Indiana daily times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1914-1922, 1921-10-10


Louisville. where he goes on trial on
Oct Il.
Mr. Holmes also sent letter to Attor-
ney General L. 5. Lesh In which he re-
quests that the Eaters protection" order
be modified so that Francis could be kept
here as a witness In case Hartman Is
brought to trial The letter IS as fol-
lows
I'VE note. with considerable interest,
that you have undertaken to guarantee
the safe return Of Frank Francis, alias
Frank Moore, to the Kentucky authorities.
conditioned upon the appearance Of Fran
els before the grand jury Of Marion
County IN the Hartman case.
"Mr. Hartman and ourselves, as his at
torneys, have teen endeavOrlng rot only
TO have Francis appear before the grand
jury, but to be kept here as a witness
70 rthe trial against HaIAman. Nj.
Hartman has notified the prosecuting
attorney. MIR. Evans, that he IS ready
TO 60 10 trial at once. Because of the
peculiar public interest in this case Air.
Hartman being candidate for the office
Of city ju9 on the Republican ticket,
the people are Untitled TO know the truth
OF the Francis charges before election
day. We have no objection to the re-
turn OF Francis 10 tho Kentucky au-
thorities, but we do earnestly request
you 10 modify your protection order so
that Francis may be kept in this juris
diction until such time as Mr.. Hartman
has had a trial Of the charges made
aga nst him.
"Mr Hartman is a citizen Of Indiana
and Is entitled to tM protection OF the
laws OF Indiana and you, as the highest
authority in the State In the administra-
ton Of the law, should make 1t your
business to see that he is accorded A fay
and impartial trial speedily and With
out delay.
eve have followed every avenue open
to us to obtain this desired result and.
IN as much as you have taken the au-
felon to the jurisdiction Of another State,
we only ask In fairness TO Mr. Hartman
that he be kept here long enough to APP
pear as a witness.
1T is our belief that 1t is the intention
Of the authorities hero to cause an In
dictment to be returned against Mr..
Hartman and then delay his trial until
after election, in the hope that this
course OF conduct will cause his defeat at
thQ< oples."
The attorney general had been quoted
ns having entered the controversy over
the legal aspects.
$50 far as / have been able to deter
mine my Office has hhi ABSOLUTELY no
part in the Frank Francis case" he said
today.
II have been out Of the city for sew
eral days. but so far as I can learn no
one connected with this department has
had a part In the affair. OF course, we
shall back up the Marion County prose
cutor in anything he may do in good
faith.
1--WE have no power to guarantee i'm
munlty. That rests WITH the prosecutor
who can do so for the purpose of OBJ
tanning States evidence. The courts usu-
ally respect a prosecutors action in such
cases
The only thing the State can do is
guarantee to the Governor of Kentucky
that extradition will be granted should
Francis be held in Indiana. This, Of
course, would be entirely up to the Gov
ernor."
Hartman takes the stand that 1t is the
intention to Indict him and then refuse
to bring him to trial on the ground that
the chief witness is out of the State He
has insisted repeatedly that he should
be tried before the election and asserts
that It would be unfair to simply indlct
him and leave him to face the electorate
with an untried charge hanging over him