The Union daily times. [volume] (Union, S.C.) 1918-current, 1921-12-28
Removal of Pellstier
Sought by Attorney
General Allen

Joseph c. Pelletier as district attor.
ney Of Suffolk county, hearings in
whose case started today before the
Supreme Judicial Court, is asked by
Attorney General j. Weston Allen on
the general charge that Pelle ier's
continued incumbency is "inimical to
the public interest" Two sets of
charges against the district attorney,
as well as petition for his disbar-
ment have been filed.
In the original charge, Pelletier is
| alleged to have aided in extorting or
attempted to extort money or prop
erty from certain persons by threats
of prosecution. The attorney gener-
al alleges that the district attorney
procured indictments that ought not
to have been procured; that he failed
! from improper motives to prosecute
! in specified cases and that he per-
mitted persons to use his office in
coercing other persons to release or
settle civil claims
The first charges, submitted on Oc-
tober 27 last, contain 35 specifca-
tions. Some Of these are items taken
from petition of the grievance COM
mittee of the Boston Bar Association;
others were formulated by the at
torney general. Some are virtually
the same as those on which Mr.. Allen
is seeking the disbarment of Daniel
Fl. Coakley of Boston, an attorney,
who was mentioned frequently in the
proceedings that resulted in the re-
moval last fall of Nathan A. Tufts
as district attorney of Middlesex
county.
The second set of charges against
Pelletier, filed Nov. 81, resulted from
a speech he made when candidate
for mayor. In this speech, as read
by Allen before the Supreme Court,
the district attorney was quoted as
saying that he would nolle procesqui
the case of anyone who would "back
up" a denial that he (Pelleticr) in
tended to resign.
Attorney General Aliens petition
alleged that the acts of Pelle:ier as
district attorney since November 13,
1909, when he took office, down to the
date of filing the charges, show him
to be unfit to hold office. 1t charges
that Pelletier conducted his office in
an unlawful and reprehensiblc man.
ner"
Pelletier is said in the petition to
have failed from improper motives to
prosecute Merrill w. Shute after
Shute's indictment on the charge of
embezzling $4,000 from Emma F..
Bracket of Bangor, Me.
Coakley and William J. Corcoran, a
former district attorney of Middlesex
county, are named as among those
with whom Fjelletier is alleged to
have conspired. Mr.. Allen charges
that the district attorney conspired
with Coakley and others to extort
$2O,5OO from the Emerson Motors
CO., to procure the abandonment of
threatened criminal prosecution.
Pelletier is further charged with
having conspired with Coakley to at
tempt to eXtort $4,000 from Warren
G. Daniel, a dealer in securities, by
. threat of prosecution. Conspiracy is
charged also in the case of Dorothy
Cote who, it is alleged, was forced to
abandon suit for conversion of an
automobile by similar threats.
Conspiracy to frighten Albert r.
smith into paying $37 500 as alimony
to his wife, Agnes L. Smith, and
abandonment of prosecution against
Smith after the money was paid, also
arc charged. In this connection, tn =
attorney general alleges that one
half the $37, 700 alimony was claimed
by Coakley as a contingent fee.
When these charges were first filed,
Pelletier asserted that Mr. Allen had
acted to discre4lit his candidacy for
mayor, which he was planning to
make public the next day. Pelletier
Withdrew from the mayoralty race
on December ..
On November %, Pelletier attacked
as unconstitutional the statute under
which the original proceedings were
brought, contending that inasmuch as
he had been elected to office he was
removable only through impeachment
proceedings. He said the law giving
a majority of Supreme Court jus
tices the power to remove district
attorney after a hearing conficted
with the 18th amendment to the Fed
eral constitution. He petitioned the
court for writ Of prohibition re-
.t"s. lining further ac' ION on the orig
inal information. Two Jays later
Justice De Courcy rulcd that the