New Britain herald., 1914-04-14
ED C. 4. Quigley Carries Vew B1itam
 ''t Opey /. ". Halloyan by Plurality 0f 1,6d
NELLfN CASE NOLLED
 BY JUDGE FUTILE Former Head Of New Haven Road Exonerated of Mans|aughtcT Charge. ACTION RECOMMENDED BYCOUNSEL


 Trial for Alleged Crime on October
 5, 1912.
 Bridgeport, Conn, April 14.- Charles s. Mellen, former president of the New York, New Haven and Hart ford Railroad company, who in May of last year was arrested on bench warrant charging him with man. slaughter because of the death of one "Jane Doe" in the wreck of the Springfield Express in Westport on October 3, 1912, was ordered dis charged from custody today, following a nolle prosse of the charge by Judge Joseph F. Futile.
 Action by the court was, taken after it had received from the special, At torney General John H. Light and State Attorney Alcorn of Hartford county, recommendation as to what course should be taken.
 The information before the court charges the accused with lmanslaugh- ter, and the state is bound to prove beyond reasonable doubt that death resulted from the neglect of plain duty imposed by law or contract upon the accused personally, and that the omission of that duty was due to gross or culpable negligence.
 Essential Allegations.
 Te essential allegations contained in the information are as follows:
 The accused, as president of the railroad company, having exclusive control and management of its tracks and appurtenances through the town of Westport, and of the equipment { and operation of the engines and trains running upon the same, 1t was his duty to keep said tracks in proper condition and repair for safe travel. and to furnish and provide a suffi- cient number of brakemen and inn plements, and to employ competent and careful engineers to run and operate said engines for the protection of the lives of passengers riding upon said trains, and to provide and main tain crossovers of sufficient length to permit said engines and trains to pass to and from the tracks of said rail- road in safety, and to provide a prop CT and adequate system of automatic train control, whereby in passing a signal without needing the same, a train would be brought to a. stop; and we'll knowing the premises and his said duty, the accused feloniously, wilfuIly, and with culpable negligence. did omit and neglect to perform the same, and from which neglect the death of Jane Doe resulted.
 Not Sufficient Evidence.
 We have been over the evidence with State Attorney Judson, and those who have aided him in the preparation of the case for trial We 1 n, ~ yad carefully read all of the evidence talk en by him in very thorough and ex- haustive examination of the accident in question, and it's causes. and his or icial report. We have read the ex- pert report of the investigation of the accident made to the public utilities commission by c. c. Elwell. its chiet engineer and inspector. and also the report made by the interstate conn merce commission. We have exam ined the records of the board of di- rectors and the executive committee of the railroad company; and, after a thorough and exhaustive examina- ton of the law and the facts in the case we are forced to the conclusion that there is not sufficient evidence to Justify a trial. z
 
 roadbed, tracks, signals, cars, engine and other train equipment were in good condition and did not contribute to the accident. The signals were correctly set for the crossover move- ment of the train, and the required number of brakemen were provided in compliance with an order of the railroad commissi oners. The engin- ger was competent, if not. one of the best. We are assured by experts that there is no successful automatic de- vice for stopping trains in use on the surface railroads of the country. and have not been able to procure any evidence of the contrary.
 No Specific Duty.
 State Attorney Judson, and those who have assisted him in the prepar- ation of the case for trial, agree with us that the only allegation in the in- formation upon which conviction may be looked for, if at all is athat the accused was exclusively charged with the duty to provide and main tain at the place of the accident crossover of sufficient length to per- init the engine and train to pass from track one to track three at high speed in safety, and that he neglected this duty and death of Jane Doe was caused thereby. Hence we have ex amined this allegation and the evil dence which we have been able to H. A~ ( L