The Alaska daily empire., 1918-02-13

Mooney ana the OJucTS NdS made.
 G. Instead of an ordinary criminal case. or even a case Of extraordinary interest. there thus emerge the ele- ments of a clash of forces of wide significance. On the one hand. community long in the grip of bitter labor struggles is outraged by pc culiarly wicked murders. Accusation is made against a group whose lead CT has been widely associated with views which justify violence at least in industrial conflict. The public mind was therefore easily aroused to belief in the guilt of the accused The attitude of passion was stimu- lated by all the arts of modern jour- nalism. It is not surprising then. that Billings and Mooney were tried in an impregnating atmosphere of guilt
 On the other hand. just as Mooney symbolized labor for all the bitter opponents of organized labor so he came to symbolze labor, irrespective of his personal merits, in the minds of workers and of their sympathiz- CTS The Mooney case" soon re- solved itself into a new aspect of an old industrial feud instead of subject demanding calm search for truth
 '. Billings was tried first. un- doubtedly in the hope that the pres sure of conviction would lead him to implicate Mooney. He was con victed His conviction has been sus- tained. He has been sentenced to life imprisonment He had not inn plicated Mooney and he protests in nocence Mooney was tried early in January, 1917, and in February, 1917, convicted of murder in the first de- gree. Mrs Mooney was tried and acquitted Weinberg was recently tried and acquitted. Nolan has nev- CT been put to trial
 Developments After Conviction
 S. The convictions of Billings and Mooney followed trials in accordance with the established course of Amer ican procedure. It is familiar to students of jurisprudence that no system of criminal administration in the world hedges such safeguards around an accused as does an Amer ican trial The conviction, in other words, was based on evidence mar rowly confined to the specific is sues. Furthermore, proof of guilt had to be established beyond a req sonable doubt, and established to the unanimous satisfaction of a jury of 12 persons selected from among the people. Conviction by an American jury is guilt determined by very democratic. institution. There is no question but that the jury acted in good faith upon the evidence as it was submitted It is because of sub sequent developments that doubt is based upon the justice of the con victions. Following the trials of Billings and Mooney there was q change in the evidence which not only resulted in the acquittal of Mrs Mooney and Weinberg, but also cast doubts upon the prior convictions of Billings and Mooney.
 Thus it is that the evidence sub mitted on the four trials taken to- lishment of a single issue, their joint participation in the crime, leaves the mind in the greatest uncertainty as to the complicity of the acused. While each record in itself presents evidence which would justify an ap- pelate court in sustaining the yer dict of the jury, the evidence in the four cases in their entirety must shake confidence in the justice of the convictions. This is due to the dubious character of the witnesses, the subsequent revelations concern ing them, and the conflict in the testimony of the same witnesses as he need for change in the testimony developed to fit new theories of the prosecution or new evidence by the defense. But it was not deemed the province of your commission to eS- tablish the guilt or innocence of Mooney and his associates. We con ceived it to be our duty merely to determine whether d solid basis ex- ists for a feeling that an injustice was done. or may have been done, in the convictions that were obtain ed, and that an irreparable injustice would be committed to allow such conviction to proceed to execution
 Find Ground For Disquietude
 9. We find in the atmosphere sur rounding the prosecution and trial of the case ground for disquietude. This feeling is reinforced by one fac tor of controlling importance. The most damaging testimony produced against Mooney came from a wit ness named Oxman. It was Oxman who testified with convincing detail to the presence of Mooney and Bill ings at a place and at time where it was essential for them to have been if proof was to be estab- lished After Moneys conviction