The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-12-06
Mobile Sheriff Pleads In-
 ability To Defend
 Himself TRIAL UNNECESSARY AFTER RESIGNATION Accused Of Conniving At Liquor Traffic In Gulf City
BRANDON PLANS
 THOROUGH PROBE
Cazalas Says Accused Officials Should Be Aided In
 Fighting Charges
(Stata CapitaI Bureau.)

MONTGOMERY, Ala, Dec. 5.-With the date of hearing of impeachment charges against him close at hand, Sheriff Paul c. Cazalas of Mobile county, submitted his resigna- tion to Gov. w. w. Brandon this afternoon. This action has the effect of terminating the impeachment c h arge s which were to have been heard by the supreme court Monday.
 Governor W. W. Brandon in an- nouncing his acceptance of the resig- nation, stated that he will appoint successor to Cazalas only after a thor ough investigation.
 Lack of funds to finance his defense was set forth by Cazalas in his resig- nation. He asked the governor to rec ommend at the next session of the leg- islature the enactment of bill requir. ing the state to pay all costs and ex- penses of impeachment proceedings where the officer charged with i'm peachable conduct is eXonerated on trial.
 Sheriff Cazalas presented his letter of resignation in person. Following is rhe letter:
 Sheriff's Letter
 q hereby tender my resignation as sheriff of Mobile county. To finance proper defense of the impeachment proceedings now pending against me is impossible, and while l sincerely be- lieve I could defend successfully all charges made against me and would gladly do so if l were financially able to stand the burden, yet l am poor man and my duty to my wife and children demands that l should not become heavily involved in debt even if I were able to secure the necessary credit.
 T have just learned that the state has summoned over 20 additional witnesses, making a total of approxi- mately 40 witnesses, and the indi- cations are that many more may be summoned looking to practically a re- trial of the conspiracy case in the federal court in Mobile in which I was acquitted, as well as a trial of other charges. To meet this line of prose- cution would require that I carry to Montgomery a great number of wit nesses, and it seems probable that such a proceeding would last for several weeks. I understand that none of my costs can be taxed against the state, and that even though I should be fully exonerated l would have to pay all of my costs. In addition thereto, my attorneys fees necessarily would be very large.
 While the gross income of the sher- ifs office in this county is large, yet the expense of it's operation is some thing enormous and careful estimate convinces me that the office cannot pay during the remainder of my term the amount that it would cost to defend the impeachment proceedings. I dislike to resign while this proceeding is pending, and if were financially able to do so I would gladly fight the case at every point:
 Makes Suggestion
 Tn this connection, I hope that you will permit the suggestion that at the next session of the legislature you recommend the enactment of bill re- quiring the state to pay all costs and expenses in impeachment proceedings wherein the officer is exonerated on q trial of the charges against him. Only in this way can a faithful officer be
 (COntinued on Page TwO)