The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-01-31
Charles A. Perkins.

celebrated Becker case and would likely
not have gone wrong in the preparation
of the paper il he had had any eXpe-
rienCe at ALL"
That's 1.-THE Becker case" put in.
What amount of trouble did the
preparation OF that indictment give you
compared with others?"
Mr.. Perkins chuckled.
That's one OF the 10 900 YOU will have
To deduct from my toll credits" he
smiled. 81 was out or that famous
cause altogether. Away on vacation
Clean across the continent and up in
Alaska while all that was going on.
Looking over the Indictment as il was
prepared. accusing Charles Becker
Frank Muller Frank Cirofici Louis
Rosenberg. Harry Horowitz. John Rich
and william Shapiro of the killing Of
Herman Roserthal, | find that the nick
names of the various defendants We're
given as aliases. Had drawn the in
-4fctment | should have omitted such
nicknamrs, hut as the object sought
was accomplished it made little differ
encc.
ANY plans in particular? No. only
just to go along and attend to the duties
of the Office to the fun extent Of my
ability. There Is nothing about the
system that Is crying out for change or
Innovation. The office, ] think ii will
Re admitted, has been doing its work TO
the general satisfaction Of the people
Of the city.
Anything need eYpeditiug and could
such expeditlng be aided through inno-
walton? | think rot 1t is true that W.
are often crowded in Grand Jury mat
ters There are two Grand Juries con-
stantly in session, and yet there are
| periods when they have more than they
/ IAN attend to. \ third Grand jury
! hum-well while a third might he OF
benefit at times there might come other
| lines OF lull when il would seem absurd
! and expensive to have third body
comparatively idle.
mo, / can't say that | want to start
! a cry for third Grand Jury or in fact
for anything In particular. This office,
as recent statistics have shown, has
done very creditable amount OF work
IN the past, I'll go on in the same way
az far as am able
When We were talking about the
| preparation of indictments | meant tC
say that in the main-iu fact We DC
80 in general-we depend upon the com
mon law. There are SO many changes
OF codes that 1t is wiser and substan.
TALLY safer to make The common law
the basis. And as to time spent in IN,
preparation OF cases, il is frequently
matter OF getting combinations o
facts, and we may be delayed by rea.
sons without remedy Some cases tax,
two or three days. other cases nigh
| v,tn Is In T.
this to indicate the labor spent on then
ir = preliminary way"
Have most Of your Indictment.
tocd?" | asked thinking 20 get ~
admission Of fair percentage Of fail
ure.
They all stand" answered Mr. Per
kins with the smile. Certainly the,
all stand Once in a while n demurre
IL made, but this is done IN cases II
which a construction OF the application
Of the law IL asked rather than a pro
test against the facts OF prosecution
arrayed for the Grand Jury"
And then the new District Attorne,
launched into very fluent illustrat.o'
Of how the courts might be asked t,
ldefine the sufiiciency Of an indictmen
10 cover n particular angle OF allege'
law breaking, He piled up the instance
aptly and quickly, and they were no
loaded down with terms OF legal tech
nicality foggy TO the layman. Such
man, you felt, could gather toge,he
proofs likely to convince the 'averag
grand juryman.
How came you to survive tire
changes OF administration in the Dis
trict Attorneys office?" | asked
Fusion" he answered smillngly, Jus
fusion. Mr.. Jerome as my chief tw
terms and then Mr.. Whitman. Polite
didn't enter into the carrying on of tn
ONCE 90 much as It might have ON
tered had--well, had Tammany con
trolled 1t. In such an event there woul
likely have been changes. At any rae