The Alaska daily empire., 1920-10-06
SHARP PRACTICE IS IMPUTED TO
 JOHN RUSTGARD
Accused of Entering Office Of V. A. Paine. Taking
 Private Legal File.

O Of V. A. Paine. Taking Private Legal File. Last October, " A. Paine, a mem Der of the Juneau bar who hat Company in case tried in the District Court, had occasion tC visit the States where he was gone for several months. During his ab sence the case of Tibbitts vs. tht Standard Oil Company was tried ir the same court, John Rustgard, now candidate for attorney general, rep resenting Tibbitts, and Judge John R. Vim representing the Standard Oil Company. MT. Paine was then and still continues to be trustee in bankruptcy of the James Box & Lumber Company, and as such had in his office some papers of that estate, which he locked up in his office when he went away. During the trial of the Tibbitts case Mr Rustgard offered in evidence some of these papers which MT. Paine had left locked up in his office, at which time the following occurred in Court, Judge H. B. LeFevre being called to the stand and thus exam ined by Mir. Rustgard.
 By MT. Rustgard:
 Q. Do you hold any official posi- ton in this jurisdiction?
 A. Yes, sir; referee in bank ruptcy.
 B. Are you acquainted with the James Box & Lumber Company?
 A. Yes, sir; I am.
 Q. Can you state now approxi- mately from memory the date wher it was adjudged a bankrupt?
 A. No, judge; I cannot
 Q. Who was appointed trustee in bankruptcy,
 A. V. A. Paine.
 O. Do you know whether as such he took charge of the assets of the James Box & Lumber Con- pany?
 A. He did.
 Q. Is he still trustee in bank ruptcy?
 A. Still trustee.
 Q. Last fall or summer he went away?
 A. Yes.
 Q. And has not returned?
 A. He has not returned.
 Q. And have you taken any steps to find the books of account belonging to the James Box & Lum Der Company in the possession O the trustee?
 A. Never until last night
 Q. Did you find them?
 A. Yes, sir
 Q. Who were with you?
 A. Why, Grover Vim, yourself tRustgardl and l. I will state that Grover Winn has charge of MT Paine's affairs and I was requested by you to get these documents (note not books of account and I tol6 you that I had positively no author fly to take MT Paine's documents but by permission of Grover Vim if he would go to the office-i he would take it upon himself to g; to the office and get these docu ments, why, then. I would talk them, and I would assist you il adducing them in evidence. w went there and found them an( here they are.
 Q. And have they been in you out of the files last night until nov when I produced them here in evi dence?
 A. They were. c. You have seen me mark them here and know the documents ? 1 A. Yes, sir; I haven't looked over these, but they are the iden- { tical documents that 1 took from the files last night, or that you took from the files and handed me last uight-those are the identical ones
 'Mr. Rustgard thereupon offered il evidence in the Tibbitts case a hal 6 dozen or so of the papers which ht 90 took and carried away from MT Paine's office.
 Judge Winn objected to the us' of the papers as evidence upon tht ground among others that they ha' been so clandestinely taken fron Mr. Paine's office.
 "The Court sustained the objec tion."
 The foregoing testimony is transcript from the official report CTS notes.
 It shows that Rustgard wanted t get into Mir. Paine's office durin his absence, and get some of hi papers to use in a lawsuit agains : his client. Now how did he do it He deyises a scheme which presum ably he thinks makes it safe fo him to do so. He induces Judg LeFevre to go along with him, an