The San Francisco call., 1910-03-16
CONSTABLE FACES
PERJURY CHARGE
Attorney for Three On Yick
Tongmen Declares That Evi-
dence Was Manufactured

OAKLAND, March l5.-Charges of
perjury and misconduct were made to-
day in Judge Browns court against
Deputy Constable George Starr by
Deputy District Attorney w. B. Smith
and Attorney Clarence NJ. Reed. A sub
pena was issued by Judge Brown for
Stars appearance in court Friday
morning He will be examined as to
his activity in Chinatown during the
recent feud between the On Yick tong
and the Yee family.
The substance of the charge against
Starr is that he was employed by the
Yee family 10 fabricate charges against
the On Yicks and to arrest them, and
that he committed perjury, had inno-'
cent men arrested and held for trial,
manufactured evidence and then at
tempted to sell out his clients.
Starr is a deputy under Constable
Lane He formerly held office under
Constable Hampstead but was removed
by the latter because of his activity in
connection with loan and collection
agency conducted by himself. In the
last two years he has been charged
several times with using his Office for
the benefit OF a faction that employed
him in Chinatown.
WARRANTS WE'RE REFUSED
During the recent feud Starr arrested
Leung Bow, Leo Toon and Lew Yen on
a charge of having robbed Yee Ming
OF 500 near Melrose station last No
yember. The men arrested are mem
bers of the On Yick tong, and the
supposed victim is member of the
Yee family. The Oakland police had
been asked to arrest the Chinese but
Captain OF Detectives Petersen found
that there was not sufficient evidence
TO warrant such action. Police Judges
Smith and Samuels refused to issue
warrants.
The Chinese then went to Justice of
the Peace Geary of Brooklyn town
ship and secured warrants for the
three On Yicks. About the same time
Geary issued a warrant for the arrest
Of Chin Tung, an On Yick. on charge
Of murder. This case has since been
dismissed on motion of the prosecuting
attorney for lack of evidence.
PERJURY AS CHARGED
At the preliminary examination
Starr and some Chinese witnesses tes-
and Lew Yen. One of the Chinese
witnesses, after telling his story to
Deputy District Attorney W. B. Smith
in the latter's Office, blandly denied
on the stand that he had ever been
there. Smith at that time asked for
dismissal of the charges against the
On Yicks because the testimony
against them was a mass of perjury
and contradictory. Philip NJ. Walsh
attorney for the Yee family, objected
strenuously, and the three were held
for trial.
When they came up for .arraignment
this morning in Judge Browns court
Smith renewed his motion to dismiss
the charges.
The testimony against them is per-
jured and worthless he said There
is no chance to convict them, and l am
satisfied they are not guilty of this
offense. They should never have been
arrested and should never have been
held for trial The county has been
put to useless expense"
DEPUTY CONSTABLE DENOUNCED
Attorney Clarence Reed who repre-
sented the On Yicks with ATTORNEY
Frank Drew of San Francisco, then
made a strong denunciation of Starr.
which caused Judge Browns action
with regard to the deputy constable.
Starr committed rank perjury at the
preliminary examination" said Reed
He is in the employ of the Yee fam
lily and concocted these accusations
against these defendants, preparing
evidence against them before he ar
rested them in Melrose"
Reed declared that not only had Starr
perjured himself and fabricated the
charges against the Chinese, but that
after their arrest he asked Reed for
$3.50 for each case for his services in
making the testimony innocuous so
that the On Yicks could be acquitted
Reed said that he would go on the
witness stand and repeat under oath
the charges he made against Starr.
He concluded by asking Judge Brown
to dismiss the charges against the de-
PENDANTS.
Judge Brown replied that he thought
that the three should be set free, but he
said that he wanted to question Starr
first Accordingly, he instructed Dep
uty District Attorney Smith to subpoena
Starr.