The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1912-02-23
A JUDICIAL

charge of burglary to which he had
pleaded guilty. is attaining a motor
iety that cannot he suppressed. The
governor, who announced only a few
days ago that "th case is closed" has
since discovered thai 1t Is wide open
and has been offered a pardon for
the sake of stopping the agitation.
The courts arc tangled up in habeas
corpus proceedings and 2 commits
sioner is opening the investigation
Of the methods that resulted in the
first sentence.
A pardon by the state would be
either a confession OF rank injustice
or n proposal to defeat justice now to
avoid the embarrassment OF meeting
public criticism. The probability APP
pears to be thai Brandt is a highly
undesirable citizen. Even those who
are denouncing tho court do not dis
pute that he is probably deserving OF
some punishment. But what they OBJ
ject to is the imposition OF sentence
ON a man who has pleaded guilty
twice as long as that ordinarily inn
posed for the same crime even in the
case of inveterate offenders. or that
? criminal record should be manufac-
turrd and submitted to the judge to
Justify such a sentence without giving
the accused a chance to answer it, or
that private conferences should be
held between judge. complainant and
police officers with regard to the
sentence and without the knowledge
of the prisoner. Most OF these are dis
ruted points. but the manufacture of
a bogus criminal record has been adj
nitted by the officer who compiled it.
To propose to hush up this matter
by a pardon is to show as little con-
ccption Of public justice as is charged
against the prior proceedings. The
man is conceivablv guilty of some
crime. II he is guilty he should b..
punished with Il penalty commcnsu-
rate TO the %offense. But he should not
a his sentence exaggerated by allie
cations privately made to the Judge to
suit the desire of a wealthy employer
who is understood to wish his perma-
nent imprisonment for reasons entire
ly apart from the alleged burglary.
The World says thai three days
after Brandt had pleaded guilty in
Judge Rosa lsky's court. and had been
remitted for sentence. Schiff. Cans.
who was at the time Schif's legal adj
wiser. the judge, Police Inspector Nc
Laughlin and n other" We're at the
Criterion club. talking together. Just
when Mclaughlin was first asked to
have Brandt's record looked up, the
Worlds narrative does not say.
March 80. 1907. Cans wrote to Nc
Laughlin that Brandt was to be sem
fenced the coming Thursday. but that
he-Lawyer Gans-could "of course
have the sentencing postponed if nee
essary, and that the idea was to 'be
able to present to Judge Rosalsky his
lBrandt's) record. which. taken in
connection with the character OF the
defendants crime. will require the
imposition of a long sentence" April
1. Mclaughlin ordered Detective Ser
geant Woodbridge to look the record
up. April 3. Wolridge reported to
the inspector. and the report was
placed in Judge Rosalsky's hands.
Tho World says that Woodbridge con-
fessed to the grand jury a few days
ago that the report was largely hear
say and partly lies; that he now APP
pears penitent: that he told the grand
jurors he almost tainted when Judge
ihoodishN Ieuu II III court ana COulQ
not sleep for two nights afterwards.
How the World is able to publish
what occurred in the room of the
grand jury, We do not know. 1t says
further that agents Of the district at
torney have investigated the state-
ments in the Woodbridge report on
Brandt's record and have found all
but n of them to be false.
Cans had been an assistant in the
district attorneys Office. but had re-
signed and was in private practice
when he advised Schiff about Brandt
and wrote his letter to Mclaughlin.
The Tribune calls the attention of the
New York Bar association to Cans,
and remarks:
at is virtually certain that what
crime Brandt did commit it was
not burglary in the first degree. 1t
was the business Of the district at
torney's Office to have known this and
to have protected the prisoner. What
ever. injustice may have been done
to Brandt sprang from the loose sys-
tenn by which counsel with a pull in
the district attorneys office was able
arrange" for the punishment Of a
prisoner without Interference from
public prosecutor and secure from |
police a report that would make
a long sentence necessary. Upon. the
propriety Of all this the public awaits
IN expression Of opinion by the bar"
But. the public. seeR-aireadx, FOR: It.