The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1925-04-11
MOVE is LOST
BY STEPHENSON
Continued From Page y

OllSHSo charged WITH SUFFICIENT GER
tainty; that allegations and state
ments of the Indictments do not de-
fine or constitute a crime, and that
the indictments are ambiguous, du-
p%licitous, indefinite, vague and un-
certain and do not advise defendants
of nature of charges and accusations
with sufficient certainty.
Courtroom Crowded
Throughout the argument Stephen.
son. Klenck and Gentry sat at the
defendants table with the eyes of
a crowded courtroom upon them.
Stephenson seemed more at ease
than on his first appearance In
court Monday. His usual rudy
color, markedly absent Monday,
had returned and he showed none
of the nervousness which marked
his demeanOr on his former ap-
pearance.
Before his case was taken up he
was in close conversation for more
than fifteen minutes with Detective
McMurtrie, who was n of the Of
ficers to arrest him April 8.
Klenck's expression seldom
changed throughout the hearing and
apparently he paid little attention to
the proceedings. Gentry was white
faced and r~estlessly shifted about in
his chair.
The court room was damned to
capacity when the case opened. But
many Of the spectators came only
to get a good look at, the "Old Man"
az Stephenson was Familiarity known
in Khan circles, judging from the
way the spectators drifted out as
the hearing progressed.
Inman Opens
Inman opened the proceedings
with a statement that he would rely
only upon the last five OF the
eight counts of the pleas in abate-
ment, and would not press first three
counts which attacked the makeup
Of the grand jury and charged pref
udice on the part Of it's members.
This brought the hearing down to
the question OF the right of the
grand jury to return an Indictment
upon evidence presented to it.
Charles +. Cox, employed by the
Oberholtzer family to assist William
H. Remy, county prosecutor, opened
the argument. He contended a plea
in abatement must be certain In
every particular and must exclude
every doubt or inference against 1t.
This plea is based upon con-
illusions solely and not upon facts
upon which the conclusions are
based" he said.
Inman made a strong and at times
eloquent plea for a square deal"
for Stephenson. He said a plea in
abatement vas a legal and constitu-
tional right OF every defendant. and
that he had a right to resort to 1t
without being charged with an ef-
fort to evade trial.
IT should not be criticised here"
he declared, for testing sufficiency
and validity of the indictments" He
based his whole argument upon as
sumption the Indictment was not
based upon legal evidence. He in
sisted filing of the demurrer to the
abatement pleas constituted an ad-
mission of every charge in It..
Cox took issue with this. The
State demurrer to the abatement
pleas was filed late Friday by Remy.
Inman then pointed out that Miss
O~berholtzer did not apear before the
grand jury and that none OF the
witnesses whose names appeared on
the Indictment, could have had
knowledge of the charges or facts
in the indictment.
Witnesses before the grand jury he
said were Detectives McMurtrie, Nc
Glenn, Mcdonald and Lansing, Mr..
and Mrs. George Oberholtzer and
DR.. John K. Kingsbury9
! 1T is the inevitable conclusion
that the grand jury returned the in
dictments solely upon hearsay and
incompetent evidence" he said in
conclusion.
Authorities Cited
Remy spoke only a few minutes.
He pointed out that Inman had cited
no legal authorities, and then pro-
ceeded to give a list of them in
support Of the States demurrers. He
quoted an Indiana Supreme Court
decision to the effect that an indict-
ment is good If duly signed and re-
turned and that it Is not competent
to inquire into the kind or amount
of evidence on which the grand
jurors acted.
By inference he charged Inman
with attempting to force the
States hand into showing the
character OF its evidence.
THE State does not intend at this
time to do this" he said. AT the
proper time we will show Mr.. Inman
every bit of evidence we have"
Inman's argument, he said, was
an argument suited to a jury and
not to legal argument before a court.
opinion, he said.
Judge Collins ruling in favor of
the State was made Immediately
after Remy concluded his argument.
Then came filing OF motions to
quash, the defendants remaining al
their table throughout. AS soon as
court adjourned Stephenson, Klenck
and Gentry left the roo with In
man.
Miss Oberholtzer, according to her
parents, declared she was lured to
Stephenson's home, 5432 University
Ave-. the night of March Is on the
pretext he wanted to see her on
business. Miss Oberholtzer, al Sec
rotary treasurer of the Teachers and
Young Peoples Reading Circle of
Indiana, is said to have had confer