Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1921-12-12
HENRY w. BRAUDE
On Sideliehts in Federal Prosecutions


NIIIILE prohibition undoubtedly has come
w to stay, so has bootegging-nt least on
its present scale. This Is the opinion OF
Henry W. Braudc. former Assistant United
States District Attorney here.
There are two reasons for this, says
Mr.. Braudc. "Fir>t. bootlegging always cN-
iStod among n certain lnwlcSs cement even
before prohibition. Second. because the
average individual today finds it hard to
consider it moral wrong when provision
of the NolStead act is violntcd, IS ready I"
cOndonc it and. with some incentive. Is
readily induced to participate in the viola
ton.
by reason Of this attitude on the part OF
so many of our citizens of the second ClASSi-
tcatlon it is quite evident that 1t Is easy for
those in the first classification to carry on
their Illicit business.
Hard to Get Convictions
This attitude also was. in my experience,
responsible for the failure of the Govern
mcnt to convict offenders against whom 1t
had made out ClCan-Cut cases. There are
always one or two persons in n jury box who
cannot. in n liquor case. be guided by the
facts without injecting their personal con-
victlons into consideration of the case.
Members of iuriCS, in my experience. have
at times actually conjurcd up reasons SO
that thoy might return vcrdictS of nCQuittal
"Onc woman juror. after she had helped
to return such n verdict in tiaErart case,
declared that her reason In th" main was
that the Government agent at the time II"
purchased the drink in evidence had not
seized the bottle from which it had been
poured. This unimpoGtnnt point was cl"v-
Crly in icctcd into the case by the defendant :
counsel, although it had been answered with
the explanation that the Government do
sired to seize the large stock of liquor Ilc'
gally possessed by the defendant.
"1n order to do 50 it was necessary Tor
the agent, after he had made the purchase.
to present the facts to a | ntcd states Com
missioner in the form Of an affidavit upon
which the search warrant might be prrdi
GATED. and then. in keeping with the law. to
search the premises in question for the liquor
illegally stored there
Would Have Been Warning
ITO have seized the bottle from which tho
drink had been poured would have been II
warning to th" violat"r that rain was
about to follow.
"Anothcr respectable and oStcnShly in
teIligcnt juror gave a. his reason for rc-
turning an acQuittal in another convincing
case that he had been In court during pre-
vlous liquor trial. and nS tn" jury In that
case had returned a not guilty verdict he
saw no reason why he shouldn't do like
wise. lie said it had seemed TO him that
the evidence in the first ease was much
stronger than tho evidence in his cast" and
he was not going to put himNc in the. posi-, i,.
| ton where he would have to make fish Of
| one and flesh Of another
| "LiuuOr case defendants at times offer the
most ridiculous excuses to csCAUC punish
| ucnt. vet these excuses have been accepted
| by Jurors. One defendant who had been
| arrested for Illegal transportation of large
| number of cans of alcohol in his automobile
| snid he had come home late one evening and
| pnrkcd his car in front Of his house.
! "Whcn hc went outside to take his ma =
chine to his garage, he discovered that 1t
| was missing,
'IIc tAercupon ran toward the station
house to report the theft, and ON his way,
within two blocks from his home. he saw
his machine apparently deserted. As he was
! the police. Although the automobile was
iamnIcd full Of alcohol cans, on the front
| and back seats and in all available Spncc in
| the machine. he insisted that he did not
| notice anything in his car and he was be
| lcvcd.
Excuse Weak as Vinegar"
"Another notorious bootleggcr. who was
being tried for transporting three barrels OF
alcohol in his truck. told the Court and Jury
that he thought the barrels contained vine
| gnr which explanation was readily accepted
"MOr, eases result in aCQuIttal verdict,
because Of the sympathy for the defendant
or tho members Of his family than By rpasoI
of any substantial merit in the defendant
story, and these stress the human ncinn
tion on the part Of jurors. For instance. il
A case recently tried in which the defendnn nj
was charged with the illegal manufacture
and sale of a STILL the defendant eXpIaincC
that he was induced to commit the act b,
Government agents; that commencing witt
| the visit Of the Government agents he hot
had nothing but trouble that within a few
days after the raid his wife gave birth b
twins;
/ This fact Of course. he mentioned Incl