime than
that with which they are charged"
said an official at Police Headquar-
tiers. They say that they have to,
in order to keep the calendar clear.
There is one Part of General SEES
sions in particular where this is
done-I think it changes from time
to time as the judge is changed. Some
judges, of course, have the reputation
of being much easier than others.
Crooks hate to go before Judge Null
queen or Judge Rosalsky, or Judges
Dyke and Asphalt in Brooklyn, who
hand out stiff sentences. Judge Mu.-
queen will impose a sentence OF
twenty years without turning hair. |
Some of the politicians won't speak
to him now