Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1918-08-03
CAPT. POLLOCK MAKES
STRONG POSITIVE
' .,........ DENIAL
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Mayor Ainslic concluded his inves-
tigation of grand jury charges against
Captain George Il. Pollock yesterday
evening at 7 o'clock and took the case
under Amusement. After a conference
between counsel for the Common
wealth and the defense 1t was an
nounced that the case would be sub
mitted without argument. In the
meantime, the inquiry into grand
jury charges against Policeman G. A.
Strain, Detective l.. c. Bcrtucci and
Chief Of Police G. A. Sherry will FRO
coed. Mayor Ainslic decided yestcr-
dey that he would not postpone the
inquiry of the other cases until he
had arrived at decision in the Pol
lock case.
From the decision Of the Mayor, it
is apparent thar he will not render
his decision in each case until hear,
ings in all the cases have been con-
cludcd. Certainly this is the impress
tfcn he made when he Informed Com
monwcnlths Attorney Wise that he
did not think that he should conrin-
NC trial in the other cases until he
arrived at conclusion III one case.
However. he made it plain th:t each
and the evidence i'll one case would
not be allowed to sway his decision
in another case.
POLLOCK TAKES STAND IN HIS
OWN DEFENSE.
Captain Pollock to3l1 the stand in
his own behalf vest. =" lay afternoon
s>N
the charges and testimony preferred
against him. AT the conclusion OF his
direct testimony, Colonel David A.
Leakc, leading counsel for tho defense
said: "Witncss with you, gentle.
men,"
Murray NJ. McGui1e, counsel for the
Commonwealth, replied: ave have
nothing to ask Captain Pollock. Stand
aside" The position which IN, Com
monwcalth took was distinct sur.
prise. 1t had been taken for granted
that Captain Pollock was to he put
through II 'grilling croSs~cXaamation'
and WAS the frequent prediction in
the courtroom.
The Testimony of Captain Pollock
made Il favorable impression. While
Oil the stand, he made an emphatic,
clear-cut ana uncQuivocal denial of
dhe charges which have been preferred
Against nim. His testimony was clear
unlaltering, coherent and vigorous. AT
no time did he hesitate. His Ian
guage was we'll chosen and positive.
and his memory served him we'll as
he remembered the minutcst details.
For the frs: time since the invcSti-
cation began last Monday when the
outlook was decidedly dark have mat
ters taken OH bright aspect for
Captain Pollock. His testimony was
impressive.
MRS. POLLOCK DOES NOT TAKE
THE WITNESS STAND.
Yesterday was clearly day for the
defense. The only marring feature
was the failure to put Mrs. Pollock
on the witness stand, after the pre-
yious announcement by attorneys for
the defense that Captain and Mrs. Pol
lock would be the last witnesses for
the defense.
When court opened yesterday af-
ternoon the Commonwealth informed
the Mayor that the previous request
OF tho defense that one OF the speci-
ficGtions be made more definite could
not be complied with. In their opin-
ion, the specification was definite
enough.
A. II. Timbcrlake, connected with
II. W. Wood and Son, was introduced
by tho Commonwealth to prove the
charge that Captain Pollock had been
drunk on the Highland Park car
about two months ago. Mr. Timber
lake said that he volunteered his tes-
timony about two days ago to Mr..
Mcguire. He said, "Every good citi-
zen ought ITO report any officer who
is under tho influence Of liquor. I
talked with Mr.. Toler, a member of
the police force, about seeing Captain
drunk on the car. the day after it
happened. l didn't say that Captain
Pollock was so drunk that he couldn't
walk, but l do mean to say that he
was drunk. He got off at the old
Town Hall in Highland Park"
The defense later introduced Ber-
tilion Operator William A. Tolcr and
he denied that Mr.. Timberlake ever
talked to him about seeing Captain
Pollock drunk on the car.
POLLOCK REVIEWS HIS CAREER
IN DEPARTMENT.
Captain Pollock then took the stand.
lilo said that he had been connected
with the Police Department as secrc.
tary since 1902 and as secretary and
purchasing agent since 1916. No com
plant had ever been made against
him either by the police boards under
which he served or the present Mayor
lie further stated that since he has
been connected with the Police De-
.partment he has handled more than
S2,000,000. In reply to question
from his attorney, he said that not
one cent of his money had ever gone
amiss.
After Colonel Leakc had read the
first charge. Captain Pollock said:
"On the night Of the reported domos-
tic violence at my home, I had gone
home wath q merchant friend. He
Fl L.