Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1918-01-22
BEER CONTRACT
SYSTEM SHOWN
IN TESTIMONY
Raymond Prentice, c. w.
Finwall and ]. Coghlan
!, Are Witnesses. 1

In the case against J. II. McIner
ney. who is on trial before a jury in
the district court on a charge of hav-
ing solicited orders for beer in the
Prentice, formerly a member of Com
pany M. was called as the witness of
the prosecution this morning.
Mr.. Prentice testified that he had
held a contract with the East Grand
Forks Brewing company, n that he
on several occasions had received
beer for personal consumption. In
Quoted by Assistant Attorney General
Fl. A. Bronson. it vas brought out
hat the witness became a member
Of Company NJ in May, 1917, about
that he was honorahly discharged
about W. months later because Of
eye trouble.
George A. Bangs. counsel for the
in the testimony, chiefly to the men.
tioning of the fact that the witness
was a minor at the time the alleged
transactions between him and the
brewery took place. Testimony tend.
ing to show that he was in uniform
at the time of ordering the beer was
excluded from the records following
an objection by Mr.. Bangs. The age
question was not gone further into
because Of the apparent difficulties in
proving that the witness actually was
a minor at the period mentioned.
.FinWaIl Recalled to Stand.
G.. w. Finwall. assistant supcrin-
tendent Of the North Dakota Law
Enforcement league. who Was on the
witness stand nearly all day yester-
day. was recalled by Mr.. Bronson this
forenoon for the purpose of further
identifying certain brewery records
which contained references to Joe
Scott, who is alleged to have had beer
brought to him in this city at the
solicitation of Mr.. McInerney's driver.
Pat Liston.
Entries under other dates than that
of January 3, 1917. which is the one
ton against the defendant, were OBJ
jected to as evidence by Mr.. Bangs
who said he thought tho time had
come when the state must show
which particular ira nsaction is desir-
cd to elect for prosecution. Mr.. Bangs
insisted that the prosecution must
find concrete ground on which TO,
stand so as to give the defendant an
opportunity to prepare his defense.
Court Questions Purpose.
The evidence relating to other
dates than January 3. 1917, was
deemed important and relevant by
Assistant Attorney General H. A..
Bronson who opposed the effort OF
Mr.. Bangs to have it ruled out. Mr..
bronson said that this evidence was
absolutely necessary for the purpoS.
of connecting the various links in the
testimony relative to that of joe
Scott, and to these remarks Mr.. Bron-
son added that the purpose in at
tempting to introduce this evidence
was merely to explain the entire sys.
TEN which had been adopted by the
East Grand Forks Brewing company.
That system. Mr.. Bronson said, should
! be shown in all it's details and rami-
fications for the purpose of throwing
light on the Scott cas- at bar.
The objection to the testimony was
sustained by Judge Charles NJ. Cooley
who said that he did not think all
the testimony was introduced for that
purpose.
Lawyers Near Clash Again.
Mr.. Bangs who appeared to be i'm
patient at the methods of the prose-
cution at, this time remarked to Mr..
Bronson that he was beginning to feel
alarmed because no opportunity
would be given him to prepare his de-
Tense for his client.
Mr.. Bronson retOrted:
You needn't address me-you Can
address the court"
10 which Mr.. Bangs replied:
We'll, | will take care of myself"
shortly before noon Mr.. Bronst n
inquired of Mr.. Bangs whether or no,
the defcndantihad any of his records
in his own possessions. Mr.. Bangs
said that the prosecution has all there
was: mo one else has broken into
our premises but you gentlemen" Nh
Bangs added.
Coshlan Gives Testimony.
Joseph Coghlan, an associate OF
Mr.. Bronson in the practice Of law
was the next witness called. He sale
that he was present in the brewer,
< office on the evening of the raid, Jul,
5 ~. 1917, and that he had helped car
l rying away some Of the records seize
| on nat occasion. The witness de
scribed in detail the brewery Office
the furniture. the place Of the various
books and records, etc, and was quit
positive that he had seen files of bee
orders not only for April. May. June
and July. 1917, but also for 1916. MIR
Bangs interposed the remark that h,
had the impression that all h 1871
files had seen burned more than
year ago.
This afternoon there was still n
: indication of tho number of witnesse
0 who are yet to be called by the pros
ecution. and the plans of the defens
have not become known
z At 3 o'clock the cross examination
. by Mr.. Bangs OF Joseph Coghlan wa
completed and James Murphy. VIII
held d contract with the East Gran
Forks brewery. was called to tn
n stand. Shortly before ! o'clock Henri
Ruben was called and he was sue
ceeded by Herman Golden.