The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1923-11-27
How Come?
BY DONALD McDOUGAL.


Mt. Pleasant car, AS we turned
south on Fifth street a Maxwell
sedan ran past us on the wrong
side and slammed q Ford coupe
the rest OF the way to r street,
ran on two wheels for q couple of
hundred Of feet and toppIed over.
I jumped out with several others.
climbed on top Of the sedan and
The defendant poked his head
out the door, saw me, and popped
back. Someone inside groaned
a jack-in-the-box. Each time the
door opened the odor Of corn
whiskey came out like a. fog. he
was pretty drunk"
When BarrOOms Were in Flower.
Boob: HE hit me and knocked
my car over, your honor. I was
fixing to get over on the right
side when the street car blocked
me. was just as sober as am
now. The barrooms were open
when I had my last drink"
six witnesses testify that you
were hardly able to stand, and
that your breath eJnelled Of gin. !"
Driving on wrong side, $40;
humping, $40; gin driving, $500
and twenty days straight.
The Inner Workings.
You are charged with operat-
ing a motor vehicle while in
toxicated."
Guilty"
ION recommendation of the
Corporation CounseTs office the
court imposes a fine of $685.
Alibi Man Ito Assistant Cor
poration CounseD: i've noticed
quite a number of cases where
a man is found guilty of driving
while drunk and he gets a fine
OF $3.50 or 5000 with handle
of 90 or 80 days to swing it by,
and then there's others where
your office recommends a $50 or
$50 fine for the same offense.
How conner"
You're a cop. It's half past,
twelve in the morning. You
spot a Buick touring car with
Joyriding party coming up
from the Speedway. They're all
pretty hilarious. They've been
looking on the corn likker when
it's white. They're just at the
point of intoxication where they
don't believe it. You can't con-
vince 'em they're drunk until
the next morning. There's four
Of 'em in the party, and only
one of you. They're ready to
come into court and swear they
haven't had a drink since Vol
stead was a hop-picker.
Breath AS Evidence.
The only evidence you can
give the court is that the driv-
er's breath smelled of bootleg.
That may convict him and it
may not. What are you going
to do? Are you going to wait
for more convincing evidence,
which may take the form of a
mangled corpse at the morgue,
or are you going to arrest him
then and there, lock him UP so
he can't injure himself or any
one else, and, take chances on
convicting him?
Suppose you lock him up. He
demands jury trial. The case
IS tried six weeks later. His
guests would consider it migrate.
full to get on the stand and tes-
tify the man war drunk, after
accepting the hospitality of his
car. Besides. they're by no
means convinced that he was
drunk-the cop was a little Of
ficious in butting in on their
party that way, they'd think.
"You testify that in your opin-
ion the man was drunk, and
four others including himself,
testify he wasn't. You're not in
1allible, and the court may be in
doubt as to the mans guilt, and
under the law, the defendant
must be given the benefit of the
doubt-for this is Christian
country, and it is better that
ninety-nine guilty should escape
than that one innocent should
suffer. And very likely he'll have
q lawyer there who will very
easily and convincingly prove
that black is green with blue
noIka dots in 1t, if his clients
case requires such defense.
ave look into the affair, see
that it's toss up or less. wheth-
or we can convict him or not,
and leave the decision to his
conscience. We tell him 'You
know you were drinking last
night. It's not for you to say
whether you were drunk or not.
That's for the court to decide.
"HOw Come" Explained.
This is a serious thing you're up
against now. You know as well as
we do that you might have killed
someone after all that bootleg