The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1911-11-04
LAWYER DISBARRED UNJUSTLY
Continued from First Page.

court would have accepted their evidence.
1T docs now so appear. BY curious
combination OF circumstances there came
to light during the trial of the charges
against District Attorney jerome a trunk
ful of vouchers showing payments by the
Metropolitan Street Railway in connec-
ton with actions for damages. From
this it appears and is not disputed that
all OF the witnesses upon whose evidence
the molten for IA new trial and the dis
harment of Oppenheim was granted were
under the pay of the railway company
during the time these proceedings were
pending.
Justice Scott says that the motion for
new trial was made in May. 1899 The
vouchers dug out of tho trunk showed
! that to Porcia were paid various sums
| from December 3, 1898. to April 20. 1910.
aggrega ting sl.119. Of this amount he
| got 1927 up To June, 1909, when both he
and Julian testified that he had received
in all not over $40 or si?.
Mary langstaf, ono of the retracting
witnesses. who swore that she got nothing,
IN fact got sl8O beginning in Nav. 1899,
| down To July 10, 1901. Her mother got
$3.50 from May, 1890, to July 1901. Sadie
Mcdonald, the other witness. who SAID
she got nothing. received sie2 between
the dates in question Strom. who said
that Oppenheim had tried to induce him
to swear falsely. got 500 in lsoo and his
father and brot her got $40 and $50 re-
spcCtively.
1T is significant that the payments to
the principal witnesses began at or about
the time the motion for a new trial was
made, says Justice Scott and continued
until both the motion for new trial and
the petition for disbarment had been
concluded Porcia. who appears to swear
with equal facility for either side. now
sweafs that all of his testimony before the
referee was false and Julian who il said
TO have engineered both proceedings, has
now quarrelled with the company. and
swears that Robinson. the solicitor for the
company, told him that Mcbride had been
paid $50 for his report. Robinson does
not deny this"
For this reason Justice Scott thinks that
both cases should be reopened Henry A.
Robinson, who was the solicitor for the
company. Is now defending disbarment
! proceedings based on the trunkful of
| vouchers and his conduct in the case
against Oppenhem is being investigated
In his petition for reinstatement Oppen.
helm said that after he was disbarred
Hannah Nugent. and her guardian, her
uncle, Andrew Nugent. an eS-sergeant of
police, put the case in the hands of Luke
ID. Stapleton. but he was appointed TO the
Supreme Court shortly afterward. and
then lected Judge, and nothing has
ever been done When Oppenheim
learned about the finding Of the vouchers
and discovered that the Metropolitan
had sent Sadie Mcdonald and Porcia to
Philadelphia for "A month so Oppenheim
couldn't find them when the disbarment
proceedings were pending against him,
he felt II my duty 10 inform Hannah
! Nugent and her guardian about the in
formation in order that she might likewise
apply for the rghtng of a wrong that had
been done her.
"She is now a young woman going on
10 years of age and she is hobbling through
life with but one leg having lost the other
one in this accident She is dependent
upon the charity Of her stepfather. She
is in INDECENT circumstances and has
been deprived Of compensation for the
loss Of her limb by the same means that |
have been deprived Of my position at the
bar and my reputation in the community :"
Oppenheim said that il was the late
Justice Truax who refused 10 confirm
the report of Referee Mcbride in spite Of
the fact that Mcbride was his brother
in-law. The vouchers that turned UP
in the case had been in the possession of
Stanley Bagg also Metropolitan inves-
tigator. and when he left his boarding
house without paying his bill the land
lady found what was in the trunk and
sold it to Franklin Pierce. who laid the
charges against District Attorney Jerome
before Gov. Hughes. Oppenheim pointed
out that these vouchers showed that a
total sum of s., ,7ii had been paid by the
Metropolitan TO the witnesses against
him.