The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1922-07-20


miss the case and discharge the de-
PENDANT
The court room in which the scene
occurred was the one downstairs. the
same room in which Lang, on the morn
ing of September %, 1920, was brought
before Judge Belden in the custody
OF the police and charged with the
murder of Charles Pacini.
The court room in which the scene
took place this morning was the same
room in which Lang, on the morning
of September %, 1920, entered a plea
of guilty" to the charge of the muir
der on August 18th of Charles Paeini.,
1t was the same room too in which in
March, 1921, he received his sentence
to twenty years in the state prison
at Waupun.
No Reason to Hold Him.
Attorney Buckmaster moved to dis
miss the case on the grounds that the
supreme court had thrown out all the
confessions of Lang as obtained under
duress. He stated also that the evil
dence in the case pointed clearly to
his innocence.
District Attorney Frank S. SYM
monds, appearing in behalf of the
state, stated that he had come to
the conclusion that the defendant
should be discharged.
II understand that the confessions
regarding burglaries would come under
the same class as the other confess
sions," he said, "and l have no infor-
nation sufficient to hold him on any
burglary charge. I see no reason to
hold the defendant longer"
Lang Wants Job.
Lang when asked what he intended
to do, said that he would use the bal
ance of this week in an effort to get
job, and that he hoped to go tc work
next Monday morning. He said he had
no intention of commencing suit
against the county for false imprison-
ment. His attorney, A. E. Buckmaster,
said, that Lang had not asked him
about the matter, and that while he
had not given much thought to the
matter he had looked up the law on the
point. He said that investigation
showed that no suit for damages was
possible unless the actual murderer
of Charles Pacini was found
This is Then the End.
Lang was arrested Monday night,
September &c, 1920, on suspicion of the
burglary of the Cozy saloon the night
before. Tuesday morning at 4:00 a.
m. he signed a confession to the muir
der of Charles Pacini who was killed
by an unknown assassin Aug. IA, 1920.
The confession was signed in the pres
ence of Owen O'Hare, chief of police,
and Peter Fisher, Jr., district attor-
ney. The following morning, Wednes-
day, Lang was brought over at 900
a. m. to the municipal court where he
entered a plea of guilty to the murder
charge, waving his preliminary hear
ing. He was then taken before Judge
Belden where he again entered plea
of guilty to the charge.
He was just about to be sentenced
when Attorney A. E. Buckmaster en-
tered the room and dramatically halt
ed the trial. He said that he repre-
scented the mans wife, and asked to
speak with him. Lang taken aside by
Mr.. Buckmaster immediately told him
that he was not guilty, but that he was
and that he had been beaten.
The plea of guilty was withdrawn and
the case set for hearing and trial in
the usual course. Examination by
three physicians that morning showed
that Lang's body was in a sorry state,
bearing out his statements of abuse
while in the hands of police officers.
After a due trial Lang was found
guilty by the jury and was sentenced
to twenty years in Waupun in March,
1921. He has been serving time about
sixteen months in state prison where
he was given jaii liberties and regard
ed as model prisoner.
Meanwhile his attorneys, Buckmaster
and Hammond, aided by Attorney r.
V. Baker, appealed the case to the
court, which in a decision
handed down last Saturday, held that
Lang had not been given a fair trial,
and that the "so-called confessions"
as the supreme court referred to the
evidence on which the state had relied,
were forced from him by torture. In
handing down the decision the su-
preme court severely arraigned the
police officers in whose hands Lang
had been on the night the confession
was eztorted. ~