The Hawaiian gazette., 1917-10-05
Filipino Asserts
He Falsely SwOre
Away -Four Lives
One Of Quartet Convicted Of Bru-
tai Murder Signs Affidavit That
He Alone Is Guilty Of the Crime

tai Murder Signs Affidavit That
He Alone Is Guilty Of the Crime
Legal bombshells were thrown into
the circuit court yesterday by Attorney
W. T. Garden, counsel for the four
| Filipinos sentenced last Saturday by
Judge Heen to pay the death penalty
on the gallows, when he filed what pur-
! ported to be a confession of Eduardo
Asumeion, in which the latter declared
he falsely swore away the lives of the
quartet, and that he, only, was re.
| sponsible for the crime by which
Hayashibara, the japanese storekeeper
! Of .Kaneohe, met a brutal death a..T
Hardly had the papers been filed at
the court when the city attorney Of.
fee, which prosecuted the case, an.
nounced that when the motion to re.
open the case came up before the court,
they would have a card up their sleeve
which would astonish the attorney for
the convicted quartet. e.
Thus the case, which began to take
on the importance of nine. days won
der yesterday morning, promises to
have sensational angles in both direc
tions, but just what card will be ex-
posed was not stated by City Attorney
Brown last evening. $685..
New Evidence
Attorney Garden fled his motion II
set aside the verdict and sentence i'm.
posed and for a new trial for Isidoro
Mario, Gabriel Verver, Florencio DO.
nella and Amador Abeta, on the ground
that the movants have in their pos.
session new and material evidence T.
show that the testimony of Eduardo
Asumcion, which was material on be.
half of the prosecution and upon which
the men were convicted and found
guilty, was false and perjured. In sub
stance, the motion set forth, the four
men thought they were being taken to
gambling game, and only knew that
a robbery was contemplated by Asum.
cion when they entered Hayashibara Is
store and the door was locked upon
them, at which time they were all
threatened with bodily harm by Asum-
cion If they did not carry out the lat
ter s plans for robbery. Hayashibara,
it was further asserted, was both shot
and stabbed by Asumcion only, and no:
by the others. .. s..
The confession, which is attached to
the motion, is typewriter and signed
by Stanley Portosa, who is. stated to
have interpreted Asumcion's alleged
confession from Visayan into Englisu
and so interpreted to Attorney Garden
! in Asumcion's cell. The same state
ment is also signed by Miss Josephine
X. Stone, stenographer for Garden, and
signed by her as notary public on Sep.
TENDER 20, 1917. The alleged confes
sion bears the mark of Asumcion, it
being stated he could not sign his
name.
This statement, in which he is de
clared to say that he falsely testified
against the quartet, asserts that when
he stated that Bonella shot Hayashi
bara with revolver, and that VerveI
stabbed the Japanese with a dagger, he
spoke falsely and says that he person
ally inflicted all the wounds found on
Hayashibara. Asumcion also states
that he only intended to rob the ia
panese and persuaded the other de-
PENDANTS to go with him under the pre-
text he was taking them to gambling
game, and they did not know his inten
ton until all had entered the store
and only assisted him because he
threatened to kill them. He testified
otherwise during the trial only to save
his own life, but that now he make,
this confession for the purpose of pre-
venting the defendants from receiving
un Just punishment of which, he claims
according to the document, they ar,
not guilty.
In brief, according to the confession
everything he testified to in the. cour
was false and everything should be re
versed. He states, however, that thu
other defendants did take part in thu
robbery and the forcible removal Of tn,
japanese storekeeper and his wife from
the store, but only because he threat
ened his cOnfederates.
Jurors AffdaVt
Two of the jurors, c. Evenson anc
c. Lyser, also signed affidavits which
are attached to the confession and mo
ton, in which they state that, believ
ing AsumciOn to have testified truth
fully, they rendered verdict agains
the four men. In these affidavits Meth
er of the jurors declare that Asumcior
was untruthful, but only that, believ
ing his testimony they voted to con
Wet the four men on trial as charged
in the Indictment.
Attorney Garden states that he wen
to the prison, after sentence was i'm
posed, and talked with the prisoners
who, he says, claimed they were limo
cent. Two of them wept. They sale
that Asumcion had testified falsely
Garden said he then went to AsumcioI
and asked him concerning what tn,
quartet said of his testimony. TheI
it was, so Mr.. Garden states, tina
Asumeion declared he had testified
falsely. This admission was mad,
through Interpreter Portosa.