New-York tribune., 1922-08-10
Girl i'm Bootleg
Case Moralizes
When Acquitted
Cold-Eyed and With Lips
CurIed, Mrs. Stevens Ad-
mits She Threw Away
Honor for Good Tim e
Going Back to Mother
Wife of Man She Admired
Ciucks in Disgust as
Jury Returns Its Verdict

aeouitted Of the charge of completely
/, liouor smuggling operations off the
Bahamas, Mrs. Edith Stevens left the
,rn;ted States District Court in Brook
lvn Yesterday with old-fashioned max
;rs of law and morality on her lips,
saving she intended to live with her
mother asd forget this chapter in her
iife's history.
It took two hours for the jury to
.c,es that the pretty nineteen-year-o old
-, who told with candor on the stand
e. her relations with Anthony Cassese,
.i,sged fugitive bootlegger, was with
ent knowledge of the contents of par
.s,s che checked on two occasions on
to.-d the Italians yacht. The jury
vent out at 3:22 p. m. and returned at
N have the conspiracy law repeated.
a.s:25 it brought in a verdict of not
Ms stevens was indicted along with
r.soese and his chauffeur, Joseph Bar
t"l;n in connection with the seizure of
,ha ynrn runner Ripple on June 2 and
~ .rrest OF ten of the crew. The in
S;c+ment against Bartolin was quashed
- the request Of the prosecution, so
.hst he could be used as q witness
against the girl.
r;.tedp Judge Chatheld commented
anon hearing the verdict. "But in the
absence of the other conspirators moth
ing much could be done"
Wife Angered by Verdict
Angrily Mrs. Cassese rose and left
the courtroom, little cluck of dis
gust escaping her lips as she saw the
girl 90 free. Milton Hrsch, the sales
man husband of Mrs. Stevens, left
earlier in the afternoon after follow
ing the trial closely all the way
Through.
Serene and cold-eyed, Mrs. Stevens
heard the verdict. She walked from
the courtroom with a shrug, hands
deep in the pockets of her worn blue
suit, her white hat tilted back to re-
veal her staring brown eyes and curled
lips. Only once during the trial did
her disdainful expression fade out
while real sobs shook her as Assistant
District Attorney Alexander Blue asked
her If she called up Mrs. Cassese and
told her she was q "big fat slob and
your husband doesn't want to have any
thing more to do with you" This
she denied, her frozen expression thaw-
ing and the tears flowing fast.
at didn't pay" she moralized after
acquittal. "It was the old, old story.
| was deceived. Virtue and honor are
more priceless than money. l hope
that my experience will be a warning
to other girls who may some time be
tempted to throw away these qualities
for good time.
II intend living with my mother and
sister and making my former life a
closed book. l am thankful that l am
still young and will be able to live
this down. l believe that my father
will come to my assistance"
Showed Great Coolness
Under cross-examination during the
morning session Mrs. Stevens testified
with great coolness to her relations
with Cassese, declaring that she loved
bin, while she only respected her hus-
band. Her love died two months ago,
she said, when she found Cassese was
not the hero she had imagined him to
be-
Little peals Of laughter shook her as
she told of meeting Cassese for the first
time and fainting with the shock of
nearly being run over by his car as she
came out Of the cemetery with her
mother. From that day they saw each
other constantly, had dinner and mo-
tored together, she said. She was un-
aware then that he was married. She
would not have gone with him if she
had known, she said. Her husband
knew that she was going out with some
man, but did not know his identity.
All you were interested in was get