Evening star., 1925-03-16
Courts Ruling Causes Fed.
eraI Counsel to Change
Tactics in Oil Case.
WERE TRYING TO SHOW
AN EXCHANGE OF BONDS
Roberts and Pomerene Now Will
Offer Alleged Proof Accord
ing to Judges Views.
Bv ,heiA.sociated Press.

! By the'Associated Press.
CHEYENNE, wyo.. March l6.-EVi-
dence intended to reveal the secrets OF
the bank accounts of Albert b. FAIL
former Secretary of the INTERIOR was
barred from the record In the Ieapot
Dome lease annulment suit here today.
The ruling barring the evidence, hand
ed down by Federal Judge t. Blake
Kennedy. deprives the Government OF
IT'S only known means of attempting to
prove an exchange Of Liberty bonds De-
tween Fall and Harry F. Sinclair, whose
Mammoth Oil Co. was given the lease
on the big Wyoming oil reserve
Judge Kennedy referred to the mat
ter in question as involving something
of unusual Importance to the plaintin
case, but that as the matter stands II
was manifestly incompetent and would
be barred until such time as II was
shown to be competent.
Judge Kennedys ruling left the
Governments case up In the air SO
completely that a recess OF 10 min
utes was allowed to permit Owen j.
Roberts and Atlee Pomerene, Govern
ment counsel, to get their remaining
witnesses in shape.
Roberts Changes Plans.
After the recess Attorney Roberts
announced that he would reverse the
procedure previously followed in an
attempt to show the alleged passage
Of bonds between Sinclair and Fall
by tracing the bonds from Sinclair
and Fall instead of from the former
Secretary to the head of the Mann
moth Oil Co. The court had warned
Roberts that he was approaching the
In a lengthy prelude to his decision
Judge Kennedy quoted from rulings
on similar procedure made by the
Eighth, Second and Fourth Federal
Circuit Courts OF Appeals, laying
stress on precedent upheld by the
eighth circuit under which jurisdic-
ton the Cheyenne court falls.
Court states Reasons.
"No reason is apparent to the court
at the present time at least why the
Individual transactions involving the
connection of the ex-Secretary OF the
Intsrior with bonds passing through
the bank should not be proven by
witnesses having that knowledge,
Judge Kennedy ruled.
ON fact. one witness has offered
evidence tending to show the sale
of bonds by the bank, the proceeds
of which were credited to the Secre-
tary's account
"That Is perhaps a proper line OF
Testimony, because it Is the testimony
of an individual having personal
knowledge of direct transaction and
the court cannot assume, in the ab-
sence of some proof to the contrary,
that each material transaction IN
yolved cannot be proved in the same
manner, thus at least reducing the
chance of getting error into this
record.
The fact that a conspiracy here is
charged and the proffered evidence
would tend to afford an important
link in the chain of its esta blish-
ment should alone suggest to the
court great care and caution in ad-
ministering rules of evidence. The
rule of necessity and 'exigency does
not seem to have here been satisfied.
Evidence Held Incompetent.
Another thing which strongly ap-
peais to the court is the fact that at
the present time the evidence which
is here rendered is incompetent and
immaterial for the reason that no
attempt has been made to trace the
bonds in controversy from Sinclair
as their source, without which con-
Meeting link the whole evidence now
rendered would have to be stricken.
THE court is always inclined to in
dulge counsel in the matter of order
of proof, but here the order has been
so strangely reversed and the evil
dence tndered so manifestly incom-
petent at the present time that II the
courts discretion is to be exercised
as the books say in matters of this
kind 1T would seem to be the courts
duty in case of this Importance to
at least sustain the objections until
such time as it appears that the evil
dence so strongly contended for is
either competent or material, and
such, with the light the court now
has, will be its ruling"