New-York tribune., 1921-01-14
Flaw Hinted
In Brindell
Indictment
v1mess Charging $4,000
Extortion Says Strike
Was Called OFF Sept. q,
hut Check Date Was %
litleton Suggests Bribery
Trial Adjourned to Mon
day; Change Of Venue
Appeal Argued To-day

yss possibility that technical error
: t,e indictment against Robert P.
e-,dsu. head of the Building Trades
courcil. would affect materially his
.,;., upon charges of extortioa loomed
70 during the first day of the trial yes
..,a.y before Justice McAvoy in the
,r,minal branch Of the Supreme Court.
Ths existence Of this error was
.ouehed upon by Martin ". Littleton,
.s;.f counsel for Brindell. during the
.,o...examination of Max Aronson, Of
., East Eighty-second Street, the COM
,Iaininr witness against the accused
.suan.
The srial Of Brindell hinges upon a
,-,nsaction wherein he is alleged to
lava extorted $4,000 from Aronson in
,.turn for calling off strike that had
s,en ordered on construction work at
eas West Thirty-sixth Street. The
strike on this work had been called
Ssptember 81, 1920, according to the
Indictment, and that date is the one
mentioned in the indictment charging
sxtortion. The payment Of the $4,000,
however was not made until September
%. according to the check submitted
"a court'and testified to by Aronson.
Courtroom Crowded
This was the only outstanding event
IN the FIRST day of the trial, which
il the mos. important yet brought to
court as . direct result of the activi-
ties Of the Lockwood Investigating
Committee. The trial began before q
would-be spectators were compelled
TO wait outside in lines on the main
door OF the Criminal Courts Build
ing
The session was marked by frequent
snd bitter clashes between Samuel
untsrmyer, chief prosecuting counsel,
and Martin W. Littleton: The first Of
these clashes came while Mr.. Inter
nyes was outlining the case for the
prosecution to the jury. He succeeded
u getting before the jury a complete
outline of the activities of Brindell
as adduced by the investigation of the
lockwood Committee, despite the siren
nous objections of Mr.. Littleton. Jus
tee McAvoy, however, permitted Mr..
Untermyer to proceed on the ground
that he was entitled to show that
he alleged extortion against Aronson
uas part of an organized system and
that it was not an accidental incident
or misunderstanding.
After addressing the jury. Mr.. Un-
:ermyef called Aronson as his frs.
witness. The latter repeated the tes-
timony he had already given. before
the lockwood Committee describing
bis difficulties with the wreckers who
had been put on the job by Brindell
N place Of the regular members of
the wrecking union. This was while
the work Of demolishing the old build
.ngs on the site was in progress, he
said.
He testified that this work proceed
I'd very slowly because of the ineff-
aency Of the men put on the job by
Brlndell. Aronson is in the cloak and
suit business and was putting up
large building on the site tor his use
and partly for the use of tenants.
When the steel work of the new build
ing had reached nine stories and the
masonry was laid as high as FIVE stories
the men were called off, he said.
As soon as he had been advised of
the strike, Aronson testified, he was
told by the contractor to appeal to the
head Of the mason's association. After
conference with his architect and
Mr. Weiland he went to see Brindell
q his Office, at IL ST. Marks Place.
Not Talking Thousands
When he got there, he said, Brindell
aid to him.
Look at the condition of your job.
You have non-union erectors."
u told him that every JOB in the
aty was the same" said Aronson. "He
nid for me to look at the condition
It Levy's job, where they stopped work
FOR four months.
7 said to him: 'Mr. Brindell. I can't
TOP on this Job. I have rented to
meive tenants and / must get in
Snndell told me that he had been to
~ JOB in company with Atwell a few
lights before. He then said to me:
Nnas Is it WORTH l said it was
sefth 1900 to me. He said:
Tome on, my boy; we are not talk
a thousands. What | will tell you
siii stagger you.' / talked with him
~ while, but he would not name
IN Finally he mentioned $4,000.
5000" ~ s' A''l
Aronson testified that after some
aHher argument Brindell finally
fleed to accept the $4,000 and gave
.n TWO hours to get the money. He
a'a De went outside Brindcll's office
"a "a net hr. Weiland, who walked with
sm % the Lincoln Trust Company, at
s.'snseenth Street and Fifth Avenue.
men telephoned to Mr.. Schwartz,
slenitect. and the three had a con-
IS.a;e with the yice-president of the
sasoh Trust Company. After that
.;ll;ason M. w testified he drew $1,000 in
as - ., $loo denominations.
"a. sais stage Mr. Untermyer intro
rt.ss tae check as evidence. It's ad-
4, X,''pn iil vas seriously objected to by
-. L'A,eton on the ground tha. il
q, A1s oinding upon any one.
.,s y Lot binding upon any one yet"
sAss.ssasics McAvoy In overruling the
l,,5a ass cheek WIS dated September 20.
lfrt sna was drawn on the Lincoln
3s,ss IIompsny.' and signed Aronson
L., .,, ne, Max Aronson, treasurer.
aa,S ,h' ho'o's'n'ng the money Aronson
In. h:r ne went back TO st. MARKS
Artsss. mere Brindell was waiting
I'd Tor .or him They went inside
IA .nson gave the accused man
AssssI ne said, and the latter Just
! asked him II r. tssr. ! 80 ws. ...nr .o.
Ee,s s.aer held-up, and he told me
hi wasn't T1l show you what I
.oT yeu.' he said, as he picked
lStis~s. telephone. He then, called IN
l4s 80 80 f'ke and ordered him to have
/ A,v.sss return 10 their Job"
lh htsasen ssid that since that tfrne
Asssss not been bothered with labor
A D0fruJf yU3%r